Storytelling and Identity - Fall 2023

we are made of stories

Prep Note – 10/5/2023

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On October 5, 2023

In Javier, prep note

The reading for today offered interesting insights into how Richmond and by extension the South as a whole instituted racism into a more systemic form than before. Their use of segregation to exercise control was effective to a concerning degree. Even more concerning, was the extent that most Virginians were willing to go. The Confederacy burned Richmond akin to a scorched earth method of warfare in order to not let Richmond fall into the hands of the Union, a move that ultimately did not succeed in the long term.

The author writing about how the people reacted with rejoicing at the first victory but were awoken to the cruel reality of war was an effective method to stir the hearts of readers in also recognizing the depth of the experience even further. It struck me deeper than other components of the chapter because while much older, it calls back memories of societies where we have seen the wagons of bodies and soldiers returning home while wounded.

The story of the fourteen-year-old boy who saved the flag and proceeded to hoist it up the flagpole 17 years later as the Union arrived in the city of Richmond is a story of admiration and persistence. A symbol of how resistance endured even within the hearts of those whose views did not line up with the Confederacy. As the city slowly rebuilt however it was clear that racism at the very least, if not slavery, was here to remain.

The south’s continued attempts to find loopholes appeared repeatedly throughout the two chapters. Trying to loophole or put off the integration of schools, their philosophy of “end of slavery doesn’t mean equal rights or suffrage…” among other attempts to district them off of race by neighborhoods, trying to uproot those neighborhoods, etc.  demonstrates just how deeply their values were seated within their hearts. It also goes to show the flaws of the system which allowed them to get this far without proper reinforcement. Although they were still criticized by the North, and even the Supreme Court reissued that integration should move along “quickly at all costs” — they still held on to their outdated views.

  • As disappointing as this is, it is still reflective of similar concepts held today whereby political groups or even corporations exploit loopholes in the system, coupled with an influence in government in order to push through their views.

Another component I noticed is that there was fairly limited progress until after World War 2. There’s almost a jump between the late 1880s near the end of the chapter whereby it describes the ways that Segregation and systematic racism were ingrained via the One-Party-System, etc.

  • At the same time, it was a period of development for the city itself, and even under this systemic pressure and oppression, Richmond’s African American population had managed to find more success before the start of the Urban Renewal.

Prep Note 10/05/23

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On October 5, 2023

In prep note, Will L

While reading chapters seven and eight there was a lot of information on how segregation and unequal treatment/opportunities took the place of slavery when it was abolished. I discussed this same thing in my American Studies class, how during reconstruction there was a period in which Black people were almost treated normally before that quickly changed to the unfair treatment, they would have to endure for basically the next hundred years. When slavery was banned, segregation took its place and when segregation was banned, prejudice took its place. Even after Brown v. Board of Education and people and places could no longer use the excuse “separate but equal” there was still such racism and bias when it came to offerings and opportunities. One thing that I was reminded of which I had learned about in high school was also how poorly the governments treated Black neighborhoods from redlining and not giving people loans on houses, to outright destroying parts of them to make room for whatever project they might have needed space for.

Prep Note – 10/05

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On October 4, 2023

In Nick G, prep note, Uncategorized

One thing that immediately struck my attention was the picture on page 128 of Daniel Trattles of the 19th Michigan Infantry after he was released from Belle Isle in Richmond. I think this really impacted me because of how deathly skinny he looks. By just looking at his shoulders and chest, I almost would not be able to guess he’s human because there’s just nothing there besides skin and bone. I never knew Belle Isle existed and it’s hard to believe that a prison like that existed in the US. I almost have this notion that yeah, things like this happen, and it’s awful but it seems so foreign, like it could never happen in America.

It also was crazy to read about the countless ways that people tried to continue suppressing black people after slavery was abolished. The school system especially focused entirely on targeting black people, expelling them from schools, and attempting to replace African-American school teachers with white teachers. Urban development was another way that white people attempted to continue to suppress black people. The text talks about the decision to extend 7th Street in Richmond so that it cut directly through Richmond’s historic black cemetery where many famous slaves were buried. Later on in the reading, chapter 8 talks about how highways were developed, splitting historically black communities and displacing residents who would eventually be reconcentrated back into public housing courts. It’s even crazier to think that all of this happened so recently.

The section about education and how white students were told a distorted, watered-down version of history was also interesting. The author talks about a specific textbook that was required for all 4th-grade students. This textbook spent two paragraphs out of 328 pages talking about slavery in the context of the Civil War. To top it all off, the textbook also says, “Some of the Negro servants left the plantation because they heard that President Lincoln was going to set them free. But most of the Negroes stayed on the plantations and went on with their work. Some of them risked their lives to protect the white people they loved,” (Campbell 147). This also reminded me of a conversation I had with one of my friends here at UR who grew up in Alabama. He said when he learned about the Civil War, it was referred to as “the succession of the North”. It’s unbelievable that to this day, we are trying to influence our youth through distorted views of history.

 

Prep Note 10/5

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On October 4, 2023

In Haven, prep note

I think it was interesting how little time, comparatively, Campbell spent writing about the actual Civil War itself. Maybe he felt that the time during the war wasn’t as important as the aftermath of the war, and how it affected racial tensions in Richmond. On paper, the major foundation of the Southern economy (slavery) had just been eliminated with the passage of the 13th Amendment, and society should have been in shambles after fighting and losing a war. Yet, there wasn’t a seismic shift in racial equality, and discrimination/segregation still occurred. Even vagrancy laws preserved elements of slavery in a post-Civil War society.

The imagery of a burning Richmond seemed very cinematic, in a way. Between the people drinking liquor from the gutters, troops evacuating the city, and the fire burning behind it all, it just feels like that was a moment where maybe the all of the underlying tensions of a city at war were unearthed and brought to light. The city, and the Confederacy as a whole, knew that they were on the brink of crumbling. I think the actions that people take in those kinds of situations can be very telling.

One thing that stuck with me was how the history of Virginia regarding slavery and the Civil War was rewritten to show the South in a more favorable light. I’ve learned about this a bit in a history class I took in high school. The teacher posed an interesting question – in what other war has the losing side been allowed to influence how the story of that war is told? History is written by the victors, except in the case of the American Civil War. In most wars, the losing side is eliminated entirely. But because the South was allowed in large part to retain its identity and culture even after rejoining the Union, it was able to erase parts of history and rewrite them to its advantage.

Prep Note 10/5/23

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On October 4, 2023

In kristine, prep note

Although slavery has been abolished at this point in history, the remnants of discrimination persisted. One thing I noticed was the fact that white people censored movies with racial themes, and they even rewrote history in a way that made their abhorrent actions regarding slavery “the rational choice.” This reminds me all too much of what is happening in today’s world, in which books with racial themes are being banned, and courses such as AP African American History are being banned in Florida. I think this reflects the idea that history is written by the winners. Perhaps it is an attempt to protect white people from feeling uncomfortable about their ugly history, but if you are not uncomfortable, then you are not doing the necessary work in order to move society forward.

Another thing that piqued my interest was the concept of redlining and how it resulted in mortgage loaning to be disproportionately low in Black neighborhoods. Even just driving through the Richmond area now, you can visibly see the lines dividing predominantly Black and white neighborhoods. On the subject of housing, I could not wrap my head around the fact that white people took down so many Black neighborhoods to build roads. This is too much like Indigenous colonialism, in which they staked a claim on their land and tried to justify it with superficial reasons. In this case, they claimed that they were “cleaning” up the poor neighborhoods and that public transport would be made easier with these roads, despite having to literally demolish Black people’s homes to build them.

The concepts of gerrymandering and voter disenfranchisement also stuck out to me due to its presence today as well. I thought they really came up with the most ridiculous laws to prevent Black people from voting, such as making Black people memorize answers to questions and say it to them. The worst thing is, they didn’t even try to hide the fact that they were disenfranchising Black voters. Carter Glass literally said that they were working towards “the elimination of every negro voter who can be gotten rid of” (139).

Prep Note 10/5/23

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On October 4, 2023

In Julia, prep note

When my parents and I came to Richmond, the first thing that my dad noticed was that the highway cut directly through the city. I kind of brushed him off because he always notices things like this whenever we go to a new place, so I just assumed he was being nitpicky and that it was bad urban planning. However, after reading chapters 7-8 of Richmond’s Unhealed History, I realized that the placement of the highway through the center of the city was meticulous. It was heartbreaking to read about the communities destroyed at the hands of city construction, and the number of people displaced without anywhere to go. Another thing that struck me from these chapters was the extensive details about “managing segregation,” as Campbell refers to it. The lengths that the government went to in order to maintain racial and economic hierarchy removed any chance that people of color or those who were poor would be able to vote, get an education, or become employed (and then there was that law that you had to be employed).

I have to say while reading these chapters, there wasn’t a lot that surprised me. Boston has a deep history of bussing and redlining, and the term gerrymandering was coined in Massachusetts. So, learning that Richmond, the Capital of the Confederacy, also had these same issues, was not surprising to me. However, this reading was hard to digest because of the extent to which lawmakers went so that integration did not happen in Richmond. Something that did surprise me was how hidden the city officials tried to keep their efforts to segregate the city. It’s like they knew what they were doing was wrong so they tried to hide it, instead of making efforts to comply with the federal government and stop segregating their schools, districts, and neighborhoods.

Prep Note 10/5/23

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On October 4, 2023

In Mitch, prep note

I’ll never fully understand why a lot of the Virginia lawmakers (as well as the ones in Richmond) were so hellbent on chipping away the rights of African Americans. I haven’t sat down and had a discussion with anyone who had been alive during that period who could explain how historical context normalized segregation based on race, I only know that it happened and (thankfully) that it is beyond immoral. 

This makes me wonder if there’ll be some revelation in the future that causes society to deem some other unjust institution immoral, and if people would look back on our time in history in similar ways. As referenced in the first few chapters, slavery hid itself under different names, and many were blind to how brutally it was robbing human beings of their rights by using excuses relating to the legal system, religion, and so on.

Prep Note 10/5

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On October 4, 2023

In prep note, Will S

When reading chapters 7 and 8 of Richmond’s Unhealed History, one of the things that really stood out to me was the ways in which racial segregation was preserved in Virginia through legal loopholes and gerrymandering. It shocked me that even after segregated public facilities and schools were banned, Virginian politicians went to incredible lengths to ensure that power remained in the hands of white people. Using the process of annexation in order to ensure a white majority voting population in Richmond, and other similar policies all intended to uphold the statue quo of racial segregation, shows just how deeply ingrained racism is in our society. I was saddened by the accounts of important black neighborhoods being demolished in order to construct massive super highways and I can’t believe that it was so easy for Virginia law makers to casually displace thousands and thousands of families with next to no support for them. I hope that there have been, and are still, efforts made to preserve and restore these historic neighborhoods to ensure that this essential piece of Richmond’s history isn’t lost forever.

10/3 Prep Note

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On October 3, 2023

In Angelos, prep note

Through reading chapters 7 and 8, I gained a better understanding of how segregation started and how it is still dominant in the US specifically in Virginia. Even after the revolution of the black population of Richmond, many of the policies that were taken were based on discrimination to support the economic system of exploitation. Even if the policies that were taken were considered to liberate people context is really important to be given and reality is really different than theory. Examples of this are how black kids would have access to education, theoretically, but funding that was given to an average white kid was four times more in comparison to the funding for a black kid. Moreover, black people would have access to work and to land, but since white people were always more privileged, they would be the ones that would be the owners of the land and of the companies, and therefore they would always favor, other white people. When their land, their home, their family, their education, their freedom, and their identities in general are challenged, and almost taken, there is no sense of speaking about decolonization and resegregation. Even connecting it to the current status of the US and specifically Virginia, history affects majorly the path society takes and even though constitutionally black people may have the same rights it can be even measured or just seen by any citizen that forms of segregation are still dominant in Richmond.

Class Notes Response 10/3/23

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On October 3, 2023

In Daily Class Notes, Julia

I thought starting off today’s class by discussing our next assignment and solidifying plans for the next week was very useful in clearing up some questions about the library visit and what Prof. Dolson expects of us. I also enjoyed taking the time to read everyone’s prep notes because I was interested in people’s commentary and thoughts on chapters 4-6. Thank you again Prof. Dolson for your post about how to cope with some of the topics we are reading.

I thought that our discussion about Chapter 4 was very insightful because we were able to break down some really intense reading that was filled with statistics and historical facts. While reading, I personally found it hard to digest all of the information that was being thrown at me, so taking the time in class to break it down made it a lot more manageable to understand. Additionally, I like how Prof. Dolson pointed out that it’s important to connect this information to what we may have learned in our previous or current classes.

Something that I thought was very interesting during our discussion was the evolution of the white race, and how Bacon’s rebellion was one of the key turning points in this divide. This reminded me of what we read in the book that the Governor attempted to stop Bacon and his men from killing innocent Native Americans, but ultimately Bacon and other lower class individuals prevailed. This made me wonder if the Governor could foresee the situation, and that people would soon find out he and the Great Men had too much power.

Even though we only had the opportunity to dive into one of the three chapters, I think it was vital to take a closer look at what Campbell is trying to convey and how he is doing it through the use of primary sources and his own commentary mixed in. Overall, it has helped us get a better understanding of the book and of Richmond’s deep history.

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