Legacies links for February 19, 2024: Presidents’ Day

Another week of Black History Month means more discussions about the legacies of slavery, which can be found in all areas of American life. As always, we encourage you to share this post; as always, a link does not necessarily mean agreement or endorsement by the Council of Independent Colleges.

Descendants of John R. Blackburn, a freed slave who was the first Black student at Wabash College (for just two weeks in 1857). source: Wabash College

Reparations:

  • Maura Cheeks, “What if Federal Reparations Weren’t a Fiction?” New York Times (February 13, 2024): LINK. A speculative novelist— Acts of Forgiveness (Ballantine Books, 2024)—considers the situation of African Americans who don’t live in one of the small but growing number of communities that are considering reparations. She argues for a federal reparations program for all the descendants of slavery’s brutality.
  • Amara Enyia and Temi F. Bennett, “The Case for Reparations in Philanthropy,” Nonprofit Quarterly (February 14, 2024): LINK. As several prominent foundations grapple with their own historic ties to slavery and racism, philanthropists are considering the larger concept of “reparative philanthropy.”

The History of Slavery:

  • “Yale vows new actions to address past ties to slavery, issues apology, book,” Yale News (February 16, 2024): LINK. After years of self-examination, Yale University has published a major volume on Yale and Slavery: A History and backed the historical research with new initiatives on campus, in the New Haven (Conn.) community, and across the nation. The research initiative was led by David Blight, Sterling Professor of History at Yale and director of CIC’s Legacies of American Slavery project.
  • Patrice Worthy, “Point Comfort: The little-known birthplace of African American culture,” BBC (February 13, 2024): LINK. Traditionally, historians have argued that Jamestown, Virginia, was the first place that enslaved Africans landed in the British colonies that became the United States (back in 1619). Local historians argue that the real landing place was a site called Point Comfort, present-day Fort Monroe.
  • Rachel L. Swarns, “A Love Story That Endured Through Slavery,” New York Times (February 17, 2024): LINK. Eliza and Miles got married in the 1850s. They were enslaved. Miles was one of the 272 African Americans sold by the Jesuits in 1838 to save Georgetown University. Their marriage would not be legally recognized until after the Civil War; until then, Eliza and Miles risked many dangers to remain united.

An Update from the CIC Network:

  • Jade Jackson, “That ain’t how the story goes: Wabash College’s first Black student,” Indianapolis Recorder (February 12, 2024): LINK. Enlightened by the research of Prof. Timothy Lake, CIC member Wabash College (Crawfordsville, IN) is celebrating the first Black student to enroll in the college: John R. Blackburn. (It was 1857 and Blackburn was forced to leave after just two weeks.)

Other links:

  • Patrice Gaines, “After inheriting ancestral land, these Black families are defying the odds to keep it,” NBCBLK (February 16, 2024): LINK. The descendants of Roland Smith in Nakina, North Carolina, have worked hard to keep and maintain 60 acres that have been in the family for generations. But “[p]redatory developers often target Black families whose generational land lacks clear ownership.”
  • Kathryn Post, “For Black ‘nones’ who leave religion, what’s next?” Religion News Service (February 12, 2024): LINK. What is the legacy of the Black Church for African Americans who are religiously unaffiliated (a growing group of “nones”)? Many of the “Black nones retain elements of religiosity” because they recognize the historic and ongoing role of the Church in the struggle for civil rights. Many are seeking alternatives in new churches with more progressive theology or in other community-based organizations.
  • Ronald E. Hall, “Back in the day, being woke meant being smart,” The Conversation (February 14, 2024): LINK. A scholar discusses the evolution of the word “woke,” back from its central place in today’s culture wars to the darkest days of Jim Crow, “when the word was used [among African Americans] as a warning to be aware of racial injustices in general and Southern white folks in particular.”