Some white people don’t want to hear about slavery at plantations built by slaves
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Some white people don’t want to hear about slavery at plantations built by slaves
AUGUST 07, 2019
“It was just not what we expected.”
“I was depressed by the time I left.”
“ … the tour was more of a scolding of the old South.”
“The brief mentions of the former owners were defamatory.”
“Would not recommend.”
These are a few of the apparently negative reviews posted online about guided tours of Southern plantations, some of which went viral Thursday after former Colorado congressional candidate Saira Rao tweeted a screenshot of one.
This is how decent white people who tell the truth about slavery on plantations are reviewed by white people. pic.twitter.com/xiomBzPpWl
Approximately 12.5 million human beings were kidnapped from their homes in Africa and shipped to the New World from 1514 to 1866, according to historian Henry Louis Gates Jr . One in eight died en route. Most were sent to South America. In 1860, the Census counted approximately 4 million enslaved people in the United States, according to PolitiFact .
“Would not recommend. Tour was all about how hard it was for the slaves,” wrote one reviewer of the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana.
Slaves who lived on plantations typically worked 10-16 hours a day, six days a week, according to the University of Houston’s Digital History . Children as young as 3 were put to work.
“I was depressed by the time I left and questioned why anyone would want to live in South Carolina,” read one review posted to Twitter about the McLeod Plantation in Charleston.
In 1860, 402,406 people were living in South Carolina not because they wanted to, but because they were enslaved. They made up 57 percent of the state’s population, according to census data .
“I felt [the African American tour guide] embellished her presentation and was racist towards me as a white person,” another McLeod visitor wrote .
In 1993, historian Clarence J. Munford estimated the value of the labor performed by black slaves in the United States between 1619 and 1865, compounded with 6 percent interest, to be $97.1 trillion. In today’s dollars, without further compound interest added, that would be $172 trillion.
“Our guide Olivia offered a heavy bias with only the hand-picked facts that neatly fit her narrative and for a large part weren’t germane to a plantation tour,” one person said of the McLeod Plantation, according to a review posted to Twitter , before following up with the racist comment, “I found it amusing when she told us some freed slaves fled to northern cities like Baltimore and Detroit where they continued to thrive to this day!”
As many as 100,000 people escaped slavery on the Underground Railroad, according to historian James A. Banks .
“There is really nothing good you can say about slavery but I felt [the tour guide] took it too far. His information is correct but I think he left off part of the story,” one review read .
This month, Virginia will commemorate the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in 1619, which ushered in 246 years of brutal subjugation for millions of men, women and children. One of those slaves was named Angela.
“If you’re looking to visit a traditional plantation, look elsewhere,” one review read .
Many plantations, including George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello , are working to present a more accurate image of what life was like for slaves and slave owners.
For those who may prefer a fuzzier, less accurate portrayal of plantation life, “Gone with the Wind” is streaming on Amazon and iTunes for $3.99 — a low price but still higher than the average slave’s wage, which was $0.
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The tourists want to see this
While the story of slavery in this country needs to told, it should be in a solely historical context. It is the shared history of this country for good or bad. But it does no good for some to go out of their way to make others feel guilty over what their ancestors may or may not have done a century or more ago.
It does no good to go out of our way to gloss over the FACT that those places were worked by slaves. Going to a plantation and not looking at the history of BOTH of the races that lived and died there would be a sugar coating of history.
If you want to see and hear how the white people live then, you should see and hear how the black people lived too.
I've been to Laura and Oak Alley Plantations. Without standing in the cramped slaves quarters @ Oak Alley [about 10 x 10 for a family], half of it's history is lost.
Nice house !
Just what my Wife and I have been looking for !
Porch in the Front, and Probably a Porch in the Back.
Could Use a door or two though.
Just needs a running Stream Close by !
I love this one. How was the person supposed to feel? Happy, over joyed, elated? Imagine the lefts' looney toon reaction to that? Also, taken in context the person was referring to the history of the state as to the 'why would anyone want to live in South'. Who would want to live in a state with such a terrible history?
There probably aren't many states - or countries - anyone would want to live in, if history is what we went by.
Slavery is the only reason plantations were possible. I wouldn't expect a plantation tour NOT to point that out; they are integrally entwined.
There is probably some reasonable line where history is presented in a way that's interesting and comprehensive, but if the presenter is going on some kind of rant, it may not be appropriate. I really doubt most people who are signing up for the tour endorse slavery, so it's probably not necessary to preach or be angry at them. It sounds like some people walked away with the feeling that that's what was happening.
He left out the part of the story that describes how well the plantation owners lived, how well respected they were among other slave owners. How they took pride in having the biggest and strongest slaves and often were instrumental in breeding the strongest males with the strongest females to increase their profit potential. He likely left out all the plantation owners racist reasoning for why blacks had to be kept enslaved and why they would violently punish anyone attempting to teach a slave to read and write, or how they would organize hunting parties to chase down escaped slaves. And in their anger over the suggestion that they should give up their slaves, they attacked federal troops which led to the deaths of over 360,000 good Union soldiers along with 258,000 of their own treasonous confederate soldiers.
There really wasn't anything to admire that came from those plantation owners so there really isn't much more of the story to tell if you're touring a plantation. If you are offended by facts and reality, then perhaps don't take the tour. If I was offended or didn't want to hear the horrid details of the holocaust, I likely wouldn't visit a holocaust museum or take a tour of Auschwitz. But for me, I'd rather hear the historical details and contemplate the lasting effects of such a tragedy, whether it's hearing about slave owners or Nazis. I happen to be a white male, but I feel no connection to either of those groups so I don't feel any desire to defend them or try and obfuscate the truth about them in any way.
I've toured some of the ''Plantations'' around Chaleston SC. IMO, visiting the ''Old Slave Market Museum'' on Chalmers St. in Charleston is a much more authentic portrayal of the slave trade.
Yes it is, and it would do some here to learn more about the real history for the slave trade before they make themselves look....eh... less learned on the subject.
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