Say My Name: Another Capitol Crime Against African Americans
by BAR columnist Lizz
Brown
"Do we get a story to
pass down insuring an African cultural legacy?"
It is how we all begin: "In the name of..."
In Burkina Faso, West Africa, the Dagara people believe
every child comes into this life with a special destiny. And in order to ensure
that the child fulfills that destiny, the parents select a name that reflects
his purpose. According to the Dagara, every time you say the child's name you
are in fact calling into existence his unique life's journey and his destiny.
What a beautiful, spiritual world view.
The name matters.
Surprisingly, even our Congress in its own twisted way
understands the importance of name selection. This past Fall the GOP took stock
of the work completed by the 110th Congress and when it was all said and done,
the numbers reflected that this Congress had passed 106 bills and nearly one
half, that is 46, were for naming things. Buck Owens got a post office, Cal
Ripken got an interstate highway, Lyndon Baines Johnson got an education
building and Rush Limbaugh's relative
got a federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
If we analyze one of these Congressional name assignments in
an African way, our Congress made certain that justice, fairness and equality
will be tied to the Limbaugh name.
Think about it: this Federal Courthouse will no longer be a building
where justice is dispensed. It is now the Rush
Hudson Limbaugh, Sr., United States Courthouse. "Rush Limbaugh" now and forevermore will be equated with lawfulness. How does that
grab you? It's almost enough kill an
oxycontin buzz. And there's more name
game madness.
"Rush Limbaugh's relative got a federal courthouse in
Cape Girardeau, Missouri."
Last week, according to the AP,
our good Congress voted to rename the great hall of the Capitol Visitor
Center. It will now be called
"Emancipation Hall." Why? Well, according to Senator Diane Feinstein:
"Naming the great hall of the Capitol Visitor Center as Emancipation Hall
would serve to recognize both the brutal truth of our nation's past and the
importance of freedom as a pillar of modern America."
The bill's Republican congressional sponsor Zach Wamp, took a more emotional and grandiose
political position: "Let us send a message to people that come to this
Capitol that emancipation lives on and was such an important moment in the
learning process of this experiment in freedom and democracy known as the
American republic."
Problem is neither the Democratic Senator nor the Republican
Congressman's observations are correct.
And what's even worse - they are both telling sweet, politically
comforting, lies. Naming
the great hall of the Capitol Visitor Center as Emancipation Hall, does not
honor the legacy and monumental contributions to the building of this nation's
capitol by enslaved Africans. It honors
those who enslaved them.
The enslaved Africans who built Washington DC were not
free at the time they built it. Most of
these African men, women and children were never freed. They died while
enslaved. Emancipation means the act of freeing. So how then, for those who
died while enslaved, is there honor in the name "Emancipation"? There was no
emancipation of enslaved people and there is no honor.
"Naming the great hall of the Capitol Visitor Center as
Emancipation Hall, does not honor the legacy and monumental contributions to
the building of this nation's capitol by enslaved Africans."
Misty-eyed politicians, focusing on the concept of
Emancipation, cost this country
something else. Their claims that Emancipation
was about freedom perverts our shared history in this country. And it gives comfort to the enemies of
truth. The Emancipation
Proclamation did not "free the slaves." Slavery continued to exist as an
institution in the United States until the ratification of the 13th
Amendment.
Furthermore, using the term "Emancipation" as a substitute
for the names of the Africans who were forced to build for free, tells another
forever lie.
You see, in the year 2007 our politicians and our Government
want us to believe that there are no individual names of Africans to honor and
therefore the only choice is to thoughtlessly inflict yet another new
name. This time around however, instead
of Toby or Chicken George, all enslaved Africans are reduced down to one name -
one thing - Emancipation. Because our
Congress claims they cannot locate our ancestors' names, their lives and
contributions will be replaced with the word Emancipation. Emancipation; a poorly executed concept
created by those who enslaved African people.
Fact is, our Government knows the truth. There are names.
In 2005, a report
entitled "The History of Slave Laborers in the Construction of the United
States Capitol," was published by our good government. The report spelled out some of the names of
those who enslaved Africans and the report detailed the amount of money the
United States government paid to use enslaved labor. More importantly, listed in this report were a few amazing names
- Captain George Pointer, Phillip Reid and John Hemmings.
"Because our Congress claims they cannot locate our
ancestors' names, their lives and contributions will be replaced with the word
Emancipation."
At the very top of the dome of the Capitol, stands the world
famous Statue of Freedom. Phillip Reid was the enslaved African man who made
that symbol of freedom possible for Washington DC.
In 1859 the cast for the Statue of Freedom was held hostage
in the Capitol by an Italian craftsman.
He wanted more money so he refused to divulge how to take the cast apart
for transport to the bronze foundry. It was Phillip Reid who figured out how to
safely disassemble the sculpture.
Phillip Reid did this while suffering under the monstrous bonds of
enslavement and without pay. Phillip
Reid did this with his individual genius, ingenuity and using a metal hook. And
Phillip Reid was not alone. African
men, women and children just like him made the Capitol of the United States
possible.
So what does Phillip Reid get in return for his
contributions? What do those of us as
Phillip's ethnic descendants get? Do we get a name in the Capitol to hang on to
forever? Do we get a story to pass down insuring an African cultural legacy?
Do we get the same from this Congress as that multimillion dollar
ballplayer got? Do our families get the
same understanding and support from this Congress as the multimillion dollar
drug addict's family did?
The answer is obviously no. When it comes to owning up to
the true legacy of enslavement in this country this Congress knows like every
other Congress before them knew: that saying, "I don't know your name" is a lot
easier and a lot more profitable than saying I do.
Lizz Brown is a veteran
journalist, broadcaster, activist, educator and attorney based in St. Louis.
She can be contacted at lizzbrown@sbcglobal.netThis e-mail address is being protected from
spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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