afamhistfail

The foreign tourists I spoke with were generally pretty well-educated on the subject of American slavery and sympathetic to the point of view of the enslaved. Weirdly, occasionally an African guest would say something unsympathetic though.

It has a huge effect, huge. So much of what teachers say gets taken for granted by kids who can't be expected to know better. Lots of folks visiting my site after the slavery tour have muttered dark words against schools and teachers who failed them years ago re:diverse history, and those guests are glad to see slave history taking its rightful place at more and more historic sites.

 

A shoutout here to Mrs. Wilson, who told our first grade class that though George Washington and Thomas Jefferson did great things, they also owned people and that was bad. Way to get the minds thinking, Mrs. Wilson.

Oh, for sure. All the time, especially with kids. You can see everything on their faces. Adults, too, would get somber or thoughtful or quizzical or interested. Occasionally there'd be moist eyes. Honestly I don't remember a lot of specific good moments though. They blend together. :)

I love escape narratives so much. One guy at our site was a manservant/valet to his powerful master, and after years of watching and waiting he appears to have forged a freedom pass (his master was a lawyer, so he would've been in the perfect position to do it accurately) and just left. It was in the dead of winter too, the most dangerous time of year. And they never found him, so far as we know. I love that guy so much.

 

Other favorite: William and Ellen Craft.

Dear Lord. I think politely pointing out the fact that the master benefitted monetarily from every possible "nice" thing he did for the slaves is helpful. As a guest, you could even push it further by asking the person if THEY would want to be a slave.

 

For better or for worse, showing anger directly tends to turn people against you and make them defensive and entrenched. No matter how justified that anger is.