Slavery in Alabama---and Post George Floyd Montgomery.

"As of statehood in 1819, slaves accounted for more than 30 percent of Alabama's approximately 128,000 inhabitants. The slave population more than doubled during the 1820s and again during the 1830s. When Alabama seceded from the Union in 1861, the state's 435,080 slaves made up 45 percent of the total population. The largest numbers of slaves were held in bondage in counties located in either the Tennessee River Valley or the Black Belt region. Slavery, however, existed in every county."

          (From the Encyclopedia chapter on Slavery, written by a University of West Georgia Professor)

     I was prompted to post this  after reading an online story from the BBC about tourism at Southern plantation homes, and how some of the docents are confronted with "awkward" questions by the tourists:

"What we're going to talk about today is hard," (one docent tells them) "You may feel uncomfortable. You may feel upset, sad or angry, and that is perfectly fine. If you'd like to walk away, I won't get offended."
No one walks away on our tour, but there is shock. There is discomfort.
Many say they never knew that plantation owners forced marriages between "strong" slaves to add to their "stock"; never heard that pregnant enslaved women were whipped lying down (to protect that investment); never learned that a lifetime of labour began as early as age four.

"It's gut-wrenching," says Michaela, a young woman from New York. "It sounds like a puppy mill and yet a million times worse. The idea alone of ignoring the horrific part of the story, it makes me sick."

     A search for "Alabama Plantation Homes" turns up an article by "Only in Your State" that lists seven, but the word slave or slavery never appears in any of the profiles. One does mention houses where "tenants" lived.

A building at Joe Wheeler Pond Springs,

     The photos posted by the Alabama Historical Society for each of the homes show gatherings of people at each of the homes. One is the "Belle Mont" plantation.Virtually all of the people in the photos are white.  There are no captions with the photos, so the one above may or may not be a building that housed enslaved people.

      There is a great awakening underway in the U.S. and beyond, after the police death of George Floyd in Minnesota. 

     The State of Kentucky removed a statue of Jefferson Davis from its capitol building on Friday.
     Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, lauded the move, saying it was overdue:

“Today is a move toward showing that everybody is welcome in this building and that our government should work for the betterment of every single Kentuckian,” Beshear said in a statement."

  Alabama's Capitol features a Davis statue to the left side of the front stairs...the same stairs where George Wallace pledged segregation would last forever. 




  

   Also still on the grounds, on the right side of those stairs, a statue installed by the state Medical Association in 1938,  honoring a doctor who operated on enslaved women without anesthesia, believing them not to feel pain.
     There were calls for the state and/or the Association to remove the statue, two years ago and the Association said there would be more conversation about recognizing the enslaved women on whom he operated...but no indication that they would make an effort to have their name removed, or have signage added to contextualize the statue:

MONTGOMERY — In 1937, the Medical Association of the State of Alabama voted to erect a statue on the Alabama Capitol grounds of Dr. James Marion Sims, who is still recognized today as the “father of gynecology.” While many of his innovations in women’s health have stood the test of time and are still in use today, the Medical Association also feels it is important to recognize the enslaved women, such as Anarcha, Lucy and Betsy, who were his patients.

The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017 prohibits the removal of monuments located on public property for 40 or more years. Consequently, the Medical Association encourages further conversation regarding the appropriate recognition of these women, Dr. Sims and their contribution to modern medicine.


    There have been some street protests in Montgomery, but no city or state official has proposed reducing the number of confederate monuments, signs and statues in the city. 

(The confederate flags were removed by Gov, Bentley in 2015)

    During Friday's online town-hall meeting with the Mayor and Police Chief, I used their online question form to ask Mayor Reed, the city's first black mayor, if he thinks there are too many confederate memorials in the city, and if some should be removed.      
     While he did respond to another question I asked about masks at protests, he did not address the confederate memorials question.
     Will nothing in the first confederate capitol change, post George Floyd?