Meanwhile, practitioners of black history, or at least some of them, are promoting the view that the original Memorial Day celebrations were begun by black people, particularly at Charleston in 1865. They have something of a case, but the divergence of approach to yours is interesting.
In my parts of the country (coastal South Carolina where freed slaves were the majority for 100 years after the Civil War), the black population celebrated July 4th much more than Memorial Day. There are some wonderful color photos in the National Archive of a 4th of July celebration on St. Helena Island in 1938, with everyone beautifully dressed for a picnic. Now both holidays are a long weekend for most people, though in this military town there is more attention than in most places paid to the traditional heritages involved.
I do not see your view of Memorial Day expressed around here, but that does not mean it does not exist.
I live a quarter mile from the Beaufort National Cemetery. I'll go there today to pay my respects.
By "freed slaves" I meant the descendants of freed slaves, though in many ways they were still enslaved around here. That is a modern rhetorical device though. Despite the discrimination the people in their own minds were very clear that they were no longer slaves.
Hello, Crack. I see comments are back on.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, practitioners of black history, or at least some of them, are promoting the view that the original Memorial Day celebrations were begun by black people, particularly at Charleston in 1865. They have something of a case, but the divergence of approach to yours is interesting.
In my parts of the country (coastal South Carolina where freed slaves were the majority for 100 years after the Civil War), the black population celebrated July 4th much more than Memorial Day. There are some wonderful color photos in the National Archive of a 4th of July celebration on St. Helena Island in 1938, with everyone beautifully dressed for a picnic. Now both holidays are a long weekend for most people, though in this military town there is more attention than in most places paid to the traditional heritages involved.
I do not see your view of Memorial Day expressed around here, but that does not mean it does not exist.
I live a quarter mile from the Beaufort National Cemetery. I'll go there today to pay my respects.
By "freed slaves" I meant the descendants of freed slaves, though in many ways they were still enslaved around here. That is a modern rhetorical device though. Despite the discrimination the people in their own minds were very clear that they were no longer slaves.
ReplyDelete