We live in a country that was claimed to be discovered by a
man named Christopher Columbus. We gleefully say the rhyme, “In 1492 Columbus
sailed the ocean blue.” However, what we as white people seem to ignore, is the
enslavement of indigenous people and the racism that he purveyed. He took
people as prisoner, and forced them to lead him to their prized possessions so
that he could claim them as his own. Yet, here we are, nearly 600 years later,
and this past week we celebrated Columbus Day.
Thomas Jefferson, a man who was an architect to this
country. He helped shape laws, the political system, and lay the foundations to
our government. Yet for all the good he did, he still owned slaves, treated
people of color like objects, and believed that they were inferior. What did we
do for this? We placed him on the $2 bill and the nickel. He was also carved into
Mount Rushmore, and given a memorial in DC.
So what is it that makes a patriot? Both of these people are
celebrated regardless of their terrible acts and we seem to believe that what they’ve
done outweighs the blatant racism that they believed in.
In the revolutionary period, Thomas Jefferson may have gone
against the colonization of America, but he stuck with many of the other status
quos. People who defend his legacy write off his owning of slaves as just a
sign of the times. Yet they seem to ignore that fact that these are other
people who were enslaved. Imagine today if your non-white friends weren’t
around but enslaved and treated like objects. What would you do? Would you be
angry? That’s what Thomas Jefferson did. He wrote extensively about the lack of
intelligence and humanity that black people had. However, we consider him one
of the ultimate patriots.
This brings me to the case of Nat Turner. As Birth of a Nation hits theaters, there
is no better time to talk about the case of Mr. Turner, a slave who decided to
do something about the wrong in the world. He stood up against the racism of
his time and sent a lasting message to those across the South. He put fear into
slave owners who had grown very comfortable at the top of the social ladder. So
much fear, that militias were formed and regularly exercised for the event of
slave rebellions thereafter.
Did Nat Turner stand for what he believed in? Yes.
Did Nat Turner create a lasting impression? Yes.
Did Nat Turner kill people? Yes.
Is Nat Turner a Patriot? Yes.
Billy Seibel
I agree that Nat Turner is a patriot. I think being a patriot generally goes along with the historical narrative. Christopher Columbus "discovered" America. Thomas Jefferson helped to create the country we live in today. Both of these men are written about favorably in history because it was their supporters that wrote history. Nat Turner on the other hand is not generally thought of as a patriot because he went against what the writers of history generally agree were the norms.
ReplyDelete