[NLA] [Fwd: [NIFL-ESL:7324] COABE plantation tour]
Elsa Auerbach
elsa.auerbach at umb.edu
Wed Feb 27 12:07:27 EST 2002
Just want to re-iterate thanks to Janet who originated the message about the
COABE tour -- all credit goes to her for pursuing this issue so proactively and
thoughtfully. Elsa
Chris Francisco wrote:
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> I just registered for the conference. I did not consider the plantation
> tour and felt equally knocked from center when I read the
> description. It's ironic to note that last year, COABE 2001, I did
> sign-up of the National Civil Rights Museum tour, but it was
> cancelled. The COABE conference is very important to me. Having worked on
> many conferences I know how many details must be attended. Elsa your
> compassionate and pro-active approach is constructive in its criticism. To
> ignore this would be collusion.
>
> peace and love,
>
> Chris Francisco
>
> >Dear colleagues,
> >
> >This is a long post, but I think it is extremely important to consider
> >as a field. Although some may disagree, I think the issue raised here
> >is entirely relevant to policy. If we, who are advocates for the field,
> >do not have political clarity ourselves on such a central question, how
> >can we represent adult education? Thank you Janet for your vigilance
> >and leadership in addressing this issue. Elsa Auerbach
> >Return-path: nifl-esl at literacy.nifl.gov
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> > 27 Feb 2002 11:50:42 -0500 (EST)
> >Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:50:42 -0500 (EST)
> >From: Janet Isserlis <Janet_Isserlis at Brown.edu>
> >Subject: [NIFL-ESL:7324] COABE plantation tour
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> >
> >Colleagues,
> >
> >I'm sending you copies of a message I sent to COABE and the response that
> >I received from them about a tour they've included amongst their offerings
> >(f tours/trips) during their upcoming conference. My intention here is
> >not to malign COABE necessarily, but to bring to our collective attention
> >the fact that an important learning opportunity risks being neglected. I
> >have never organized a national conference, and can't imagine the level of
> >detail that such an event necessitates. Nonetheless, it feels important
> >to be mindful of learning opportunities -- found and neglected -- and it
> >is in this spirit that I offer the following, with apologies to those to
> >whom this will be cross posted.
> >
> >Janet Isserlis
> >
> >[my letter to COABE] To whom it may concern:
> >
> > I received your brochure yesterday and was startled, angered and
> > saddened at the description of the Boone Hall Plantation tour you provide
> > therein. Your text:
> >
> > Boone Hall Plantation Tour
> >
> > Go back in time to the antebellum days when plantation life in the South
> > was self-sustaining and held a charm all its own. Arrive at Boone Hall
> > Plantation through the famour three-quarter mile "Avenue of Oaks." Boone
> > Hall was granted to one of South Carolina's first Settles, Major John
> > Boone, in 1676. Originally a cotton plantation, Boone Hall spread over
> > 17,000 acres. Hand-made brick and tile were also manufactured on the
> > plantation. These same brick [sic] have been identified in the mansion,
> > garden walls, slave cabins and many of Charleston's oldest and most
> > historic buildings. This plantation has been used in the filming of "Gone
> > with the Wind," and more recently, "North and South." Enjoy a guided tour
> > of the grounds followed by a guided tour of the mansion.
> >
> >
> > Your narrative completely obliterates any possibility of
> > problematizing issues of race and racism inherent in slavery as it was
> > practiced on the plantation, thereby reducing what could be viewed as a
> > powerful opportunity to witness a terrible force in history to an
> > attractive side trip, part of the local color. I am deeply saddened that
> > a group of educators would not be more attentive to the implicitly racist
> > point of view given in your text. Where we have an opportunity to
> > educate ourselves, and by extension, those with whom we learn and teach,
> > you have done nothing to promote a critical stance, or even the asking of
> > important questions. Instead, your text promotes a romanticized,
> > sanitized glimpse of the backdrop to "Gone with the Wind," itself a film
> > that is open to discussion. I fervently hope that you consider writing a
> > more appropriate description as an insert to the brochure and create
> > links on your web site that facilitate a more educational exploration of
> > our history.
> >
> > The following two excerpts provide examples of ways in which a more
> > critical stance might be developed so that a trip to the plantation might
> > result in more than the acquisition of local color and could, instead,
> > provide an impetus for those present to reflect upon and/or reconsider
> > not only their own understanding of slavery and racism in this country,
> > but also the ways in which those things are taken up in the educational
> > contexts in which they work.
> >
> > Another account, written by a student
> > http://www.scriptllc.com/oudc/thetrip.html
> >
> > During our visit to Charleston, we went to the Boone Hall Plantation.
> > I was overcome with emotion and found myself crying uncontrollably.
> > It was as if all the slaves who lived there came to me at once to
> > tell me their horrible tales. The experience was overwhelming. The
> > entire tour of the plantation was conducted without a single mention
> > of slaves. The tour guide discussed the architecture and the
> > furnishings in the house extensively including the floors, tables,
> > china and silver. The trees were mentioned many times. But the
> > people who built the plantation, the people who lived there, some of
> > whom died there, the people who worked from sunrise to sunrise,
> > these people were never mentioned.
> >
> > As an African-American, it was not surprising that the plantation
> > evoked profound feelings and emotions in me. My Jewish peers,
> > however, were also moved and were as outraged as we African-
> > Americans. They questioned the tour guide about what they understood
> > to be a humiliating oversight. We all learned a great deal from the
> > experience. Even though we may not have entirely understood one
> > another, we learned that it is important to be sensitive to other people
> > and to respect one
> > another's feelings. This trip taught us how to be tolerant. I have
> > learned one very important lesson: we African-American people must
> > learn to love ourselves. We must learn about ourselves in order to
> > stand strong with others. And we must all know about each other in
> > order to understand. After the summer trip, my commitment to
> > enlighten others and to learn are considerably stronger. I had a
> > chance to get to know the other students better; I also learned a
> > great deal about myself.
> >
> > And this, an account of a tour taken despite the NCAAP boycott in 2000
> > http://www.inform.umd.edu/News/Diamondback/00-02-29/news1.html
> >
> > At about 3 p.m. the bus stopped at the Boone Hall Plantation, a
> > 17,000-acre farm when it was established in 1681, according to
> > brochures. Three hundred years later, the farm has shrunk to 738 acres.
> > The tour bus drove down the half-mile dirt drive shrouded by Spanish
> > moss-covered oak trees. Jason Wiles, a senior entertainment
> > management major, said he could feel the reminders of slavery.
> > "As soon as I got off that bus, I knew where I was," he said.
> > Lined a few yards from the street were nine slave houses, three
> > unrepaired after damage done during Hurricane Hugo in 1989. The
> > buildings were cloaked in the original brick, made at the plantation,
> > with shells still stuck in the cement between the bricks.
> >
> > The group headed to the main house for the tour and was greeted by a
> > blonde young woman in an old-fashioned blue dress, complete with
> > hoops to flare out the skirt. They met the tour guide, who then
> > focused the tour on the antique furniture and mentioned little
> > about slavery.
> >
> > Belcher said he was upset because the slaves were referred to as
> > "craftsmen" and "they" instead of overtly recognizing the enslavement.
> > "It was a wonderful demonstration of erasing history," Belcher said.
> > Many others said they were upset with the production. "It was like
> > they knew what happened but they were hiding it," said Taiwo Oladapo,
> > a junior chemical engineering major.
> >
> > After the tour Belcher sat on a bench outside the plantation while
> > the others either did handstands in the backyard or lounged around
> > the ancient oak trees, many taller than the main house. Belcher said
> > he found racism in the reconstruction after the hurricane.
> >
> > "The slaves' quarters were destroyed but the gardens were maintained,"
> > he said.
> >
> > The plantation does offer another tour, led by a historian who takes
> > the group through the slave quarters, said Julie Rose, Boone Hall
> > office manager. "[The tour] is all about how the slaves would have
> > lived," she said.
> >
> > I thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to
> > your response.
> >
> > Janet Isserlis, joined by Heide Spruck Wrigley, Elsa Auerbach, Andy
> > Nash and Mary Ann
> > Florez, Maria Elena Gonzalez and Judy Titzel
> >
> >
> >COABE's response:
> >
> >COABE 2002 offers the tours described in the registration brochure for the
> >pleasure of conference participants. The tour description is the one offered
> >by the tour company and the Charleston Visitors Bureau.
> >
> >[me again, to this list] Again, finally, my intent here is not to
> >embarrass or malign anyone, but to make us all aware of a learning
> >opportunity -- not only in terms of the way in which the tour is
> >described, but in the fact that such a tour could provide either a strong
> >learning experience or render us, again, complicit in disappearing this
> >country's history of slavery and in perpetuating an insidious form of
> >racism in so doing.
>
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