Our American Roots: Embracing the Paradox

Captain John Smith's 1612 map of the Colony of Virginia offered the first detailed map of the Chesapeake Region 

Dr. Barry Whittemore, Professor of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy at the University of North Georgia and Unitarian Universalist minister made the following statement which succinctly captures the essence of our American roots:

“400 years ago today two English privateers traded a captured cargo (20-30) of Africans for provisions in the colony of Virginia, launching us down the road to slavery. Less than three weeks earlier the House of Burgesses met for the first time in Jamestown, launching us up the road toward representative democracy.

“We are a people of paradox. What is good in our nation and what is evil in our nation are 400 years old. We tend to extoll the virtues of one and sweep the other under the rug. Both must be held to the light and dealt with before we can be whole. Never speak of one without remembering the other. Embrace the paradox.”

The privateer ships in question were the White Lion and the Treasurer. They delivered the first Africans to these American shores and thus began our foundational move toward slavery. It took a tragic war to free ourselves from the bondage of such beginnings, and we are still emerging from that history.

A Time for Healing

Today, bells will be ringing to commemorate a National Day of Healing as we mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first slaves to the American colonies. A statement issued by the National Parks Service offers hope for healing and reconciliation:

August 25, 2019 is the 400th anniversary of the first landing of enslaved Africans in English-occupied North America at Point Comfort in Hampton, Virginia, now part of Fort Monroe National Monument, a unit of the National Park System. 

The anniversary will be commemorated at Fort Monroe as a day of healing and reconciliation. The park and its partners are inviting all 419 national parks, NPS programs, community partners, and the public to come together in solidarity to ring bells simultaneously across the nation for four minutes—one for each century—to honor the first Africans who landed in 1619 at Point Comfort and 400 years of African American history.

Detail from John Smith's map of Virginia showing Point Comfort

Each day this week, Not Dark Yet will feature some shared insights in marking 400 years of African American history.



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