Natchez, Mississippi is famous for its stunning antebellum homes, drawing visitors from across the country to admire their beauty and history. In her film, "Natchez" director Suzannah Herbert looks be
I was fortunate enough to have been educated in a public school system that included the teaching of the atrocities of slavery, the Jim Crow era and the acts of Native American genocide perpetrated by the US government and European settlers. My history textbooks were filled with the brutal detailed accounts that included illustrations and actual uncensored photos. That was in the 70s and early 80s. I find it quite shocking when I encounter people my own age and even much younger who are woefully ignorant of these events.
Thank you for this piece. June is a traditional wedding month in the US and I was reading about the aftermath of the fire that destroyed parts of Nottoway Plantation in Louisiana and then I thought about all the coworkers over my life who have had family reunions, weddings and vacations at plantations. There are so many reasons why this is "ok" for so many people in the US but first and foremost is the fact that "plantation" is a euphemism. These were violence-enforced enslaved labor camps. No one is getting married at Dachau or Auschwitz because they are named exactly for what they are. Thanks again for the journalism. This is why we need PBS.
This documentary was fantastic and so important to watch. I learned a lot and am thankful for the powerful storytelling. This discussion was a great addition to the topic - thank you!
That Natchez documentary was soooooooo infuriating. And to think there are people who will literally claim that racism doesn't exist anymore in America.
I should add though: the documentary was superb and effective.
Im from Port Gibson MS another antebellum town and went to secondary school in Natchez (go Greenwave) and this documentary was amazingly put together and very accurate. The antebellum culture is literally second nature there so no one thinks its strange or inappropriate to host every milestone at these places (as one of 10 black students in my class, our senior class picture picture was taken on the steps of a plantation house probably featured in this the film) and there’s also the “tableau” which is even more insane cuz they literally cosplay the history of Natchez and gloss over the annihilation of the Natchez tribe.. its truly a mindfck to grow up in
I remember when we were in elementary school we took a class trip to a plantation. I thought it was so weird after they'd just explained the truth of slavery to us, but I realized it is something kids need to see because all it takes is one corrupt government to let it happen again. I went again in college for a paper and all I can say is the only place on earth that gives the same feelings as those Southern plantations is when I visited Auschwitz in Germany. That type of evil soaks into the very earth and gives you chills to experience when you realize you're standing in a place where human beings tortured other human beings for centuries.
"If I'd lived back then, I wouldn't have done it!" Yet this free thinker followed his claim by parroting today's most common arguments against reparations to the descendants of enslaved people. The reality is that if he'd been born into plantation-holder society in the antebellum south, he would almost certainly have held the same values as his peers.
As would most humans. Adherence to social norms is strongly wired into the human brain, and questioning those norms is hard. Thanks to PBS for this important documentary and discussion. (For anyone who hasn't seen the full film, "Exposing the Myth of Southern Charm," I strongly encourage you to do so!)
Did you watch the full documentary "Natchez," also titled on this channel "Exposing the Myth of Southern Charm"? We'd love to hear what you thought too! - Lucky
The problem is the way the history is told in the wedding venues because it is false on 2 fronts: 1) the portrayal of plantation owners as non violent when in fact they were the ones who maintained slavery in very violent ways . 2) the separation / division of American history as if African American history is separate from plantation history and Euro-American history!
The narrative has profound and lasting negative impact on our society because it normalize the brutality with which the plantation class founded and maintained their system. It normalized the suffering and the oppression of others. It would be great if a plantation had a tour on what slavery did to the humanity of European people , how it distorted their sense of self and their understanding of history and the world we live in, how it hardened their hearts distorted their thinking. There is no doubt in my mind that the narrative being spun has a deep agenda rooted in the Lost Cause ideology.
They won't let us move on. They still disrespect us and are still prejudiced against us as a people. It's very hard to move on when we as black people have never been given a proper apology for the evil acts of thiis era.
The reason that a lot of white Americans don't think slavery was that bad and think that discrimination and the horrible treatment of black people just magically ended when slavery ended and when the Civil Rights Act was passed is because the racist Conservative media channels lie to them. They don't know the truth of what happened because generationally they've lied about how horrible slavery was in the lasting impact of it and what's going on in the world today.
They watch conservative channels known for lying and being dishonest, like Fox News so they'll never know how horrible black people are still being treated in this world because of the fact they never watch the news stories that tell them the truth. And if they do watch they think it's a lie because of cognitive dissonance.
This conversation was so needed and I loved the thorough break downs of history and how unfortunately people are trying to silence the truth or hide their true feelings behind a fantasy of the southern character of charm and hospitality.
I watched the documentary, and it was so unsettling to see the disturbing cognitive dissonance shown throughout the film. The claim of wanting to "move on" and "leave the past in the past" is directly undermined by the failure to fully recognize the true depth of that history, which includes the horrors of chattel slavery. A permanent, intergenerational legally sanctioned system of human bondage that relied on the subjugation and brutalization of Black people to maintain control.
I find that those who make these claims mainly want to silence those who speak about the realities of that era because it makes them uncomfortable. What cannot be faced can never be fixed, and that’s why America remains relatively stagnant or regressive when it comes to race relations. The doc was a great but unsettling watch.
As a Black Mississippian, it's unfortunate that this is not surprising, at all. This is normal behavior for certain people and we create our lives around their BS so we can simply go about our day. Existing is like another job, but it's so normalized and also exhausting.
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I should add though: the documentary was superb and effective.
As would most humans. Adherence to social norms is strongly wired into the human brain, and questioning those norms is hard. Thanks to PBS for this important documentary and discussion. (For anyone who hasn't seen the full film, "Exposing the Myth of Southern Charm," I strongly encourage you to do so!)
... I'm currently living in Clarksdale Mississippi btw.
The narrative has profound and lasting negative impact on our society because it normalize the brutality with which the plantation class founded and maintained their system. It normalized the suffering and the oppression of others. It would be great if a plantation had a tour on what slavery did to the humanity of European people , how it distorted their sense of self and their understanding of history and the world we live in, how it hardened their hearts distorted their thinking. There is no doubt in my mind that the narrative being spun has a deep agenda rooted in the Lost Cause ideology.
They watch conservative channels known for lying and being dishonest, like Fox News so they'll never know how horrible black people are still being treated in this world because of the fact they never watch the news stories that tell them the truth. And if they do watch they think it's a lie because of cognitive dissonance.
I find that those who make these claims mainly want to silence those who speak about the realities of that era because it makes them uncomfortable. What cannot be faced can never be fixed, and that’s why America remains relatively stagnant or regressive when it comes to race relations. The doc was a great but unsettling watch.
Side note: stopped everything to jam to the credits music
I’m wondering how the romantic ideas that glaze over horrors apply to other places in the world.