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<\/a>The Legacy Museum, in Montgomery, Alabama, tells the history of systemic racism in the United States, going from the Atlantic slave trade to mass incarceration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Associate Professor of Theater Heidi Winters Vogel\u2019s Civil Arts and the Black Arts Movement course, we read James Baldwin\u2019s \u201cBlues for Mister Charlie,\u201d based on the lynching of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy who was killed in Mississippi after allegedly whistling at a white woman in 1955. Having read several books based on the case prior to the immersion trip, this case was one that consistently bothered us on several levels. It serves, in our minds, as a depiction of how ruthless, irrational, and violent racism truly is in nature. One wall in the Legacy Museum listed names of lynching victims across the country and included several of their ages. We realized then that while Mamie Till\u2019s decision to have an open casket at her son\u2019s funeral brought much-needed attention to the violence of lynching, many other Black children also suffered. Emmett Till\u2019s death was not an anomaly, even as a boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exhibit that focused on mass incarceration resonated heavily as well. Having written papers on the ways in which mass incarceration is the continuation of slavery, we were knowledgeable going into the trip on how it came to be. However, one part of the exhibit served as a much-needed reminder that our generation is not far removed from efforts to reduce Black people to inferior creatures. It focused on an official from the Nixon Administration who admitted that the \u201cWar on Drugs\u201d was intended to target Black Americans disproportionately. This reminded us of the Southern Strategy, which an official from the Reagan Administration discussed in an interview years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exhibit also was a reminder of the Critical Race Theory debate going on today. The term is being used as a cover for various aspects of history regarding race. In certain states, systemic racism lessons, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.\u2019s \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech and other teachings are being banned. These issues are being manufactured to systemically target, criminalize, and erase Black Americans and Black history. This emphasized the importance of continuing the struggle our ancestors fought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When taking the short ride on the shuttle bus to The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, we had no idea the impact this site would have on us during this trip. We were aware of widespread lynching and terrorism that plagued the South and our nation during the early and mid-20th century. We did not know, however, just how violent and disgusting these acts were in their individual instances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The descriptions of reasons for the lynchings was the first thing that impacted us during this experience. Many descriptions showed that these killings were executed for minimal, and completely harmless acts by African American individuals, who lost their lives in terrifying ways. The endless rows and columns of metal monuments on the floor and ceilings symbolically displayed how widespread and common these acts of terror were. Many of these metal boxes had names and dates on them in the county they represented, showing a culture of racism and violence in individual places. Each name had a story on these boxes, and each county had a story as well. Many were not named at all and just labeled as \u201cunknown.\u201d This was deeply striking, knowing that a life was taken so violently and evilly, and that a human being\u2019s name will never be recognized in history. We all were overwhelmed in thinking and taking in this memorial, because every name was a life taken, and more commonly than not, no one was ever held responsible for these acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n