Anne,
I understand your desire to convey the fact that the desire for
freedom burned in the hearts of the slave. Also, that slaves
were deprived of the opportunity to use their talents and intelligence.
Also, I realize the need to demonstrate the abuses that occurred in
slavery, the failure of society to recognize its fault and abolish
slavery.
However, Nat Turner was a well-educated, intelligent preacher with a
serious psychosis, which led him to enlist others and murder more than
50 people - of whom, more than 30 were women and small children.
He was not a hero. He was crazy. Chasing toddlers around the school
yard and beheading them is not a fight for liberation - it's mass
murder.
It's also unnecessary to use this villain as an example of anything
virtuous in the make-up of those of African descent, in the past,
enslaved, or otherwise. There are many noble examples of slaves and
free blacks who are far more illustrative of the injustice, waste of
talent, and slave-owner stupidity. It is repulsive, and even insulting
to hold up Nat Turner as an example of
slave leadership, or the human desire for freedom.
Portray him as he was: obviously intelligent, obviously spiritual,
well-educated, respected in the community --- but ultimately a victim
of his own psychosis.
Elizabeth
-----Original Message-----
From: Anne Pemberton <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 3:49 am
Subject: Re: And Now Nat Turner
Tony,
I appreciate your comments and the quote from my sources that
emphasized the
heinousness of the crime. Yet, his crimes pales somewhat in the light
of the
crimes committed against slaves on a routine basis and considered part
of
the "rights" of ownership. I did not mention in the piece, for the sake
of
brevity, that the owners of the slave executed for the rebellion were
financially compensated by the state for the loss of their "property".
What I wanted to make apparent was that slaves were not complacent with
their destiny as property, and in some instances, such a Nat Turner,
made
very loud statements that indicated they wanted their freedom. Instead
of
listening and learning from this rebellion, the proponants of slavery
merely
instituted harsher laws to prevent further "uprisings". This was an
opportunity for the good people of Virginia to overturn slavery as an
unjust
system that so burdened the victims that they would rise to the point
of
heinous crime in order to attain their freedom. Instead, the took a
note
from the pharaoh of yore, and hardened their hearts against their
oppressed
servants.
One thing that I hope children will gain from this story is that
freedom
burns in the hearts of all who are oppressed, and that suppressing the
expression of that freedom leads to gruesome consequences. Freedom is
precious, and not just to our forefathers, but also to those who were
enslaved by those same forefathers.
Anne
Anne Pemberton
[log in to unmask]
http://www.erols.com/apembert
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org
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