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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