The Dissonance of Charleston

Very mixed feelings about Charleston and all that it reveals. I’m so sensitive about the injustices of the past that are still palpable today. Yes, there was a glorius and beautiful antebellum (literally defined as “before the war”) period for some white people, but wow, built so heavily on the backs, skills, and knowledge of African Americans. The International African American Museum (IAAM) beautifully presents these stories of the past. How the lure of riches resulted in the cruelty of forcibly bringing people to the Carolinas that had the knowledge to build and farm rice patties, to grow, harvest, and process indigo, and craft large pottery vessels. Walking through these exhibits, I had similar bodily reactions–pit in my stomach, etc.–that I had when walking through Auschwitz last summer. I understand that people can justify things to ridiculous degrees, especially when they are crazed by $$$. But truly, how can people be like this to other humans? I want to think that we are better than this now, but are we?

Hannibals, a third-generation, delicious, African American-owned restaurant in Charleston, SC.

South Carolina was the first to secede from the nation for a reason–they were the wealthiest state in the nation, because of the financial benefits of slavery. Based on other storytelling we’ve encountered, some people have since justified secession based on taxes, etc. but it doesn’t check out with even basic research. So here Charleston finds itself today with, for example, some very rich white people still living the life South of Broad St, and African Americans who have found their way through much adversity. Today, people like the 3rd generation owners of Hannibal restaurant, who serve delicious plates of crab and shrimp over rice with side dishes like collard greens, stewed cabbage, and macaroni and cheese for modest prices, are used for photo ops for people like Hillary Clinton during her 2016 campaign. And they are right across town from incredibly appointed and maintained large historic southern homes that their ancestors built and appear to be owned by mostly white people. As an outside visitor, it’s all very blatant. But if you live here, do people stop seeing the dissonance?