Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g1RLTxu10438; Wed, 27 Feb 2002 16:29:59 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 16:29:59 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <3C7CFCB5.A17ACFAB@umb.edu> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Elsa Auerbach <elsa.auerbach@umb.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:7332] RE: COABE plantation tour X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.76 (Macintosh; U; PPC) Status: O Content-Length: 10506 Lines: 204 My sense is that Janet's post was a challenge to COABE. Boone Hall is what it is; but that doesn't mean that an adult education organization should uncritically participate in supporting it. I am NOT trying to defend Boone Hall with this post, rather to suggest that it's COABE that needs to be questioned. Elsa Cindi Riley wrote: > I live and work about an hour and a half from Charleston. I visited Boone > Hall as a child and was told extensive stories about how the plantation was > an integral part of "Gone With the Wind." When I visited again about 3 years > ago, I was told that Boone Hall was never used in the filming of GWTW. A > previous owner made up the stories. Boone Hall was, however, used in the > filming of "North and South." > > The tour that we took a few years ago included the slave cabins. We went in > them. I found that actually standing in these cabins and imagining the life > that was led there was very powerful. Also keep in mind that Boone Hall is > privately owned. The owners choose what to showcase and what to ignore. It > is not a state park. As for three cabins not being repaired after Hugo, > remember that Hugo did incredible damage to that area and since Boone Hall > is private, repairs were done to what draws the most tourists. > > If you want a multicultural experience during the conference, come over to > Beaufort and St. Helena Island and take a tour of Penn Center, the site of > one of the first schools for freed slaves in the US and a wonderful > African-American cultural institution. Martin Luther King, Jr. stayed at > Penn Center to map out strategy for the civil rights movement. Here is a > link for more info: http://www.penncenter.com/. > > ******************** > Cindi Riley > Assistant Director > Literacy Volunteers of the Lowcountry > 1403 Prince St. > Beaufort, SC 29902 > phone 843-525-6658 > fax 843-521-1945 > lvl@hargray.com > > -----Original Message----- > From: nifl-esl@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-esl@nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Janet > Isserlis > Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 11:51 AM > To: Multiple recipients of list > Subject: [NIFL-ESL:7324] COABE plantation tour > > Colleagues, > > I'm sending you copies of a message I sent to COABE and the response > that I received from them about a tour they've included amongst their > offerings (f tours/trips) during their upcoming conference. My > intention here is not to malign COABE necessarily, but to bring to > our collective attention the fact that an important learning > opportunity risks being neglected. I have never organized a national > conference, and can't imagine the level of detail that such an event > necessitates. Nonetheless, it feels important to be mindful of > learning opportunities -- found and neglected -- and it is in this > spirit that I offer the following, with apologies to those to whom > this will be cross posted. > > Janet Isserlis > > [my letter to COABE] To whom it may concern: > > I received your brochure yesterday and was startled, angered and > saddened at the description of the Boone Hall Plantation tour you > provide therein. Your text: > > Boone Hall Plantation Tour > > Go back in time to the antebellum days when plantation life in the > South was self-sustaining and held a charm all its own. Arrive at > Boone Hall Plantation through the famour three-quarter mile "Avenue > of Oaks." Boone Hall was granted to one of South Carolina's first > Settles, Major John Boone, in 1676. Originally a cotton plantation, > Boone Hall spread over 17,000 acres. Hand-made brick and tile were > also manufactured on the plantation. These same brick [sic] have been > identified in the mansion, garden walls, slave cabins and many of > Charleston's oldest and most historic buildings. This plantation has > been used in the filming of "Gone with the Wind," and more recently, > "North and South." Enjoy a guided tour of the grounds followed by a > guided tour of the mansion. > > Your narrative completely obliterates any possibility of > problematizing issues of race and racism inherent in slavery as it > was practiced on the plantation, thereby reducing what could be > viewed as a powerful opportunity to witness a terrible force in > history to an attractive side trip, part of the local color. I am > deeply saddened that a group of educators would not be more attentive > to the implicitly racist point of view given in your text. Where we > have an opportunity to educate ourselves, and by extension, those > with whom we learn and teach, you have done nothing to promote a > critical stance, or even the asking of important questions. > Instead, your text promotes a romanticized, sanitized glimpse of the > backdrop to "Gone with the Wind," itself a film that is open to > discussion. I fervently hope that you consider writing a more > appropriate description as an insert to the brochure and create links > on your web site that facilitate a more educational exploration of > our history. > > The following two excerpts provide examples of ways in which a more > critical stance might be developed so that a trip to the plantation > might result in more than the acquisition of local color and could, > instead, provide an impetus for those present to reflect upon and/or > reconsider not only their own understanding of slavery and racism in > this country, but also the ways in which those things are taken up in > the educational contexts in which they work. > > Another account, written by a student > http://www.scriptllc.com/oudc/thetrip.html > > During our visit to Charleston, we went to the Boone Hall Plantation. > I was overcome with emotion and found myself crying uncontrollably. > It was as if all the slaves who lived there came to me at once to > tell me their horrible tales. The experience was overwhelming. The > entire tour of the plantation was conducted without a single mention > of slaves. The tour guide discussed the architecture and the > furnishings in the house extensively including the floors, tables, > china and silver. The trees were mentioned many times. But the > people who built the plantation, the people who lived there, some of > whom died there, the people who worked from sunrise to sunrise, > these people were never mentioned. > > As an African-American, it was not surprising that the plantation > evoked profound feelings and emotions in me. My Jewish peers, > however, were also moved and were as outraged as we African- > Americans. They questioned the tour guide about what they understood > to be a humiliating oversight. We all learned a great deal from the > experience. Even though we may not have entirely understood one > another, we learned that it is important to be sensitive to other > people and to respect one > another's feelings. This trip taught us how to be tolerant. I have > learned one very important lesson: we African-American people must > learn to love ourselves. We must learn about ourselves in order to > stand strong with others. And we must all know about each other in > order to understand. After the summer trip, my commitment to > enlighten others and to learn are considerably stronger. I had a > chance to get to know the other students better; I also learned a > great deal about myself. > > And this, an account of a tour taken despite the NCAAP boycott in 2000 > http://www.inform.umd.edu/News/Diamondback/00-02-29/news1.html > > At about 3 p.m. the bus stopped at the Boone Hall Plantation, a > 17,000-acre farm when it was established in 1681, according to > brochures. Three hundred years later, the farm has shrunk to 738 acres. > The tour bus drove down the half-mile dirt drive shrouded by Spanish > moss-covered oak trees. Jason Wiles, a senior entertainment > management major, said he could feel the reminders of slavery. > "As soon as I got off that bus, I knew where I was," he said. > Lined a few yards from the street were nine slave houses, three > unrepaired after damage done during Hurricane Hugo in 1989. The > buildings were cloaked in the original brick, made at the plantation, > with shells still stuck in the cement between the bricks. > > The group headed to the main house for the tour and was greeted by a > blonde young woman in an old-fashioned blue dress, complete with > hoops to flare out the skirt. They met the tour guide, who then > focused the tour on the antique furniture and mentioned little > about slavery. > > Belcher said he was upset because the slaves were referred to as > "craftsmen" and "they" instead of overtly recognizing the enslavement. > "It was a wonderful demonstration of erasing history," Belcher said. > Many others said they were upset with the production. "It was like > they knew what happened but they were hiding it," said Taiwo Oladapo, > a junior chemical engineering major. > > After the tour Belcher sat on a bench outside the plantation while > the others either did handstands in the backyard or lounged around > the ancient oak trees, many taller than the main house. Belcher said > he found racism in the reconstruction after the hurricane. > > "The slaves' quarters were destroyed but the gardens were > maintained," he said. > > The plantation does offer another tour, led by a historian who takes > the group through the slave quarters, said Julie Rose, Boone Hall > office manager. "[The tour] is all about how the slaves would have > lived," she said. > > I thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to > your response. > > Janet Isserlis, joined by Heide Spruck Wrigley, Elsa Auerbach, Andy > Nash and Mary Ann > Florez, Maria Elena Gonzalez and Judy Titzel > > COABE's response: > > COABE 2002 offers the tours described in the registration brochure for the > pleasure of conference participants. The tour description is the one > offered > by the tour company and the Charleston Visitors Bureau. > > [me again, to this list] Again, finally, my intent here is not to > embarrass or malign anyone, but to make us all aware of a learning > opportunity -- not only in terms of the way in which the tour is > described, but in the fact that such a tour could provide either a > strong learning experience or render us, again, complicit in > disappearing this country's history of slavery and in perpetuating an > insidious form of racism in so doing.
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