Why Bring this Up Now?
Why now?
"...in order that young and old of our present generation might all
get to know the truth and be able to pass it on to future generations."
From George G. M. James book Stolen Legacy (pg. 158)
N. Azikiwe
Why now?
I feel that issue is important because it was not addressed in the past. The people who
were lynched during this time (and any other time) suffered an injustice that needs to be discussed by the community
and nation. They also have families who cared for them and who in the very end need closure.
It needs to be now; since we are moving into a new century. Also by talking about the past,
and finding a resolution it will solve a lot of the problems this country faces today and will
face in the future.
D. Baker
Why now?
There is no better time than now to unveil the truth about the lynchings of Mary Turner and others.
As our 2008 presidential candidates have so avidly stated "it's time for a change." Our children and our
children's children have a right to know about our history. One wise man once said, "there is nothing hidden
that won't be revealed." So why not now?
B. Campbell
Why Now? Why At All?
The funny thing abour Americans is that we like to think that history has no affect on us. We are impervious
to the mistakes of our predecessors because we are all the master of our own destiny. The American mentality
holds that if we only try hard enough we can overcome anything, even our past. It is with that mentality that we try
and wipe clean the slates of history and all its atrocities. However, we can no more over come our past by ignoring
it than we can overcome a bullet to the gut by pretending it isn't there. Yet, we continuously toss
our collective past away like so much trash.
It is that very collective past that has shaped and molded us into the citizens we are today. Each and every one of us is
intimately connected with that which came before us by virture of how we are raised as human beings. We are all social creatures
that exist within a nexus of culture and society. It is that culture that informs us of the appropriate actions and responses
to daily life. That culture in turn is shaped by the people's actions and interactions. History is then the continuous
negotiation and renegotiation of people within the nexus of culture, and it is then embedded within the cultural
model. We cannot escape our history because we are firmly enmeshed within it.
Yet we try so very hard to forget that history which has shaped and ensnared us. Horrible things happend and they didn't just
happened in far off places. They happened in our towns, on our streets, within our buildings, and to our very
neighbors. These horrible things are very much a part of both Valdosta's past and present and many have no idea that they
even happened. How are we to address the discriminations of today if we ignore the past from which they
spawned? How can we talk about the problem with hanging black painted dolls from a tree at a local school if our
youth have no idea that such things happened to real living people? These things do not just spring into existence,
they are part of a long complex and painful past that we have steadfastly refuse to acknowledge. How can we heal a
wound if we don't know where it is? So to, how do we fix problems of today if we don't know how they came to be
in the first place?
Why now? Because we haven't before and we need to know our history before we can fix the culture it has left us with. Why at all?
Because a wound only bleeds so long before the body dies.
D. Costello
Why now?
Because with all trauma, we must acknowledge something terrible has happened before we can understand
how it affects us today. Because until we acknowledge, explore, and teach one another about our collective
past we will be haunted by it. Because according to recent research more than 8 million acres
have been taken from African Americans through a variety of tactics. One of those tactics included
acts of racial terrorism. Finally, its important to explore our past and this week of terror
simply because we say we are a nation that loves justice. To do less is simply not acceptable.
Mark Patrick George
Why now?
If not now, when? How does one decide when it is a good time to talk about this?
Most would say that we shouldn't talk about it, that it's in the past. Don't dredge
up things. But the history of this country isn't going to just up and disappear. And
the transgressions that were committed haven't been acknowledged. Racism exists to this day;
it just has become a bit more subtle and evolved as the situation has changed.
Many people want to think that we've "come so far" and that things like racism or sexiam don't pertain
to the present. Our society doesn't like to face its more horrific skeletons
that keep getting shoved back into the closet. People don't want to step on anyone's toes. But I think it's high
time that we ruffle some feathers and maybe even pull a few out.
Think about it this way, if a bone isn't set right after it breaks, it'll fuse back wrong and not
as strong as it was before. Sometimes you have to break the bone again before it can be
healed properly. That's what this country needs. We need to break the past, recognize the pain,
and get the "bone" set right. People need to talk, to have a place to feel comfortable when they talk.
To have other people listen to what they have to say without fear of repercussions or other negative consequences.
So for those who say "why now, why 2008" I ask you, why not now?
J. Whitten
Why now?
We still live in a society where racism, sexism, homophobia, classisim, and other inequalities are so embedded
in our everyday practices and beliefs that it is impossible to identify them as forms of discrimination-they seem to
"just the way the world is." In order to berak the patterns that contribute to the oppression and
marginalization of groups today (who do not hold power in our society), we have to deconstruct our historical
practices for institutionally sanctioned prejudice cultural norms. Simply put, ignoring or trivializing our
past's patterned behaviors allows them to be repeated in the future.
Tracy Woodard-Meyers
