More on AMERICAN History
Central Park – The Pond (Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA)
The following is an updated/edited excerpt from a response to a friend who gave me some reflections about my memoir after reading it:
“Regarding your question about what insight I would give to a Black person to help them thrive more/less falls in line with one of the key threads of my memoir … i.e., don’t think for a moment that the majority of white people truly comprehend the depths of their racism … even myself since I continue to discover and learn more about the preponderance and continuing legacy of this evil all the time. The “plank” is firmly placed in all our white eyes to one degree or another.
For example, in a book I’m reading titled ‘How the Word is Passed’ (Clint Smith), I learned even more that the so-called North/South historical divide on slavery, racism, and associated politics is not really a divide at all but is manifested in an infinite number of ways no matter where you live, including New York. Essentially, “the word is passed” through the knowledge and understanding the true history of our country’s racist past.
Dr. Smith’s book has a chapter dedicated to New York City’s racist history and here is just a taste: the so-called “melting pot” of the world had the second largest slave market in the world (after Charleston, SC) located in the Wall Street area … and even the name “Wall Street” is steeped in racist history.
Among the many other historical facts noted is that Central Park was developed beginning in the 1850’s after destroying hundreds of primarily Black homes who lived in what was then called Seneca Village. I never knew this and it is literally in my backyard albeit a few hundred miles away in the state we live in. Many Blacks probably are not familiar with this ancestral history either as people of all stripes walk, bike, jog, (and bird watch!), etc. in Central Park today, in what is probably the largest multi-racial, diverse city in the world.
So, in order to thrive, no matter whether Black or white, we all should (must!) know our true history, learn and grow from it, and put in place an enlightened society/culture so that history cannot repeat itself!”
In addition to Smith’s book which I highly recommend (found at https://www.amazon.com/How-Word-Passed-Reckoning-History/dp/0316492930?ref_=ast_sto_dp), I also draw your attention to the following sites:
- https://asburyfirst.org/archive/ … Rev. Stephen Cady’s 2.13.22 sermon
- ‘Master Class on Race’: https://newsone.com/4283427/masterclass-black-history-black-freedom-black-love-course-free-black-history-month/
- ‘How the South Won the Civil War’ (Heather Cox Richardson) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084T78RLD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
Each of these will greatly amplify any person’s (Black or white) historical education … all it takes is the desire to learn and not be threatened by possible changes in perspective.
