Bench adds way to needed healing

I am glad the Post and Courier gave such prominent coverage on Sunday, July 27 to the dedication of the memorial bench on Sullivan's Island and to the efforts of local historic sites and tourism agencies to address the issues of slavery and the slave trade here in the Lowcountry.

It was a shame that the snappily alliterative headline, "Selling Slavery," implied that commercialism drives (and somehow taints) the efforts of those who over the past two decades or so have labored to present a more thorough, accurate and inclusive representation of the Lowcountry's past.

In fact, what motivates the coalition of historic site administrators, and national, state, county and city tourism officials is concern for comprehensive public programming. They recognize that the graciousness of the big house cannot be separated from the history of slavery, and that if we are to continue to promote the complete plantation experience, we have to be frank about the plantations' dependence on slavery.

Such frankness does not come easily. Here in the Lowcountry, the difficulty is especially sensitive and complicated because of race. How can one celebrate Charleston's historic buildings and landscape in a way that respects the suffering and absence of freedom of the enslaved without polarizing racial divisions?

The Toni Morrison Society's placing of a "Bench by the Road" on Sullivan's Island — the single most important point of entry into North America for enslaved Africans in the 18th century — is just such a way. It's an amazingly gentle, open and humble memorial that invites visitors to Sullivan's Island simply to sit and reflect in silent meditation.

I feel privileged to have been able to attend the dedication ceremony. It was incredibly affecting to see world-renowned author Toni Morrison sitting on the bench alongside Thomalind Polite and her daughter exemplifying the direct connection between contemporary African-Americans and those unknown Africans who were kidnapped and shipped here 200 and 300 years ago.

Another example of Charleston's enhanced sensitivity to the presentation of slavery at tourist sites is Drayton Hall's "Connections: From Africa to America" program.

The history of slavery in the Lowcountry, in South Carolina, and in the United States and the world has had an abiding impact materially and psychologically on race relations and has racialized thinking. This impact has been deeply disabling.

The various local programs addressing this history and its impact are not "selling slavery" — they are offering all of us a way toward mutual understanding and reconciliation.

SIMON LEWIS

Riverfront Drive

Charleston

Simon Lewis is associate professor of English at the College of Charleston.