|
No
Joy Taken in Display of Remains of Holy Man Hatcher
Hampered & Demeaned by
Post Tribune's Racism & Paternalism
Dear
Mr. Lewis,
I
have found all the articles surrounding the Nat Turner to be
very interesting. It seems to have stirred up a lot of interest
on your website. It has certainly enlightened me on the history
of Nat Turner. Unfortunately, as is the case with so many of our
heroes the information that is given us in our schools is only
basic and too often that is distorted.
Although
it appears on the surface that there has been a heightened
interest since your article appeared in the Post, I have
only spoken with three people who read your letter to the editor
and they did not follow up as I did with a "trip" to
the website. I'm sorry to say that very little happens that gets
folks really stirred up around here. We certainly have enough
going on that we should be up in arms about . . . but that just
isn't the case.
Another reason very few people may have read the article is
simply where it appeared. The Post (formally the GARY Post
Tribune, until Gary became Black) has single-handedly done
more to destroy this community and any Black person that dares
to speak out, with its racist tactics than any other single
factor. In fact, the only reason they are hot on this story is
that they feel this can further demean Richard Hatcher and his
attempt to build the National Civil Rights Hall of Fame.
There
were several reporters at the fundraiser the night the
"skull" was presented, including the Gary City editor
who is Black but they showed no interest one way or the other
until they "smelled blood" when your article appeared.
I said that to say that the majority of Blacks use that paper
for sale ads, obituaries, and sports . . . never making it to
their opinion page because of the paper's racist, paternalistic
views. They have no Blacks on the editorial staff but have all
the knowledge of what is right for us.
From what I have read on ChickenBones I think there is a
misconception about the National Civil Rights Hall of Fame. At
this time only the land has been acquired and that was a major
task since it had to be done through the city government. We are
still trying to raise enough money to begin construction and
those efforts been greatly hampered by the Post Tribune.
They have written more negative editorials on the Hall of Fame
than on any other one subject. They continue to try to infer
that the financial statements have not been made available when
the truth is that they have not been made available to THEM
only.
Every
other agency, governmental and otherwise, that has requested the
information has been given the information and has been
satisfied with what they have received. Why should any
information be given to the people that are dead set on
destroying the concept? In fact, the Hall of Fame board stopped
announcing contributions because reporters would call the
companies and try to persuade them that they would be
contributing to an illegal venture. That is how filled with
hatred this paper is.
What I'm saying is that there has been no monetary value
received from the "skull." It was presented at the
fundraiser, period. I am now very interested in the
"journey" this skull has taken over the last 170 years
and if in fact it is actually the skull of Nat Turner. The night
it was presented I wondered why someone would be silent all
these years about its existence. I think all in attendance were
just totally baffled, including Mayor Hatcher. I don't think anyone
I have spoken to about this, including Mayor Hatcher, is jumping
for joy at the thought of displaying the remains of such a great
person. As they say "charge it to our heads...not our
hearts!"
What I do believe is that Mayor Hatcher and the Hall of Fame
board are trying to sort through this very bizarre situation. I
am also confident that the end result will first be the truth
and then based on that truth, what is right. And I may add that
this was not based on anyone having to twist the mayor's arm or
use any other persuasive tactics. His vision of a National Civil
Rights Hall of Fame has been and continues to be to pay honor to
those who sacrificed to make things better for us, certainly not
"profiteering off the remains of a holy man." I
believe that you would have been very surprised had you had that
"one on one" conversation. I wish you had not taken a busy
signal to mean that the mayor had no interest in responding
to your queries, because after all a busy signal gives no
acknowledgment that you called.
Again, one positive aspect of this situation is that I have
learned much more about Nat Turner and I am very interested in
the "journey" this skull has taken in the last 170
years. I hope that in some way it can be positively
determined if this is indeed the skull of Nat Turner and if so
how it was acquired. I believe all things happen for a reason.
Had the skull never been presented none of this discussion would
ever have taken place and if this is the actual skull, we would
never have known it still existed.
Peace to you in these very hectic times,
Dena * *
* * *
update 28 June 2008 |
