Hate, not heritage

Yesterday we went to Montgomery and I was unsure and unprepared for what we saw. We began at the Greyhound Bus Station where the freedom rides happened and wound our way through town by way of Commerce Street.  The name itself is significant in the sense that it was the street that slaves were carried through decades ago on the way to be sold into slavery. Although we passed through the square in which slaves were sold, it wasn't noted in any capacity. The plaque next to the fountain in the middle of the square described the history of the square as simply "a place of business," not mentioning the slave trade--one of the biggest in all of Alabama--that had occurred and thrived there for so long. 

After that we went to the Equal Justice Initiative and learned what they do--defending people on death row, working the abolish childhood lifetime sentences, improving prison conditions, and so much more. What became evident to me once we left is that EJI is there, in Montgomery, on Commerce St., for a reason. They're the people who are challenging and demanding the status quo not only be talked about, but changed.

When we were standing outside of their building, Brooks pointed out to me that their offices are between a Jimmy Johns and a Hank Williams museum. The fact that they are surrounded by places like that highlights and is in a way symbolic of their fight to ensure that the moral arc of the universe does, in fact, bend towards justice. The placement of the building as well as the larger town of Montgomery really showed me, for the first time, the extent to which the Southern wants to forget the history of slavery and injustice that's intrinsically woven into the fabric of our country.

After Montgomery, we traveled to Selma to march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge but before we did so we went to a cemetery for confederate soldiers and their families. The most striking thing was the sheer number of confederate flags, joined by monuments to men like Robert E. Lee--with flowers on it--and General Forest. The fact that a cemetery like that still exists--in Selma no less--highlights the effort of so many to not only maintain that way of life but to preserve it.  To us, the confederate flag is a symbol of hatred and horror, serving as a reminder of our countries dark past. But to the people of places like Montgomery it's symbolic of their efforts to maintain the status quo and fight against the moral arc that Dr. King spoke of at the end of his march to Montgomery.

Sarah Riback, Baltimore City College