Black Lives Matter … the 1852 version.
So, I’ve been listening to the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin on Audible.
How long until it gets canceled for use of the “N” word? Looks like Paypal might try to charge me $2500 for reading something they don’t approve of https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2022/10/the-2500-fine-read-it-and-weep.html. I’ve canceled Paypal.
But that said, read it (while you can?). If you can get past contemporary hangups about the “wrong” words being used you will find one of the most powerful statements in all of human history that “Black Lives Matter”. Stowe visited Lincoln in the White House in 1862, and there is a possible apocryphal quote by Lincoln that goes “So this is the little lady who started this great war.”
My family hid runaway slaves (14 miles north of the Ohio river) and fought in the Union army. One of them was a student at Lane Seminary in Cincinnati (just across the Ohio ) where Stow’s father, Lyman Beecher taught … where a series of student debates over Aboliton attended by Stow caused riots. The student body withdrew en masse to Oberlin college. This book provides context and a backdrop for what drove them to disobey the law (the Fugitive Slave Act) and take up arms.
That’s history. While I’m proud of what they did, I claim no virtue for their actions. The question for me now, as it was for them then, is how do I treat my fellow human beings today.
I have my relative’s hand-written notes (1830s) from “Dr. Beecher’s Lectures on Theology” in my closet. Maybe that’s up next on the reading list to better understand what drove them…
#28 of #100DaysToOffload take 2.1, https://100daystooffload.com/