Quilts and The Underground Railroad: The Saga Continues
Well, after having gotten slapped upside the head because I thought that January was Black History Month (due to New Hampshire’s celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), I am happy to know that (most) people, apparently, in the United States celebrate Black History Month in February. Keep in mind, as I learned, too, that some states have a celebration in June, and yet others celebrate in August.
An aside: I have but one day to celebrate being Irish-American, March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day, but I am not complaining because I enjoy being Irish, every day!
I am pleased that Americans are beginning to celebrate diversity. The fact that so many people are rushing into ways to honors Blacks is resulting in some horrible mistakes. Some of the damage to historical truth (like spreading the so-called secret quilt code) can never be totally undone, and we will just have to chock up these misstatements as a creation of new legends.
“The New York Times” this week ran an article about a statue to Frederick Douglass which was to have been erected in Central Park, with the words of the “secret quilt code” encircling his feet. Oh, my! Historians have cried out loudly about that error, and it appears that the statue will be re-designed.
Right now, on my website, there are three large articles which are comprised of explanation and commentary about why the “secret quilt code” as described in the book, Hidden in Plain View, could not have existed, according to what we know about quilts and certain quilt block configurations and when they came into being, as well as other well-thought-out reasons, such as facts surrounding the Underground Railroad escape system.
Any bright person who has spent more than half a minute at my website would be able to figure out that I am not a bigot.
Today, we traveled to the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine to see the traveling exhibit of Francisco Goya’s “Los Caprichos,” a large collection of satirical and social commentaries translated into visual media, namely, prints. It is a long drive from here, so we had a chance to chat. Jim said that he thinks that anyone who opposes the secret quilt code stands to be labeled a “racist.”
If that is the case, it’s really too bad that anyone would dismiss my scholarly considerations by referring to me with a trite, and overworked label. Shows no creativity at all, and it actually indicates prejudice and backwardness, on the part of the speaker.
In many parts of America, bigotry is still alive and well. Make that Bigotry, with a capital “B.” Recently however, that kind of hatefulness seems to be primarily directed toward people who are Islamic, Jewish, or Mexican. This is an alarming and distressing trend.
Many years after the end of slavery in America, we are beginning to act decently toward descendants of slaves, and other Black Americans. At least there are many “mouth noises” in that direction.
We all need to respect each other, regardless of national origins or heritage, and we also should stop trying to stick labels onto other people. One word or label can never sum up a human being. In fact, seven years ago, I wrote a poem about that very idea:
On Labeling
Patricia L. Cummings, September 2, 2000
At the cupboard, I try to decide, will it be soup or spaghetti?
The label that helps me to choose
precludes me from opening beets or confetti.
Labels for food would most certainly be missed
were a youngster, bored, to remove them
but labels for people, just don’t seem to work
as much as we try to conjure them.
Until you are dead, you will all live in dread
of the words people say about you.
But you know who you are, and the gifts that you have,
so turn a deaf ear to the critics.
I appreciate people who are broad-minded, and accepting of each other, and who are not so quick to judge and make pronouncements that are simply not true. And, I really respect those who treat history seriously and who don’t conjure up false stories or promote them, just because they may sound good at the time or seem suitable to stick into an educational curriculum to fill that need for “diversity.”
We shall celebrate Black History Month, in its official designated time slot, beginning in just a few days, but let’s not forget that we seem to have a long way to go until there is “liberty and justice for all.”
The American Flag…Long May She Wave!
The Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave!
Patricia Cummings
