Building a legacy

Bill Cosby came to Richmond Friday in the hopes of encouraging each American to donate $8 to a national slavery museum. The comedian and philanthropist was in town supporting the museum’s founder, Mayor L. Douglas Wilder.

Each American, not just African-American, should donate to this effort.

Somehow, slavery in America has been simplified to an African-American experience, yet this is not only African-American history. This is American history.

In a teleconference Friday, Wilder explained the significance of the $8 donation.

“The figure eight, in shape, is both of the shackles, which is the symbol of slavery,” he said. “If you turn it on its side, it’s the symbol of infinite freedom.”

Slavery museums are in cities including Baltimore, Detroit and Charleston. Still, there could never be enough museums about this very American topic. Everyone would benefit from the depth of research put into the exhibits. A textbook can only tell so much. A building such as the U.S. National Slavery Museum provides tangible, interactive insight into our turbulent past.

You may ask why another museum on slavery is necessary. Well, it’s very similar to the U.S. Holocaust Museum that tells the story of many European Jews being persecuted. The museum plays the role of the headquarters that gathers the resources in order to bring the story of enslaved Africans in this country to life. It offers options.

Not everyone can tour a plantation nowadays. Some plantations are private and don’t permit trespassing. Many plantations have removed traces of slave life from their premises. We need a central place to learn. The U.S. National Slavery Museum claims to do exactly this.

There is no telling if one of your ancestors was a slave, slave trader or someone who helped on the Underground Railroad. You would serve justice to their legacies in learning from their experiences.

Besides, what is $8 to you? You probably spend that amount every day on frivolous items such as your Starbucks coffee or your Chik-fil-A lunch combo.

The U.S. National Slavery Museum that Wilder founded is to be built in Fredericksburg. The 100,000-square-foot building will sit alongside the Rappahannock River. A national museum dedicated to slavery in America would better serve its purpose of exposing more people near one of the nation’s major tourist attractions – Washington, D.C. And perhaps even more fitting, the museum will be in Virginia, the birthplace of eight U.S. Presidents, of which the first five were slaveholders.

Nevertheless, the U.S. National Slavery Museum is imperative in preserving precious antebellum artifacts. The slavery museum needs to be on the same level as the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington. Monetary donations will assist in that effort.

Cosby said he was donating $1 million. Wilder stated the museum had already raised $50 million. The museum’s campaign goal is to reach $100 million, and the total cost of the museum will be $200 million.

There are about 300 million people in the country – $8 from each person would place the museum’s goal within its grasp. Your $8 is just a simple down payment in studying America’s past so we can move on to greater achievements.

But first, the story must be told in full.

For more information, visit www.usnationalslaverymuseum.org.

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