Fading into history
In the 1860s, abolitionists circulated placards of emancipated children, selling them to raise money for the education of freed slaves in New Orleans. “Emancipated Slaves, White and Colored”
This was shocking at the time because even though the tide had turned against slavery, there was still a mighty ocean of racism swirling everywhere. People could be anti-slavery yet racist — those things are not the same.
But by showing that the emancipated included the children of raped black women and light-skinned “passers,” these photographs illustrated how there was something deeper and more insidious than slavery — racism — and this needed to be defeated too. Indeed, 160 years later, that ocean still boils.
There is talk now that COVID is over. It’s emancipation, if you will, from years of lockdown, mandates, protocols, hate, and derision. Granted, this pales in comparison to the centuries that people of color still endure. Still, human nature is human nature, and freedom is our burning desire, no matter how small the victory.
But we should not congratulate ourselves just yet. Far more profound and insidious is that many among us still harbor beliefs that run counter to science and biology — just as sure as the belief that blacks are not people.
Slavery was a symptom of racism, and the scourge of this pandemic was a symptom of egocentrism. Suppressing the symptom does not cure the disease; in this case — with COVID — that is quite literally true.
Still, to this day, people believe the victims of COVID were old and fat and deserved to die. There’s an ocean of that bilge still swirling around. Perhaps we need photographs to prove who also suffered — the young, fit, and deserving to live.
