"Charleston is a city that whispers stories of the past"

I didn't really want to get political on this blog, but I feel that expressing I typically vote for candidates in the Democratic party is important context for this post. I support the BLM movement and thought I had an understanding of what the movement was striving for. But, there were times where being from NY I didn't have the ability to see the full scope of the issues any person of color was up against. When visiting the McLeod plantation in Charleston, a story they tell there helped me understand systemic racism on a whole new level.

The tour guide told the story of a gentleman that was born on the plantation as a slave. On the property he had a little house, no plumbing, no electricity, not built to protect those inside from terrible weather conditions. There's not even enough room for more than one person to live there. But he grew up there with his family, and even raised his own family in that same house. He worked on the plantation and earned just enough money to pay the McLeod family their rent, but not be able to build up his savings. Families were required to stay in these homes and go through this endless cycle until they paid off their "debts" to the families that owned the plantation. It took generations for these "debts" to be paid off and generations more to finally be able to move off the plantation. This one gentleman, lived and worked there into the 90's working for little wages and paying off debts. Luckily his children were able to move out of these circumstances, but he was there until the day he died. There are parts of the story that I am missing, but hopefully the parts that make it so impactful are effectively communicated.

When I was learning about this part of history in school, my understanding was slavery was done with when the Civil War ended. Technically, it did. But the realities of why systemic racism still exist and that systems put in place in the aftermath of the Civil War did not end until my life time, was a whole new level of education for me.

My point in bringing up that I'm a registered Democrat was to say I'm someone that is supportive of movements that are putting policies in place to prevent any racists bias from continuing to happen. Yet, the fact that there are people still living under practices put in place centuries ago is something I wasn't educated on or able to fully understand.

So my hope is that people read this and especially if you don't agree with my stance, at least do what you can to learn more. Whether that be googling all of this, or visiting a plantation and learning of their history. Educate yourself as best you can regardless if you are friend or foe to the cause. It's the only way to create a better tomorrow.