Rethinking History and How We Talk About It | Mini-Conference I — The African-American Experience

Описание: Over a series of mini-conferences we will be examining the following questions: How accurate and complete are the traditional narratives we tell about our Ulster County past? What changes, if any, should we be making? How do we incorporate the stories of the First Nation People, African-Americans, Latinx, and European immigrants other than the earliest Dutch, Huguenot, Palatines, and English settlers into our founding narratives? What have we learned rom studying the history of and contributions made by these other early residents of Ulster County?

Our August 6, 2020 mini-conference focused on the African American experience. Brief presentations were made by Tyrone Wilson (Commissioner of Human Rights for Ulster County and Executive Director, Harambee, Kingston), Reynolds Scott-Childress (Majority Leader, Kingston Common Council, and Assistant Professor of History, SUNY New Paltz), and Richard Heppner (author and Town of Woodstock Historian).


Tyrone Wilson
“The truths of our story as Africans in America are not told, through the colonist language we are spoken of as enslaved non human things because we were not looked upon as human beings. Why is White America still today trying to hold back our truth? Who gave permission to white America to think they have authority to rule over another human race? We are over 400 years of oppression and still white America is still fighting to hold control of the African Americans all over the world, why? The rise of an oppressed nation is upon us and the stories of the colonist lies are starting to crash, the identity of Black self is on the rise, the oppression is boiling over, the voices are speaking out, the ancestors are moving in spirit and all the channels are starting to turn. Where are we heading?”



Reynolds Scott-Childress
“The politics of memorializing the past has gotten increasingly strident in the past several years. Old statues have come to life with new controversy. Too often, community deliberation quickly gives way to a war of position: two sides completely at odds with one another with no hope of developing community solutions. Recent events at SUNY New Paltz led to a profound questioning about the names that memorialized the six buildings of the “Hasbrouck complex” built in the 1950s and 1960s. The central question we faced was whether these names commemorated the original slave holders of New Paltz or their long lines of descendants. And if they were named after slave holders, what should be done about it? We avoided a bitter war over the issue by developing a process of community engagement. This talk will detail our process, recount key lessons, and emphasize the vital importance of compassionate listening.”



Richard Heppner
“Racism weaves its way through our local history just as it does through our national story. In my recently released book, “Woodstock’s Infamous Murder Trial – Early Racial Injustice in Upstate New York,” I explore the fate of Cornell Van Gaasbeek, a Black man accused of killing a member of a prominent white family in Woodstock, New York in 1905. Through Van Gaasbeek’s ordeal – through arrest, prison and multiple trials – we are reminded that the shadow of America’s original sin found fertile ground in Ulster County.


“If we are to ‘expand our horizons,’ it is incumbent upon each of us as public historians and local historical societies to move past where we have comfortably been to explore beyond the already documented events and individuals we credit for shaping our communities. If we are to truly democratize our history, we need to take on the hard task of research that goes beyond the outline of our histories. To do so – or when we do so – we begin to present a history that truly represents all upon whose shoulders our present – and future – rests.”