| Please welcome today's guest host, Gillian Brockell, a writer for Retropolis, The Washington Post's history blog. As a staff writer for The Post's history section, called Retropolis, I regularly hear from readers and critics that "people didn't know it was wrong back then." The "it" usually refers to slavery; what often goes unsaid is that "people" only refers to White people, or White enslavers, as though their opinions of the peculiar institution were the only ones available or the only ones that mattered. Several months ago, I came across the Rev. Jermain Wesley Loguen's letter to the wife of his former enslaver (who was also his biological father). The moral clarity and deep anger with which he demands to know the fate of his mother, brother and sister took my breath away. This sent me on a search for other letters like his and the best way to present them to our readers. These letters from Black Americans to their former enslavers give the lie to "people didn't know it was wrong back then." Of course people did, not the least of whom being the millions of enslaved people themselves. Their voices are bracing and brilliant, and I was surprised by how modern they sounded. The writers knew slavery was wrong for all the reasons we know it to be wrong today — the heartbreak of family separation, the prevalence of sexual assault, the theft of a laborer's wages, the inhuman denial of dignity and freedom. I hope you find these letters as edifying as I do.  These letters from Black Americans to the people who once controlled their lives show a desire for freedom and a desperate longing to be reunited with their families. By Gillian Brockell ● Read more » | | |  One year ago, a gunman killed eight people including six Asian women in Atlanta. The attack was one of a record number of anti-Asian hate crimes around the country since the coronavirus pandemic began. On Wednesday, March 16 at 3:00 p.m. ET, join Washington Post Live for a conversation with Amanda Nguyen, CEO of the nonprofit civil rights organization Rise, about the impact of these attacks, her organization's work and the role of education in raising greater awareness about the history of Asian American Pacific Islander communities. By Washington Post Live ● Read more » | | | |
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