Of
all the major themes in Race and Reunion, one of the greatest concepts
Blight advocates for is that of the emancipationist vision. He emphasizes that
the reconciliationist and white supremacist vision have contradictorily
remained in the American consciousness, but the plight and history of black
Americans have been a marginal part of US memory. Blight condemns this
perspective and asserts that it is necessary for black history to be more
prominent in modern scholarship.
Well,
it was Blight’s publication that first came to my mind when I came across this
recent article. Apparently, new primary sources are being released to be put on
display for a local museum. The sources include a myriad of different images
that are rare depictions of African Americans during the Civil War Era. As the
article states, “Rare Civil War images of
African American life and battlefield scenes appear in the new exhibit, ‘The
Civil War in Photographs: New Perspectives from the Robin Sanford Collection’”
(Viegas, 2). Many of the scenes appear intensely personal, from African
Americans in worship to someone getting a haircut. A majority of them, though,
show scenes from African American military troops. Surprisingly enough, they
were even taken in numerous geographic locations across the United States. I
personally have never seen any of these images before, and have found all of
them very interesting to view. If any of you are curious and want to view them
also, they are accessible through the link below.
I have not seen any official
comments from Blight thus far, but perhaps he will find this special attention
and focus on African American life and service to the nation during the Civil
War a step in the right direction. He may not consider it nearly enough, though
I remain optimistic that these findings will generate more interest and
research for this still highly contentious topic.
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