I defended Ani when I said her decision to host her event there was "very, very dumb"? And when I suggested the only way it could ever make sense is if she did it at one of the few plantations
that incorporates a lengthy, historically accurate teaching component about what slavery actually was (i.e., not the "Gone With…

Yes, very true. A few plantations are turning into museums/learning centers about the brutality of slavery and its enduring legacy in this country and I welcome that.

I have a different perspective than you. As GB stated, Black folk aren't monolithic. I'm allowed to have an opinion that differs from your's and to voice it. I think I do it respectfully, but it seems that you disagree with that. That's that, I guess.

Yes. There is no need to go back and forth. But I'm glad my friend encouraged me to deal with it head on and not just laugh off the slights and indignities like I always do. Sh#t gets tiring. The stereotype of the angry, bitter Black woman comes from having to deal with this nonsense constantly. My defense mechanism…

If you were as "down for the cause" as you purport to be, I would think you'd be a little more careful how you, as a White woman, interacts with a Black person, given this country's legacy of treating Black adults like children. My 36 year old brother gets called "boy" at least once a year by some White store owner or…

No, I am directing it at the White lady (you) who told the Black lady (me) who holds a degree in African American studies that I am "naive" and "misguided" on a topic I've actually researched and called me "my dear." If you don't understand the implications of using the patronizing phrase "my dear" to a Black women in…

As a Black woman living in the U.S. of A. I'm so used to being talked down to and patronized on a daily basis...that's just part of the deal living in this country and in this skin.

My friend's family reunion was held at a plantation outside of Savannah, GA and it included several White members of her overwhelmingly Af Amer family. She said it was one of the most powerful moments of her life. Tears were flowing among everyone. At that particular space they catered to the Af Amer experience and…

Very true.

Yes, exactly.

We have something in common because neither do I. High five!

Lord, you're easy! I need some strongly brewed coffee and a breakfast sandwich to make my morning!

Haha! Well then I snatch back my thanks ;-).

Very true. In my research on the topic there are certain plaintations that have actually created excellent curricula on the actual realities of slavery and serve as cultural and learning centers for schools, families, and even corporate retreats. A re-branding, of sorts—-taking the awful history of those,places and…

Thanks.

Yes, I am fairly confident speaking for many African Americans, sorry that upsets you. No, I take that back, I'm not sorry.

I don't mean to be snarky or defend Ani's decision to host her event there (it' was very, very dumb) but I've been to two events on plantations so perhaps I'm desensitized. Or perhaps since they were majority Black events it didn't seem so icky.

Why do you assume it would have been all White women?

Many African American families have their family reunions on plantations, actually. Pretending that they don't exist seems not to be helpful either... For many Black Americans that is where their family tree "begins" so they spend all or part of their family reunion at the plantation their family members worked on.

Right, cuz Blacks be poor, right??!!