As the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade is now upon us this year, I would like to mark this important occasion
by referring to my own website - www.
grimke.co.uk - which has the title: GRIMKE-DRAYTON: From Slavery To
Reconciliation.
ast September I went on an emotional journey back to my family roots in Charleston, South Carolina. The aim of the visit was to meet with people, both African American and Caucasian, who had connectionswith the Draytons and the Grimkes. The trip was covered by the local BBC TV station here in the UK, and can be accessed via the link to their website. On the second Saturday of my visit, we organized a special event at Drayton Hall and Magnolia Gardens - the latter being the very first plantation the Draytons purchased in 1680. The theme of the day was: Share The History: Tell The Story. For me the highlight of the occasion took place within 15 minutes of the start. All of us had name-tags to identify who we were.I was introducing myself to each person individually, when I stopped in my tracks.
I need to explain that, after the death of his first wife in 1843, an ancestor of mine, my great-great-great-great uncle, Henry Grimke, took one of his house-slaves as his "wife" at a time, when clearly mixed marriage was illegal according to South Carolina law. Her name was Nancy Weston. They had three sons - Archibald, Francis and John.To find out more about the family, I suggest you read "Lift Up Thy Voice: The Grimke Family's Journey From Slaveholders To Civil Rights Leaders" by a Washington DC journalist by the name of Mark Perry. On 23rd September I met Deborah Weston Grace and her brother, Albert Weston, and realized that they were my African American cousins. You can see the photo, recording our meeting.
We are going to renew our friendship when they, together with a group of people from the Charleston area, come over for the commemorations in March in London. I am fully committed to the process of racial reconciliation. The first step is to tell your individual story in an atmosphere, where you know that you will be received by your listeners with respect and a willingness to share in your own experience through your own eyes.
If we dismiss the past with all that that implies, then we are showing a scant regard for those in our midst whose ancestors suffered at the hands of our own forefathers.The question of reparations and guilt needs to be faced. How far are we responsible for what our ancestors did? And should we really be considering financial reparations, when our fractured society needs healing and restoration? These are important issues which I hope we can discuss with mutual respect. "Pointing the finger of blame" does not help.
I look forward to the events which will mark this year's bicentenary and view them as an ideal opportunity for the various communities to draw together, as we explore each other's past, and move into a better future.