Slave Labor was Used to Build the Great Houses of the South

The Department of the Interior employee in his green uniform asked if he could help us with anything as we exited one of the slave quarters at Arlington House. “Well now that you ask, which way is the Confederate Memorial?” He gave me the impression that he thought the decision had been made to tear it down. As a result, we engaged in a conversation.

I said that “the decision is not final but that is part of the reason we are here. Why tear it down?” He talked about how Arlington had many split responsibilities and that was a Department of Defense question. We somehow got into a discussion of the Arlington House itself. He was asking some leading questions. Admittedly a little exasperated, I responded: “if you are asking if slaves were used in construction of the house, of course they were. Just like they were all over the South. What is your point?” He responded: “a lot of people don’t know that, so it is one of the things we try to reinforce.”

His mom and dad are from Mississippi, and they moved to Washington DC for more opportunity before he was born. He has family that live in the town that borders where I live, and he has been to my town. I gave him a flyer and explained that we think it is a travesty that the Confederate Monument may be destroyed. He listened politely but was non-committal. He then talked about all the wildlife in the cemetery. He has been with the National Park Service for 20 years.

We thanked him and shook hands and headed to Section 16.

This man is likely typical of many Americans. He did not express strong feelings about the monument and its likely destruction. He is not calling for its removal, but he is also not going to defend it. He is unaware that the same forces that convinced him most Americans don’t realize slaves built the great houses of the South are the same forces calling for the destruction of history.