Victor Harris wrote the following article. Victor is a retired Army Colonel who last year sought election in the Democratic primary to become the Democratic candidate for the 40th Ohio House District. He was defeated by Roland Winburn. I strongly disagreed with the Montgomery Country Democratic Party’s endorsement of Winburn that gave Winburn a huge and unfair advantage in the primary. Vic is now living in Washington DC and working as speech writer for the Secretary of the Army. He maintains his legal residence in Dayton. Vic’s previous article can be read here. I recently wrote about Victor here. –Mike Bock
The month of February is African American History Month. I’ve been reflecting about the big debt I owe to my African ancestry.
The stigma of slavery has afflicted the psychology of African Americans for generations. We are the only Americans who, as slaves, were identified by our founding fathers in our Constitution as less than human. We are the only Americans who were statutorily segregated from the rest of the population, and, even after the Emancipation Proclamation, legally forbidden from assimilating into American society.
Vic Harris with Governor Ted Strickland at MLK Day in Dayton, 2008.
As a younger person, this historical oppression of my ancestors made me ask: Why were my people chosen for slavery? Why didn’t they fight back? For years, the bleak history of African Americans forced me to view my ancestors with shame or even indignation. But as I got older, experience changed my perspective, and now I view my ancestors with pride and gratitude.
The emancipation of African Americans was a direct result of the strength of African Americans. One generation after the next tolerated the lash so that succeeding generations could live without it. Some view the lowering of one’s head to “Jim Crow,” to the servile and submissive indignities that were slavery, as a weakness. But like the fictional character, Uncle Tom, my African American ancestors were not “sellouts,” they were survivors.
My ancestors were selfless, they paid the price for future generations knowing they would not personally benefit. If they had physically armed themselves in rebellion, the definition of strength for some, it would have resulted in further delays in emancipation and civil rights and a loss of the moral high ground that powered the abolitionist and civil rights movements. One only needs to look at John Brown during the slave era and the militant Black Panthers during the Civil Rights Movement as evidence that armed rebellion by African Americans would have surely failed. It is impossible to defeat amorality by becoming amoral.
My ancestors, by turning the other cheek, showed a different type of strength and power. And, make no mistake, it was strength and power. The non violence of my ancestors — in the face of awful violence of slavery — proved to be more powerful than slavery’s most destructive weapons. Desperate efforts to show happy slaves, or content black folks under “Jim Crow,” is proof of the power of non violence. But regardless of awful suffering and Jim Crow hypocrisy, the strength of my ancestors prevailed. I stand as living proof of their success.
So how do we eliminate this stigma of slavery which still remains in the minds of many African Americans? I think we can look to history, not just African American history, the history of others who shook the stigma attached to having been held in bondage. Today in Kuwait, the al Sabah family, the royal family, is obviously the most powerful family in the county. What is not obvious is the most prominent part of the al Sabah’s are the “black” al Sabah’s or the tribal members who are decedent of slaves. Not only is their darker African skin not a stigma because of a history of bondage, but it is indicative of the most prominent people in Kuwaiti society. Clearly the African al Sabah’s suffered through a goodly part of their history in Kuwait, but they are honored for their ancestors’ strength shown in overcoming slavery.
Many former slaves in ancient Rome wore a red knit hat called a Phrygian Cap. This red cap was a sign that a former slave had been emancipated by his or her master. The Phrygian Cap was a sign telling everyone that the wearer of the cap was a citizen of Rome. The descendants of these freed slaves were also free and also citizens of Rome. These descendants continued to wear the Phrygian Cap, as a sign of pride, in honor of their ancestors. Romans gave high honor to those whose ancestors were able to overcome slavery.
Throughout history, emancipated slaves have been held in high honor because to overcome human bondage is a great feat well worth paying homage to. I no longer feel a stigma from being descendant of slaves and hope that other African Americans will look at our skin, and our unique African features with the same pride the ancient Romans looked upon the emancipated slaves who wore the Phrygian Cap. I am Vic Harris, proud descendant of strong African slaves, and I will always honor and cherish what they did for me.
The Phrygian Cap is part of the Army Seal
According to Wikipedia, in 1854, when sculptor Thomas Crawford was preparing models for sculpture for the United States Capitol, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis insisted that a Phrygian cap not be included on a statue of Justice on the grounds that, “American liberty is original and not the liberty of the freed slave.” The cap was not included in the final bronze version that is now in the building.
