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Thursday, October 01, 2020

Fredericksburg’s Slave Auction Block Will Be Moved to a Museum

In early June, officials in Fredericksburg, Virginia, removed a stone block that commemorates the auctioning of enslaved people from a public sidewalk. Now, reports Cathy Jett for the Free Lance-Star, the controversial artifact is set to go on view in a local museum with added contextualization.

The 800-pound block of sandstone once stood at the corner of William and Charles Streets in the city’s historic center. Beginning in the 1830s, enslavers routinely auctioned off groups of enslaved African Americans near the site.

As Michael S. Rosenwald wrote for the Washington Post in June, the block and its painful history have been the subject of debate for decades. This year, the stone came under renewed scrutiny as protests against racial injustice and police brutality swept the country. During marches in Fredericksburg, protesters reportedly spray-painted it and chanted, “Move the block!”

City officials voted to remove the stone last year. But lawsuits and the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the actual event until this summer, notes Jett in a separate Free Lance-Star article. In the coming months, a temporary panel called “A Witness to History” is slated to be installed where the block once stood.

Per the Free Lance-Star, the stone will go on display at the Fredericksburg Area Museum (FAM) by mid-November at the earliest. Eventually, the museum plans to feature the block in a permanent exhibition about Fredericksburg’s African American history.








16 comments:

Anonymous said...

First of all, they weren't African Americans. They didn't hold citizenship. And, I wonder if I could buy it. It would be a perfect flag pole holder for my confederate flag.

Anonymous said...

Send it to the African museum. Nobody goes there anyway. Well the poor slaves we have in AMERICA today. Poor things treated so badly in today's AMERICA. LMAO.

Anonymous said...

No wonder the country is in the shape it’s in. Who the heck would be stupid enough to pay good money for most blacks? That’s where it all started, they were feed, clothed and housed. Isn’t that still going on today? Isn’t that what most of us want? Looks like today’s politicians are as stupid as the buyers and bidders of the past, they suggest reparations for those not born until this practice had been over for decades. Lol

Anonymous said...

This was the only time that America ever got a days work out of most of them!

Now we feed them and house them, doctor them, give them everything and get nothing back but a bunch of crying and bitching for more!

Anonymous said...

The pos is back trolling about black people. Your FAKE.

anonymous said...

So glad nobody has to look at this demeaning symbol of slavery. We all know it just takes us back in time and people start treating blacks like slaves again. This makes everything better a most like it didn't happen.

Anonymous said...

11:12 AM - Yikes!

Anonymous said...

1201 excellent comment and correct. Total fraud, IT says the same vile comments constantly. Bathroom graffiti and when the comment section is closed IT will return to the bathroom hiding in stalls with a sharpie.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't bid two nickles for one.

Anonymous said...

Probably owned by a black slave owner.

Anonymous said...

White folks are on the block Now-a-days !!!

Anonymous said...

Problem is, it was not a slave “auction block”. Slaves never stood on it to be sold. Ever. Period. Much like all the lefts props, it’s FAKE and it just fit their narrative but it’s Completely false. There is absolutely zero information that ties this rock to slavery. Except that they want it to.

Anonymous said...

Soon, Whites will be picking cotton & be on
the Block, Thanks to Democrats !!!

Anonymous said...

Better keep that in case Democrats win election , for it may be used again, this
time for White people !!!

Man in white Hoody said...

I think we should have both Obamas stand on it for a photo

Anonymous said...

Put Farakon & Al Sharpton on the Block !! LOL