Published December 9, 2004, in issue 0349 of the Hook

Congratulations to Scottie B. and Anson Parker. Their street theater at the Jefferson Thanksgiving Festival ["$250 furor: Slave auction stirs passions," December 2, 2004] provided some confrontation to the continuously specious celebration of Thomas Jefferson's legacy.

We must treat history as a whole-- and recognize holocaust where it exists. Given that slavery was a holocaust, what's the virtue in celebrating a reluctant tyrant?

While Mark Beliles can claim the support of the NACCP, there's a historical location in that fact as well. For centuries, power in Charlottesville has preferred to deal with sympathetic Black leaders rather than the African-American community itself, which is far too radical and unorthodox for liberal comfort.

This is a form of "mascotry" that's closer to the "blackface" Rick Turner decries than the actions of Scottie B. and Parker. Props to them for interrupting the creation of history-- and forcing Charlottesville to discuss the uglier aspects of its heritage in an honest way.

Andrew J. Holden
Ontario, Canada

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