There would have been some students at West Point in 1828 whose families owned slaves. Slavery was only abolished in New York State one year prior to this. "Incessantly racist" is probably underselling it.
>Among the artifacts scientists uncovered were a liberty dollar coin from 1800, a 50 cent piece from 1828, a quarter from 1818, a dime from 1827, a 5 cent coin from 1795, a penny from 1827 and an Erie Canal commemorative medal from 1826, which was issued to celebrate the completion of the Erie Canal in upstate New York in 1825.
I'm not denying there was racism and slavery at the time. I was asking if the contents would reflect a society that never had a thought or action that didn't revolve around hate, i.e. 'incessantly'. Do you think the contents meet this criteria?
Also, keep in mind that at this point the American Colonization Society (then Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America) is a thing.
The ACS isn't in favour of slavery, but it also doesn't want free black people in America. Instead, it proposes what today you'd hear yelled by bigots as "Send them back". It wants the United States of America to be a white country, and it's going to literally ship all the black people to Africa.
So yeah, no slavery there, but still "incessantly racist" seems a good characterisation.
boppo1|2 years ago
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2023-08-30/west-point-ti...
I'm not denying there was racism and slavery at the time. I was asking if the contents would reflect a society that never had a thought or action that didn't revolve around hate, i.e. 'incessantly'. Do you think the contents meet this criteria?
tialaramex|2 years ago
The ACS isn't in favour of slavery, but it also doesn't want free black people in America. Instead, it proposes what today you'd hear yelled by bigots as "Send them back". It wants the United States of America to be a white country, and it's going to literally ship all the black people to Africa.
So yeah, no slavery there, but still "incessantly racist" seems a good characterisation.
triceratops|2 years ago
Robert E Lee and Jefferson Davis, according to another comment on here.