My 2023 FTNE #OLASTEOmoment

A moment during the 2023 Freedom Trail National Excursion where I felt like I truly understood the OLASTEO message was during our visit to the Legacy Museum in Birmingham, Alabama. The museum provided an immersive experience where I was viewing the darker and often hidden part of American history and where I could reflect on my role and place in history.

The Legacy Museum helped us visualize the facts and information we learned in class. It allowed me to see the importance and impact this had on American society and Black communities. We explored the history of Black Americans in the U.S., from the Atlantic Slave Trade to the present day, in a way that didn’t try to sugarcoat any of these events and helped us experience the raw truth. It also allowed me to reflect on the way the treatment of Black Americans has changed, but even more importantly, how the treatment hasn’t changed much.

At the beginning of the museum, we witnessed how families were split up during the Atlantic Slave Trade and how many of these families were locked up. Similarly, at the end of the museum, we explored the disproportionate incarceration of Black people. From this, I was able to draw parallels and realize how, although we like to believe that society has changed for the better because it’s easier to accept, the truth is that because racism is so ingrained into our systems, change hasn’t really happened, we are just getting better at hiding it.

Another important moment I experienced at the Legacy Museum was learning about the severity of Jim Crow Laws by seeing how voting rights were restricted and the kinds of questions Black Americans were being asked at the polls. It helped me see how ridiculous and transparently racist the laws were and, more importantly, how lawmakers could get away with it. I already knew and learned this information in class, but the museum almost transported me to this time and helped me witness it in real-time.

Reading from a textbook makes everything seem so dismissable, like if you turn the page, it never really happened. But seeing these events face to face makes it impossible to look away and lets you see these situations human to human. These aren’t interesting facts and ideas; they are human experiences that society wants to pretend never happened, that we must remember so they never happen again.