THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 19, 1995 TAG: 9510180151
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: BY AARON L. DOBYNES
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
A revolution rarely begins with a loud shout of the trumpet. Usually, it is a faint sound of a drum that gradually grows into a crescendo.
Such is the case of the Nat Turner Commemorative Celebration. Saturday, Oct. 1, 1994, marked the inauguration of this occasion, when several dozen persons gathered at the Main Street Baptist Church in Smithfield to listen to a keynote address eloquently delivered by Dr. Ralph Reavis, noted historian and professor of church history at Virginia Union University School of Theology. It is now a year hence, and there are yet many lessons to be learned.
Even some 164 years later, people remain afraid to be associated with Nat Turner. The very mention of his name evokes deep sentiments from persons on either side of the issue.
In no way can I apologize to the descendants of 57 white persons whose family members were lost during the insurrection. And if it were possible, I would not. War is not gentle and passive, nor is it without casualties. Death and destruction are unfortunate by-products. But war it was!
When men are stripped of their dignity, robbed of their heritage and denied their inalienable right to freedom as a human being, yet, it is war.
Some white historians never get the point or make the connection. Even the marker on Highway 35, between Courtland and Boykins, states that after the insurrection, tougher codes were enacted that denied blacks access to education, limited their mobility and virtually annihilated any chance for assembly. The marker suggests that these actions were Nat's fault. To say so is to deny the existence of the very forces that caused any of these matters to ever surface.
So we continue to beat the drum that is heard from Southampton to Soweto. It was heard in Selma, Ala. in the 60s, and its cadence provided stamina for Nelson Mandela through 27 years of imprisonment for his beliefs. And today, it calls us to reassess the negative evaluations that historians have passed down about black heritage.
It is commendable that persons chose to include a statue of a 20th century hero, Arthur Ashe, on Monument Avenue, along with the 19th century statues. Confederate history is colored with those who chose to fight for their beliefs which, by other accounts, were considered treason. Blacks find their actions offensive, yet we have not spoken against others' rights to choose their own heroes.
History must uphold Nat Turner and allow blacks to celebrate without fear of reprisal. Whites, who so choose, proudly wave confederate flags without penalty, ever able to demonstrate their beliefs while still owning large companies and administering huge trusts. Should not blacks, then, comparably be able to celebrate Nat Turner, who chose to stand up for one's right to be free from the tyranny of other humans?
The Nat Turner Foundation sponsored the Second Commemorative Celebration at noon Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Mount Tabor Baptist Church in Newsoms. The Rev. Dr. A. Lincoln James, pastor of the 5,000-member Trinity Baptist Church of Richmond, addressed those who gathered to jointly proclaim that ``Yes, He's my Hero.''
As executive director of the foundation, I urge you to allow the chains of tyranny fostered by fear and misunderstanding, which surround partial thinking, to be broken, clearing the path for a fresh approach to choice.
Information may be obtained by calling (804) 659-8912. MEMO: Aaron L. Dobynes of Richmond is a former pastor of Main Street Baptist
Church, Smithfield. by CNB