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Ship of Healing?
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Business New Haven
7/10/2000
By: BNH
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The schooner Amistad's June 14 arrival in its home port of New Haven could in future prove to be a signal date in Elm City history.
Or, it could simply mark the arrival of a pretty sailing vessel.
By now probably few of our readers are unacquainted with the tale of the original Amistad, memorialized (among other places) in Steven Spielberg's 1997 film of the same name.
In 1839, 53 captives kidnapped from their west African home by slave traders mutinied and seized control of the Amistad, eventually landing in Long Island. The mutineers were led by Seng-be Pieh, renamed by his captors Joseph Cinqué, who is memorialized in a statue in front of New Haven City Hall.
The mutineers were brought to New Haven, jailed and tried for murder but eventually freed by courts in Connecticut and Washington, D.C.
The case became a lightning rod for abolitionist sentiment in Connecticut and elsewhere. The state outlawed slavery in 1848.
Thus even as the latter-day Amistad recalls the heroism of the captives and the justice they finally earned, it likewise recalls the darkest chapter in our nation's history - a 200-year legacy of bondage and cruelty.
There's a lot to be learned, and earned, from both lessons. And there may be no better place than New Haven for that education to take place.
Racial discord may be the Elm City's dirtiest and worst-kept secrets. Behind many of the ills and inequities in the city, region and state lies fear and mistrust between the races. It pervades and poisons meaningful dialogue about issues from education to housing to transportation. And when we try to pretend that race isn't a factor, it in the end only serves to strengthen racism's grip even more.
Without question, racism in Connecticut is a two-way street. And surely the Amistad may well serve as a continual painful reminder of the state's and nation's history of white-on-black racism. For those who wish to keep hating, the Amistad recalls the roots of racial hate in this country.
Or, there's another possibility:
We as a community can use the powerful symbolism of the Amistad's presence to begin a meaningful dialogue about issues of race in our city and state. And we could begin that process by acknowledging, black and white, that racism does exist on both sides of the color line, and talk about its poisonous impact on our ability to work together to improve our community for all.
They say that the first critical step in the recovery of an alcoholic or drug addict is to acknowledge the problem. Our first step on the road to racial recovery ought to be to acknowledge our community's racial problem, too.
Amistad America, which owns and will operate the 129-foot "freedom schooner," has outlined a broad educational mission for the replica in its home port. Its lessons and its symbolism can benefit us all if we keep our minds and hearts open to its call across the ages.
We urge readers to visit the ship when it arrives, and we encourage businesses to support Amistad America in its educational mission.
We have a lot to learn. With Amistad's arrival, let's begin.
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