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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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U.S. probes death of 400 black slaves
AFINAL scientific report that will provide insight into the lives and deaths of black slaves whose graves were discovered in 1991 in Lower Manhattan, New York, United States (U.S.) is expected next year. The report may also include a Deoxyribonucleic (DNA) bank from the bodies, which would be used to identify their living descendants.
Also, efforts are on to make the site a prominent landmark among New York's many cultural and historical attractions.
"Everybody needs to know this is not just part of African-American history, it is a part of New York City history and American history", said Howard Dedson, director of the Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture, which is planning an anniversary celebration of the interment today.
Closed in 1794 and long forgotten as construction landfill eventually buried it 20 feet underground, the five-acre spot was the final resting place for tens of thousands of slaves and free blacks. It was unearthed during construction of a federal office tower in 1991.
The site - today surrounded by City Hall and other municipal buildings - is to have a $2 million memorial by mid-2005. Plans for a $2 million interpretative centre are under consideration as well. But community activists have complained about the slow pace and selection process.
The Federal General Services Administration (GSA), which manages the site with the assistance of the National Park Service, will choose a winning design from five finalists - culled from more than 60 submissions - by next month after a series of public hearings.
Many in the black community did not want a memorial that covered too much of the burial site or required digging because that "would further disturb our ancestors," said Ayo Harrington, chairwoman of Friends of the African Burial Ground, an informal advocacy group. All five designs cover the site to some degree.
She also is disappointed that the public will not be selecting the winning design for the memorial.
Eileen Long-Chelales, a regional administrator for GSA, said the agency would consider public comment along with recommendations from a board that included architects and historians. The finalists already have incorporated ideas into their designs from community feedback, she said.
"The communication between the descendant community, GSA and the Park Service has never been better," Long-Chelales said. "Obviously there were some issues, but the communication has improved dramatically."
To increase the burial ground's status, Dodson wants it to be designated a United Nations World Heritage site, like the Statue of Liberty. The Park Service, which nominates landmarks for such consideration, currently has no sites under review.
Park Service spokeswoman Tara Morrison acknowledged there were some disagreements, but said the government is responding to public concerns.
"There are varying opinions on what type of memorial should be on the site," she said. "Some individuals feel that nothing should be placed. And there are others who are interested in putting something special on the place."
Officials from South Africa on Friday gathered at the site to receive soil to take back to Freedom Park in their country and school children linked hands to form a ring around the site.
"Most people have forgotten or didn't know that this huge area was in fact a burial ground," Dobson said at the ceremony. "Our agenda today is to make the public aware of the enormity of this."
Harrington said her group would like to see a museum of African history built near the site along with a DNA bank - collected from the remains and stored by Howard University - that could be used by descendants to determine their origins.
"It is a very spiritual type of thing," she said. "If we could find one person who could one day go to that DNA bank, and it was determined that that person was a descendent, although we all are, it would just be something that folks would celebrate around the entire globe."
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