Victoria Oguta ‘25, reflects on an emotional day and comes to realize that “we need to do better in educating ourselves and others about our past, acknowledging the harm that has been done, and working towards true equality for all.”
Today was an emotional day, to say the least. We started off our day by visiting The Legacy Museum, where we were warned about the heavy information that we were about to see. As we walked through the exhibits, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of the history of slavery and discrimination that had taken place in this country. It was difficult to see how people of color had been treated as less than human, forced into slavery, and subjected to violence and discrimination for generations. The museum did an excellent job of humanizing enslaved people, bringing their stories to life, and connecting the dots between history and the racial injustice that still exists today.
After the museum, we visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, where we saw hundreds of plaques with the names of Black people who were lynched in each county across the US. It was overwhelming to see the scale of the violence and terror that had been inflicted upon Black people, particularly when I saw the names of those lynched in my own home county. It was a stark reminder that this history is not so distant, and that the effects of racism and discrimination are still felt by many today.
Throughout the day, I couldn’t help but feel angry and frustrated that this history is not taught more widely. It was a reminder that as a country, we need to do better in educating ourselves and others about our past, acknowledging the harm that has been done, and working towards true equality for all.
