The lion’s tale

“Until the lion tells the story of the hunt, the tale will always glorify the hunter.”

We evoke this African proverb in reflecting on last weekend’s wonderful events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the liberation of Richmond and its significance in bringing the Civil War to a close.

We believe the events were planned with good intentions, and that they brought an overall feeling of uplift and joy while recalling this important period in our nation’s history.

However, it was clear from language used by several speakers and scholars that the community has been brainwashed by the Confederate view of history and by those who, 150 years later, still are not at peace with the war’s outcome.

Specifically, there were many references to “the fall of Richmond” in describing the events of April 2-3, 1865, when Jefferson Davis and the Confederates fled the city — burning it as they left — and Union troops moved in.

There also were references to the “occupation of Richmond” by Union forces and the “oppression of Reconstruction.”

From our perspective, Richmond was liberated when Union soldiers, including U.S. Colored Troops, arrived. An entire group of people who, with their ancestors, had been enslaved for more than 200 years were finally free. The chains were broken. The slave pens in Shockoe Bottom, where human beings were bought and sold like cattle, were destroyed.

The Union troops were not an enemy force, but rescuers who helped restore order and squelch the flames that damaged most of the heart of the city.

This pivotal point in our city’s and nation’s history must not be told still from the mindset of vanquished heroes. The inglorious past deserves no glorification, lest we confuse the young and future generations.

The Free Press is dedicated to telling the story of the lion. Our commitment to the truth was important enough to commission a three-part series by local researcher and historian Elvatrice Belsches to tell the story of what happened 150 years ago in the words of our own.

Through the diaries and dispatches of people of color, we can get a clearer picture of what it meant to have Colored Troops march into Richmond, to see Abraham Lincoln and his son walk through Capitol Square and Downtown and to have a grueling and bloody war fought across the fields and farms of Virginia and the nation finally come to an end.

Equally as important, we see from the stories of the lion that we were active participants in our freedom and emancipation.

We get a better understanding of the vast numbers of African-Americans who took up arms because they believed black lives matter. We see the jubilation of people when liberating forces moved into the city and Union victory was declared at Appomattox. And we see the resulting efforts of people to reunite with family and loved ones, and the thirst to obtain even a basic education.

These are the steps of empowerment that have led us to where we are today.

That is why remembering this moment in history is important to us today.