Black Americans being used as guinea pigs involved universities
Saturday's event at Dillard University took place on the same week that Harvard University announced that it is relinquishing what are believed to be among the earliest photos of enslaved people in the United States. The 1850 images of a father and daughter known as Renty and Delia, who were photographed naked to the waist, were commissioned by Harvard biologist Louis Agassiz to support the theory of polygenism, the idea that human races evolved separately.
Harvard would probably still be clutching those photos if Tamara Lanier, an author who says she's a descendant of the father and daughter pictured, hadn't fought a 15-year legal battle with the university. But the photos won't come to her. Renty and Delia's images will now be placed at the International African American Museum in South Carolina, the state where they were enslaved.
As I sat through the three-hour service, which included a city acknowledgement by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, musical tributes and a riveting performance from Dillard University's Theatre Ensemble personifying the 19 human beings we were paying homage to, I couldn't help but think about the history of Black Americans being the guinea pigs for experimentation or examination or the subject of incomplete theories, under the guise of scientific advancement. Or the irony of racist individuals using 'inferior' Black specimens to interrogate complex ideas about human physiology, and still arriving at racist conclusions even with evidence in their possession that contradicts their hypotheses.
We live in a moment where there is a persistent effort to erase all knowledge of these atrocities and pretend as if they were just figments of Black folks' imagination. But Eva Baham, who chaired the Cultural Repatriation Committee that brought the remains of the 19 New Orleanians home, said during Saturday's service that the purpose of studying history is 'to move forward. And when we keep our past hidden, we are starting over every day.'
The memorial service for Adam Grant, Isaak Bell, Hiram Smith, William Pierson, Henry Williams, John Brown, Hiram Malone, William Roberts, Alice Brown, Prescilla Hatchet, Marie Louise, Mahala, Samuel Prince, John Tolman, Henry Allen, Moses Willis, Henry Anderson and two other unidentified souls was unlike any other I have witnessed. The decedents had transitioned over a century and a half ago; however, their departure from this realm could not have been considered peaceful before this weekend's ceremony. Roughly 200 community members filled the sanctuary of Dillard's Lawless Memorial Chapel to pay their respects to these ancestors who were so horribly disrespected after they died.
'It was emotionally draining because you're trying your best to make some connections and to search and find [that] there's hope,' Freddi Williams Evans, a member of the Cultural Repatriation Committee, told me. 'We could not verify any descendants. And so we have to step in and be their family.'
Harvard is letting go not just of the photos of Renty and Delia, but also images of enslaved people known as Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack and Jem. Lanier, who says she's the great-great-great-granddaughter of 'Papa Renty,' said of the settlement with Harvard, 'This pilfered property, images taken without dignity or consent and used to promote a racist psychoscience will now be repatriated to a home where their stories can be told and their humanity can be restored.'
As she spoke Wednesday she locked arms with Susanna Moore, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Agassiz, the Harvard biologist. Moore rightly called the work her forefather was doing with the photos 'a deeply racist project.'
The combination of Harvard relinquishing its photos and Dillard receiving the remains of those wrongly shipped to a lab overseas means that even in 2025, we are still unpacking just how much dehumanization defined slavery and its aftermath in the United States. Dillard University President Monique Guillory told me it was important to honor the 19 in New Orleans because 'They walked the streets of New Orleans like we do.'
Saturday's ceremony ended with African drumming and dancing, and then attendees were led out of the chapel by a jazz band and a traditional New Orleans second line en route to bury the remains of a tormented people, the right way.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
21 minutes ago
- CNN
Target's in a brand identity crisis. It's not alone.
FacebookTweetLink Target is in trouble. And while it's easy to get lost in the company's recent (poor) handling of American culture war narratives that cast it as too 'woke' or too willing to cave to online fascists, the root of Target's problems runs deep. Don't get me wrong – the massive consumer boycotts from Black organizers have done damage. And there are probably folks on the far right who think even Target's toned-down, overwhelmingly beige Pride merch this year was still too loud. But its stock is in the gutter, and sales have been falling for two years because of good ol' business fundamentals. It overstocked. It lost the pulse of its customers. It went up against Amazon Prime with… actually, does anyone know what Target's Amazon Prime competitor is called? Plus the boycotts. Plus the joy-less Pride garb. Now, investors have another wrinkle to consider. On Wednesday, Target replaced its CEO of 11 years, Brian Cornell — a shakeup that was widely expected and likely overdue. Taking his place to steer the brand out of its malaise is … Cornell's right-hand man. The brand we petite bourgeoisie once playfully referred to as Tar-zhay has lost its spark. The company reported a decline in sales for a third straight quarter, part of a broader trend of falling or flat sales for two years. Employees have lost confidence in the company's direction. And 2025 has been a particularly rough financially, as Black shoppers organized a boycott over Target's decision to cave to right-wing pressure on diverse hiring goals. Shares fell 10% in early trading. It's not to say the new guy, Michael Fiddelke, is unqualified. He's been at Target since he started as an intern more than 20 years ago, after all. But Wall Street is clearly concerned that Target's leadership is underestimating the severity of the need for a significant change— just as President Trump's tariffs on imported goods threaten the entire retail industry. Appointing a company lifer 'does not necessarily remedy the problems of entrenched groupthink and the inward-looking mindset that have plagued Target for years,' Neil Saunders, an analyst at GlobalData Retail, said in a note to clients Wednesday. In its 2010s heyday, Target became a go-to for consumers who liked a bargain but didn't necessarily like bargain-hunting. The shelves felt well-curated. You'd go to Target because it had one thing you needed and 12 things you didn't know you needed. It was stocked with Millennial cringe long before Gen Z gave us the term Millennial cringe. Target's sales held strong through the pandemic as remote workers set up home offices and stocked up on essentials. Months of lockdown also benefited the store as people began refreshing their spaces because they didn't really have much else to do and they were staring at the same walls all the time. But things began to falter in 2022. Target over-ordered and wound up with a glut of unsold inventory, just as generationally high inflation was making things more expensive. As Covid subsided, consumer spending shifted to experiences. Taylor Swift was on tour and everyone wanted to take a vacation or make up for the bachelorette weekends we'd missed during lockdown. Meanwhile, Target and other retailers began locking up products behind Plexiglass, claiming a scourge of shoplifting was to blame for disappointing profits — a cry that didn't always hold up to scrutiny. Locking up necessities has backfired in almost every way, annoying customers and burdening employees, yet Cornell stood by the decision and claimed on an earnings call that customers were actually grateful for the inconvenience. Cornell's misplaced optimism about locking up shampoo was an early indication Target's management might have lost touch with its customers' lived experience. Perhaps the biggest strategic misstep by Target came in January, when it joined a crush of American companies in dropping its diversity, equity and inclusion goals — a move that landed like a slap in the face to Target's more-progressive and racially diverse customer base. 'When Black people understood that we spend $12 million a day at Target … people begin to have the light bulb go off and say, I can't spend my dollars where I'm not getting dignity,' the Rev. Jamal Bryant, who led a boycott against Target, told CNN on Wednesday. 'We felt like it was a stark betrayal.' The boycott worked. Target's sales and foot traffic have suffered even as rivals like Walmart, Amazon and Costco have thrived. It's not just Target — other companies that have attempted to change the very idea of who they are have suffered the consequences. McDonald's and Pizza Hut are both trying to win customers back as they balk at $18 combo meals (in McD's case) and seek out better deals from rivals (in the Hut's case). Southwest Airlines is practically unrecognizable today as it ditches all the things — like open seating and zero baggage or change fees — that made it distinct from rivals. Another brand in crisis is MSNBC. The news channel said this week it is rebranding itself as MS NOW, or My Source News Opinion World, for reasons beyond grammatical understanding. Target doesn't seem to know whether it can revive its Tar-zhay magic or whether it morphs into something else. 'It's unclear what they represent,' wrote Jamie Meyers, senior analyst at Laffer Tengler Investments, in a note Wednesday. 'They're not an office retailer, a low-budget chain, a dollar store or a direct competitor to Walmart or Amazon.'
Boston Globe
29 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
What might be lost in Trump's war against the Smithsonian and the nation's ugliest truth
President Trump's executive order in March threatened Smithsonian funding and accused it of "race-centered ideology." Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Advertisement Is this what might be lost by President Trump's escalating attacks on the Smithsonian Institution, reiterated just this week with a post that accused it of being too focused on 'how bad slavery was?' He didn't mention the Smithsonian's African American museum by name, but it is the most prominent keeper of the nation's ugliest and most difficult history. Advertisement It's too soon to tell, but it seems like a fair bet. Trump's post comes just one week after he announced a comprehensive review of the entire constellation of the Smithsonian. His He complained that museums across the country had similar priorities, unacceptable to him, and said in the same post that he would 'start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities.' How far he can reach into other institutions, such as the Museum of Fine Arts and the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the vast majority of which operate as private nonprofits with scant federal funding, remains to be seen. The Smithsonian is another story. Drawing more than 60 percent of its funding from the federal government makes it uniquely vulnerable to the administration in power. A unique governing structure — But if the last seven months have taught us anything, it is that the Trump administration isn't much for rules in pursuit of its ends. The only specific element of Trump's order itself liaison with the administration. Museum officials were also told to prepare for on-site inspections of all current exhibitions and displays. Within 120 days, all of its museums will have to revise any materials the administration deems unfit for its view of 'unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions' of American culture. Advertisement The intent seems plain. This is a presidential administration that made its cultural priorities clear from the outset, beginning on Trump's first day in office with Since then, its The Smithsonian's famous red-brick Arts and Industries Building on the National president's demands of the Smithsonian writ large are a shockwave for a vast, sprawling set of public institutions long at the forefront of American culture. The Smithsonian, a complex body of 21 museums (eight of which are under the immediate federal review), 14 research agencies, and one zoo, was founded with a $500,000 gift in 1829, when the British chemist and mineralogist James Smithson left his entire fortune to the country to build 'an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men' in the young nation's capitol. Advertisement The Smithsonian now describes itself as 'the world's largest museum, education, and research complex,' and it would be hard to find opinions to the contrary. Spanning every facet of science, history, and culture, the various Smithsonians are lined up on the National Mall in Washington, often two deep: From t The National Museum of African American History and Culture is one of seven flagship museums the Trump administration has targeted for review. Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press Until the change in administration, the Smithsonian had been in an expansionist mode. The African American museum, an intricate architectural jewel designed by Adjaye and Associates, Site scouting and fund-raising for both museums is well underway, though their fates are far from assured. The Heritage Foundation, Advertisement The regressive attacks are anathema to institutions that have been at the fore of reimagining American culture as changing and dynamic in the 21st century. In 2004, the Smithsonian opened the National Museum of the American Indian, breaking off its Indigenous collections from its Natural History wing to better acknowledge Native American culture not as an anthropological pursuit, The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian broke new ground in portraying Indigenous culture. LAWRENCE JACKSON The Smithsonian's African American museum did much the same a decade later, confronting perhaps the most visceral element of American culture. With dignity, humanity, and grace, it faced the legacy of enslavement with a bedrock of historical fact. It, too, pioneered a model. In Charleston, S.C., Advertisement This is what you have to hope a national museum does: set standards less encumbered by the occasional predilections of wealthy donors, more free to represent a fulsome view of a dynamic national culture forever in flux. And though the administration's intentions for the Smithsonians lack detail, it's this dynamic flux it appears most intent on quashing in favor of a neater, sanitized view. Even before the edicts of the past week, there have been signs the Smithsonian is beginning to buckle under the pressure. In July, Amy Sherald's "Trans Forming Liberty," 2024, on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art in April. Murray Whyte The executive order in March demanded, broadly, the Smithsonian do away with 'divisive narratives.' Other agencies offer a clue to what that might mean. In April, the National Park Service, on its web page for And what to make of the administration's unbound use of social media, where its Department of Homeland Security Coupled with i If that aesthetic flows into the Smithsonian complex, it would be an undoing of generations of scholarly progress. It would also be a decoupling of American culture from the institutions founded to celebrate it. However far it goes, the real work will go on in the Museums of Fine Arts, the Mets, and other nonprofits whose devotion to an evolving notion of America has, if anything, redoubled in the era of Trump. That will no doubt raise his ire and leave him grasping for ways to mete out punishment — revoking nonprofit status, The administration may well succeed in crippling beloved institutions in the Smithsonian sphere, but the result will be only to make them irrelevant and apart from a culture that will march forward without them. Murray Whyte can be reached at
Axios
an hour ago
- Axios
Hurricane Katrina at 20: Here's where New Orleans evacuees landed
When thousands of New Orleans homes flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the city lost more than half its population overnight. Why it matters: They went somewhere, and we're finally getting a clearer idea of where they landed. Flashback: Under the city's first mandatory evacuation, New Orleanians began leaving before the storm made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, fleeing to cities like Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Houston, Atlanta and thousands of places in between and beyond. When the levees broke, flooding about 80% of the city, it meant thousands more needed to be removed from a suddenly uninhabitable New Orleans. The storm was also responsible for the deaths of nearly 1,400 people, according to the National Hurricane Center, with most "presumably" in Louisiana. They would never get the chance to go home. The sodden shell of a city left behind needed to be rebuilt before it could be functional, but it needed to be functional to be rebuilt. New Orleans' population was cleaved in two. By the numbers: The top experts for New Orleans demographic data point to the 2000 census as the best source for pre-Katrina figures, which pegs the population at 484,674 people in April 2000. New Orleans counted an estimated 230,172 residents in April 2006, the Data Center says, a loss of more than 250,000 people. The population was estimated to have risen to 362,701 by 2024, despite recent struggles the city and state have faced in keeping and attracting population. Yes, but: Ever since the storm, many researchers and journalists have tried to get at exactly where these displaced New Orleanians ended up. Tracking that, however, has been exceptionally hard to do. People — and the decisions they make — are complicated, and population data tells us trends but doesn't follow individuals. In the end, government officials have granted only one researcher access to that kind of specificity within the data. That person is Elizabeth Fussell, who was an assistant professor at Tulane University from 2001 to 2007. "The challenge is to have longitudinal data on individuals that would show you, 'this person was living in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina, and here's where they lived the next year, the next year, the next year, up until the present," Fussell tells Axios New Orleans. "I have taken up that challenge." Fussell's research found that 33% of people who had been living in New Orleans when Katrina hit had not returned to the metro area by 2006. Of those people who hadn't returned, 21.7% were in Baton Rouge, 14.6% were in Atlanta, 11.7% were in Houston and 5.8% were in Dallas-Fort Worth. From there, the population spread out across the U.S. By 2019, her research shows, 30.9% of Katrina-affected New Orleanians were still living elsewhere, though by then, Texas cities had proven stronger at keeping and even attracting more of them. "People found more reasons to stay in Texas than they did in Baton Rouge or Atlanta," Fussell says. "That's what's interesting: What made the places stickier for some people and less sticky for others? … You need more than friends and family; you need jobs and housing." Atlanta's 14.6% share of displaced New Orleanians in 2006, for example, dropped to 7.7% by 2019. On the other hand, during that same timeframe, Houston's share grew from 21% to 38%. Friction point: Hurricane Katrina and its recovery also showed, in stark relief, just how a disaster can lay bear and exacerbate existing inequities. "Everybody was displaced from New Orleans," Fussell says, but her earlier research shows "that non-Black residents … came back earlier to New Orleans than Black residents." "Neighborhoods that had larger percentages of Black residents were more likely to have suffered greater damage and have higher flood deaths, but [it's also because of] access to rebuilding resources." How it worked: Fussell examined New Orleans' population in the 2000 census, removing people who had died or were found living outside Orleans Parish until Hurricane Katrina. Fussell called those people the Katrina-affected population, and she followed their whereabouts for each year from 2006 to 2019, again adjusting for deaths. Between the lines: In the immediate aftermath, many displaced New Orleanians were referred to as "refugees," a loaded term that emphasized otherness despite a core truth: They were Americans. And it was primarily elsewhere in the United States — every single state, in fact, according to Fussell — that they settled. That is a keenly felt loss for New Orleans, where the fabric of its neighborhoods changed forever. But these New Orleanians enriched the places they ended up, too. These are some of their stories: Charlotte Lonnie Davis established the JazzArts organization, creating a jazz scene in a Southern city that lacked one and educating more than 50,000 students. "They're my inspiration," she says. "The only reason that this organization exists is because I was one of those students, and the music changed my life." Chicago Diane Chaine moved to New Orleans in 1998, temporarily ended up back home in her native Chicago before returning to New Orleans in 2006. "Despite people questioning whether New Orleans mattered enough to be rebuilt, it was the resiliency of the people and a ton of hard work to get this city back up and running," she says. Columbus David Brown left the French Quarter to create a community choir in Columbus, where participants bring arts into area schools and prisons. Most have no professional musical training. Northwest Arkansas David Faulk lost his home in St. Bernard Parish but found one in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, where he's served as mayor since 2023.
