As I read the headline it was not hard to believe that this was a potential hate-crime. A hate-crime that’s getting very little exposure and connects to a bigger topic that another author brought up in an NBC News article. Why the Notre Dame Cathedral is an integral cultural structure for the world, yet 3 Black historical churches in Louisiana are deemed as unimportant by the media. The Notre Dame Cathedral received a tremendous amount of support and donations from nations across the globe, including America. A structure that could easily be re-built without the need for donations.
Yet here in America, our internal problems are put to the side to focus on a European religious building that has no effect on the American people. At this time it has been revealed in the article that a White man was to blame for the Black church fires, and he was turned in by his father, who happens to be a police officer. Whether or not this mans father was involved or supportive we may never know, but the connection continues to prove that individuals in positions of authority harbor racist sentiments. The connection to Notre Dame is meant to enforce the point that economic institutions of racism help to uphold White empires, empires that have hurt black and Brown ancestors, as France has a long history of colonialism just like America, yet when it comes to Black religious institutions the world, and America stays silent.
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To start on a good note, one good thing I did read was that Notre Dame donated a sum of money to the Louisiana churches. I do agree with you that there are issues that need more attention here in the states more than the burning of Notre Dame. However, while I am not denying the history of France and America in terms of their colonial pursuits and racism, I am not sure if the funding of the Notre Dame cathedral alone is a sign of the present upholding of the White empire. I think the event was big so America possibly wanted to get involved either for public recognition or (maybe) sympathy. Also I am sure (sadly) it is easier for the media to get more attention through this type of event due to its magnitude. This shows that we do need to recognize that there are just as, if not more important issues that are happening right here in the states.
I guess what I want to say is that yes, we should be acting on current discrimination issues much more than we are, but I don’t see any wrong in making donations to an event like this. It should be funding towards both and other issues in America, with an emphasis on our issues primarily.
One last thing I will say is perhaps I don’t fully grasp the symbolism of the white empire in the Notre Dame cathedral, and if you respond could you explain it to me?
This is an important conversation. On the one hand, certainly both Notre Dame and black churches should get support.
On the other, there’s a clear relationship between US racism and burning of black churches; consider Birmingham, AL was known as “Bombingham.” Also, is antiracism less news worthy? Certainly. This is the point of the idea black lives matter.
The question and conversation about of imperialism, though is also relevant.
In popular culture, I think about the scene in Black Panther when Killmonger is in a European museum points out the exploitation of African people and pillaging of their cultural artifacts.
Historically, we might remember that Haiti had to pay the French for loss of property, that is, slaves in order to be recognized as independent as late as the 1940s. In the early 2000s, Haiti demanded that the French pay back the “independence debt.”
Put another way, and this is ought to be a lesson from this course, to think historically isn’t just about the past and “facts,” but its also about how past events linger in the present and how there’s usually a legacy and impact.
This is not just a black and white situation. Of course there are things that need to be addressed. To starts off, I do not think it was wrong to help fund the rebuilding of the Notre Dame cathedral. I think just as people, we should look to help others when possible. I understand we have problems of our own we need to focus and work on. That does not mean we should just ignore the rest of the world. This also does not mean to disregard and push our own problems to the side. The burning of the 3 churches is one of many topics that needs way more recognition. As a nation we should try and help as much as possible. There are many other problems in our country that just get pushed to the side. I agree that we need to offer funding to the problems of our country but funding will not solve everything. When looking at the lack of funding this can not be assumed as a reinforcement of white empires. I agree with Max saying that we could have help fund simply because we felt bad as a country. With all this being said, in the future we should try and focus on helping our own people but not forget about the outside world.