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WEEK 4: NALINI GUPTA

7/3/2017

2 Comments

 
Back home, I had never been a fan of museums. After all they only talked of history that I already knew about. They had nothing new to offer, nothing new to say. They were landmarks to be covered and forgotten. So I wasn’t expecting much when I saw that this week we would be going to the museum of African American history. After all I knew about slavery, had read “Just Mercy” last summer. Seen enough memorials in Washington DC. That is why, I was surprised by how shaken I was after the visit to the museum and how humbling it was.

I come from India, where I learnt the bullet points of American History. Slavery was a major problem check. There were racial tensions check. Lincoln fought the civil war for the right of the enslaved check. I figured that I knew all that there was to know. After all, it wasn't my history, it was America’s. Therefore I was not prepared to be immersed the way I was in the museum and to feel so disconcerted by the experience. For the first time I was forced to engage. Engage with the idea that this was a part of the society that I would live in for the next few years, that this was the foundation on which the basis for my American Dream was built. Even though they were just figurines, I was forced to relive a past that had till then been distant for me. It was the first time I allowed myself to truly immerse in the reality of the United States, not just the vision I had created. 

It made me realize the significance of the population distribution of Detroit. For the first time I truly felt the weight of the underlying realities of the racial bias in all the social issues facing this nation today. Till now I had behaved very much like a tourist, not just in Detroit but also at Duke. Looking only at the things I wanted to see, creating narratives around catchy pithy maxims like #DetroitVs.Everybody or #GTHC. I had been so busy getting the details that I forgotten the larger picture. 

I am sure that had I not actually been forced to truly observe that day, I might have lived my years in the states being completely unaware of the impact that history has had and how it still continues to affect the United States today. I am aware that I am not even remotely close to understanding the depth of the scars that the past has left on this country but it made me see a glimpse of something I had been blissfully ignorant of. It forced me to truly look at the problems in Detroit in a new light, to view the context of the American dream through a different lens and above all truly immerse myself in the American experience that I am lucky enough to have.

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2 Comments
Molly Johnson
7/3/2017 03:10:48 pm

Nalini - I have never been to this museum, but it sounds like a powerful experience. It's really valuable to empathize with others - especially those of a background & history different from our own.

Your experience reminds me of when I was in Israel for a 10-day trip, similar to birthright. We toured all over the country & went to Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center. We've learned about the horrors of World War II in school, there are lots of movies from that time in history, but this museum made it so much more real for me. It was tangible. There were videos and exhibits and so much emotion weighing on every part. It was curated incredibly, taking us through the journey of millions of Jews, eliciting such a strong response in all of us.

I hope you continue to feel engaged and ingratiate yourself with the Detroit community. -Molly (RP)

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Carrie
7/10/2017 10:50:07 am

I love your blog post so much! I believe the greatest thing about history is there is ALWAYS something new to be learned! I'm black and even I learned new things about my history such as the Ana the queen of the African village who fought for her village! This makes me so happy!!

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