African Burial Ground Essay

The African Burial Ground also known as the “Negroes Burial Ground,” is home to more than 400 plus remains of freed and enslaved African-Americans. In 1991, a building projected unearthed the remains of these Africans beneath a parking lot just two blocks north of New York’s City Hall, bringing the colonials city’s lost African Burial Ground to the attention of the World [1]. Once the site was discovered and announced to the public, African leaders made their presence known by bring the excavation to halt and eventually taking it over. They felt as if the archeologist assigned to this excavation were to be of African descent. Only blacks would appreciate and be delicate when uncovering these grave sites, they would cherish the moments as they …show more content…
As the years went by people slowly started to fade away from the burial site and eventually forgotten about it. So when archeologist started their excavation, they were unaware of what they would be getting themselves into. Day after day the team uncovered a number of different artifacts that led to clues; revealing the history of these various burial sites and the culture of African-Americans. The skeletal findings of men, women, and children that were once known by name were now labeled with a number. A few of the more significant burials were those of numbers 335 and 336. Here lied the body of a woman along with an infant child. The child was wrapped in cloth and pinned around the body for a ceremonial and spiritual meanings. The woman’s body showed scaring at the muscle and nutritional stress. This showed that women of this age group performed some the hardest laborer in the 18th century [2]. A second burial discovery unveiled a man in a casket, decorated with iron tracks creating the initials HW; burial number 332. After further research, no records were found of any African man with the letter initials HW during the time of the cemetery. This was nothing uncommon as documents were rarely produced on the lives of captives. The team also discovered various beads, buttons, and pins all created using some of the same techniques used in Western Africa. Last, …show more content…
It was to fight for the racism that blacks endure in the present and that the history of slavery is undeniably a part of America’s history. Descendant communities were also ecstatic when they discovered that the lower Manhattan grounds were now home to the new burial monument. Black activism played a significant role with the success of the African Burial National Monument by getting the community to participate in numerous protest and with their socio-political involvement. From my perspective, I was amazed with the history that was uncovered from the finding of the burial ground. To me, this showed that no matter where the Africans were relocated to they never left behind their heritage. Although they were not blood related, they were a family who belonged to the same culture. I was also a bit hurt after learning that the burial site was once forgotten and even had a parking lot built over top of it. Now, with a National Monument having been built, I see this historical event as a message that was left behind. That message being for generations to come to study the African culture and where the culture originated, educate yourself on the slavery era and the sacrifices that were made, and to never let life bring you down or take anything away from who you are.