A Message to the Menokin Community
June 4, 2020 On behalf of the Menokin Foundation, we would like to acknowledge the ongoing anger, pain, and heartache that our neighbors and fellow citizens are experiencing today. Conversations are happening everywhere in America; with protests on our streets, discussions at dinner tables, and exchanges on social media in every corner of the country. In trying to understand the struggles of this moment, it is important to acknowledge their origins: the enslavement of Black men, women, and children that led to the systemic racial prejudice that continues even now.
As a former plantation site, we acknowledge that Menokin was complicit in the systemic violence against Black people in the United States. Though Francis Lightfoot Lee, and our American founders, espoused the ideals of equality that are celebrated by some and demanded by Black Americans and protesters today, they contradicted that ideology by being active and complicit in a system of horror, brutality, and trauma. A legacy of dehumanization that subsequent owners of Menokin continued and exists throughout society to this day. We join with Americans across the country in being angered and we mourn the loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others whose names are known and unknown.
Our role as the stewards of a national historic site is to create opportunities for the public to contemplate and explore the building of our nation, including slavery and its lasting legacy. We will continue to conduct essential research on the very people who made Menokin. We have much more to do and are committed to fostering dialogue around our nation’s founding ideals and realities, even when those realities are difficult to confront. This commitment is rooted in our belief that the history and lives of Black people matter. We are deeply committed to listening to the voices of the community, and we will be sharing details on actionable ways to be involved soon. We look forward to doing our part in working towards equality for everyone now and into the future.