THE ERASURE OF BLACK HISTORY:
WHY OUR INSTITUTIONS MUST PRESERVE BLACK HERITAGE
BY DR. ROSLYN CLARK ARTIS
R ecently, I had an occasion to visit Charleston, South Carolina. While there, I ventured past the birth home of civil rights icon, and Benedict College graduate, Septima Pointsette Clark. I was stunned to find that while the historic marker remains on the lawn, the home has been repurposed into a sorority house. To say that I was shocked and yes, offended, would be an understatement. This “use case” is, at best, a disregard of Mrs. Clark’s legacy and at worst an erasure of South Carolina’s Black history. Septima Poinsette Clark, affectionately referred to as “Mother of the Movement” by
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement. She dedicated her life to Black education, literacy, and voter empowerment. The U.S. Mint has recognized her contributions by including her on the face of a coin for the series entitled “American Innovation,” in 2021. Yet rather than honoring her legacy with a museum or a historical center, the institution chose to repurpose her birthplace for a predominantly white sorority. While I can certainly appreciate the critical need for additional housing on a growing college campus, this “use” amounts to a fundamental failure to acknowledge, protect, respect, and preserve Black heritage in
meaningful and appropriate ways.
of the Civil Rights Movement, reducing figures like Septima Clark to footnotes while uplifting narratives that make majority audiences comfortable. In recent years, book bans, legal challenges to an AP African American History Course, attacks on Critical Race Theory and most recently, the removal of any reference to slavery or DEI from public school curricula, has made manifest what we have already known – Black History is not welcomed or appreciated in mainstream America. The decision to convert Clark’s home into a sorority house is emblematic of our times. While the home’s repurposing may be
While it may appear that I am criticizing the College of Charleston, I want to be clear that I am not. Perhaps the preservation of our history is not their responsibility. The College’s decision exposes the crucial question of who controls historical narratives, whose legacies are deemed worthy of preservation, and why Black people must take primary responsibility for safeguarding their history. Majority institutions have long played a role in minimizing, and/ or outright erasing Black history. Schools teach a sanitized version
1 4 | HBCU TIMES SUMMER ISSUE 2025
Powered by FlippingBook