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Talking to two amateur historians in Southampton County, just a short drive down I-95, reveals very different views on slave-revolt leader Nat Turner on the eve of a new PBS documentary
By ROB HEDELT SOUTHAMPTON--They agree it's important to share the story of Nat Turner, whose slave rebellion in Southampton County was a watershed historical event. But local history authorities I spoke to recently in Virginia's Southside have different views on just what story gets told. A new Turner documentary will be on PBS this week (See a review in today's TV Star) and I was curious about what folks in Turner's county had to say today about the slave revolt that killed more than 55 whites. I found out by talking to two local historians quoted in the special. James McGee No one will ever accuse the tall, articulate painter and student of slave history of mincing words. When we talked, the collector of black oral history made many controversial points. Among them: It's important for Turner's story to be told publicly in Southampton, with any artifacts and dwellings that can be saved. Until recently, blacks in the county had very different takes on Turner. One was a doff-their-hat "Yasssir, that Nat was terrible!" response to whites in the segmented society; the other was a heartfelt "Ol' Nat's a hero" feeling shared only with other blacks. The Turner "cop out" McGee can't stand comes from those who think history would be kinder to the slave leader had he spared women and children in the revolt. "That argument conveniently overlooks what preceded the revolt: the heinous treatment these slaves got, being treated like beasts of the field, beaten, tortured, raped and separated from their families," said McGee, a retired VDOT fiscal officer. He argues Turner wasn't clueless and ignorant, as some say. As proof, the "about 70" McGee notes the recurring story that trickled down from blacks of Turner's day that he initially planned the revolt for July 4 at a spot called Cross Keys.
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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