Par-Tea time!

By Pam Wright Local Journalism Initiative pamwrightlji@gmail.com

In 1850, the United States Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act.

The law, nicknamed the “bloodhound bill,” meant that Blacks who escaped slavery by fleeing to free northern states could be recaptured.

According to Steven Cook, curator at the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History, the act is what “put the steam” into the exodus of Black slaves to Canada via the Underground Railroad.

“I want to say we’ve come a long way since then, but we still have a long way to go,” Cook told a large crowd of supporters gathered for the Black History Month flag raising at the Chatham Civic Centre recently.

The long-time historian said recent events, including the name change at Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the dropping of the Blackbirds name from C-K’s new baseball team (see page 8), highlight the need for more education and discussion of Black history.

“I’ll be real with you,” Cook told the crowd. “Six months ago, we changed the name of our museum from Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The response from the community was not very welcoming, or very open to that change.”

Similar to the about face made by the baseball team, both name changes sparked a backlash of comment on social media. Cook said one of the Black history sites even received an e-mail in relation to the Blackbirds’ decision.

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