To the editor:

I want to thank the Bristol Phoenix for publishing the letter last week (“Come celebrate all of Bristol's horrible past”) in which efforts to commemorate our town’s role in the history of slavery were so mockingly dismissed. Hardly anything could better illustrate the need that our community has for the public recognition of those events at this time.

Its author makes fun of what is certainly one of the things that makes Bristol so uniquely important and interesting. Many towns offer charming restaurants and shops and friendly local amenities, but Bristol stands as one of a small number of towns in our country in which some of the most seminal events in American history have occurred and where signs of those events are still available to be seen. It is true that some of these events are disturbing and shameful, but they are no less important or valuable to remember because of that. Belittling or ignoring them in favor of more positive images of the past not only denies Bristolians and visitors alike of a valuable opportunity to learn, but it involves a certain avoidance of facts and truths which, if acknowledged, could actually make us stronger as individuals and a community.

Such a mocking rejection of the well-intentioned efforts of members of our community to commemorate the role that Bristol played in the transatlantic slave trade and its associated economic and political dynamics actually illustrates well the intellectual and moral morass into which the ignorance and denial the author evidently supports can lead us. For these reasons, rather than sweeping these events under the historical rug (no pun intended), it would be better for us to follow the model of countries like Germany and South Africa which have chosen to recognize and learn from the errors in their pasts. That would be in keeping with Bristol's unique history and potential.

Bristol should demonstrate leadership in this area rather than practicing the avoidance that some people would prefer. As an example, our own Bristol Historical and Preservation Society recently sponsored a very illuminating series of seminars on a number of aspects of the slave trade and how Bristol and some of its citizens figured in them. By honestly presenting the events in our town's past we can both appreciate its unique place in history and learn from it to build a better future.

To show recognition of the immense suffering and the betrayal of our country‘s highest founding ideals that were perpetrated here would demonstrate an understanding that might at least partly redeem the consequences of those actions, some of which are still with us today. This is a positive contribution that Bristol can and should make.

Peter Dorfman
High St