African Burial Ground
Question: How did different groups of people react when they found it?
-There was major outrage within the African American community. Feeling they had no control over the fate of their heritage. They were also upset because it was not alerted at the outset to what might lie beneath the parking lot between Duane and Reade streets. (While the GSA did distribute both draft and final environmental impact statements to more than 200 federal, slate, and city agencies and local community groups, the agency did not alert civic groups in predominantly black neighborhoods that the buildings would be constructed on top of the old burial ground.)
This is a quote:
-"Religious, Afrocentric people believe that to disturb burials in any way is the highest form of disrespect," says Gina Stahlnecker, an aide to State Senator David Patterson, who represents Harlem and the Upper West Side.
At a GSA's public meetings, African Americans also questioned the propriety of continuing with the removal of remains from the area where the pavilion would be built. They also hoped that the GSA would consider not building the pavilion, or at least modify the plans so there would be no further removals. "There were several conflicting demands," recalls Diamond. "Some wanted the exhumation to stop, others wanted nothing built on the site, and still others wanted a museum built on the site.
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/afrburial/
Harrington, Spencer P. "Bones & Bureaucrats." Archaeology Magazine. ARCHAEOLOGY. Web. 14 Mar. 2012.
-There was major outrage within the African American community. Feeling they had no control over the fate of their heritage. They were also upset because it was not alerted at the outset to what might lie beneath the parking lot between Duane and Reade streets. (While the GSA did distribute both draft and final environmental impact statements to more than 200 federal, slate, and city agencies and local community groups, the agency did not alert civic groups in predominantly black neighborhoods that the buildings would be constructed on top of the old burial ground.)
This is a quote:
-"Religious, Afrocentric people believe that to disturb burials in any way is the highest form of disrespect," says Gina Stahlnecker, an aide to State Senator David Patterson, who represents Harlem and the Upper West Side.
At a GSA's public meetings, African Americans also questioned the propriety of continuing with the removal of remains from the area where the pavilion would be built. They also hoped that the GSA would consider not building the pavilion, or at least modify the plans so there would be no further removals. "There were several conflicting demands," recalls Diamond. "Some wanted the exhumation to stop, others wanted nothing built on the site, and still others wanted a museum built on the site.
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/afrburial/
Harrington, Spencer P. "Bones & Bureaucrats." Archaeology Magazine. ARCHAEOLOGY. Web. 14 Mar. 2012.