Plantation Weddings
Getting back to the discussion of time (see prior post):
So, plantation weddings came up in my readings every day this week. I think plantation weddings are an awesome thing, if you're African-American. In the same vein, I have a great-uncle in Germany who congregates for a celebration in front of the Reichstag every May 9th with old Army mates, many of whom are Jewish. Because they won. And they can. And it's their place now.
I would totally understand a Jewish couple wanting to have a wedding at Treblinka, although I myself am not that hard-core. To make a more precise example - a Russian or Jewish couple having a wedding at Petergof (or literally any Russian palace) is very much like an African-American couple having a plantation wedding would be (although not many Russians consciously realize this, too bad for them). There is a special joy and power in claiming your right to a place where your ancestors were slaves, corpses, or pariahs.
I'm not sure why anyone who is not African-American would want to have a plantation wedding (or a wedding at Treblinka, or in a Russian palace for that matter) unless they are completely ignorant of history or so removed from it that they might as well be. And that's where the question of "how much time is long enough" comes up again.
So, plantation weddings came up in my readings every day this week. I think plantation weddings are an awesome thing, if you're African-American. In the same vein, I have a great-uncle in Germany who congregates for a celebration in front of the Reichstag every May 9th with old Army mates, many of whom are Jewish. Because they won. And they can. And it's their place now.
I would totally understand a Jewish couple wanting to have a wedding at Treblinka, although I myself am not that hard-core. To make a more precise example - a Russian or Jewish couple having a wedding at Petergof (or literally any Russian palace) is very much like an African-American couple having a plantation wedding would be (although not many Russians consciously realize this, too bad for them). There is a special joy and power in claiming your right to a place where your ancestors were slaves, corpses, or pariahs.
I'm not sure why anyone who is not African-American would want to have a plantation wedding (or a wedding at Treblinka, or in a Russian palace for that matter) unless they are completely ignorant of history or so removed from it that they might as well be. And that's where the question of "how much time is long enough" comes up again.