Un/Freedom

In July 1866 Rachel Robins and Virgil Harrell married. After centuries of commoditized kinship, my grandmother’s grandfather celebrated citizenship by claiming kin. But emancipated people had a freedom vision that exceeded liberal ideology. As in other post-emancipation societies, many wanted land to become smallholders. They elected John Gair and other Black politicians. At great personal cost, they organized, voted, and armed to defend themselves against vigilante forces. But this couple and others learned the limits of liberal inclusion. Emancipation and enfranchisement set a new stage for an old conflict between people who believed in the power of democracy and those committed to white power over all else.