I have been hesitant to weigh in on the topic of the Undergroud Railroad
because I feel so ambivalent.  At the NY State History Conference in
Buffalo a few years ago there was a major emphasis on this topic, partly
because the federal government had allocated a lot of money toward it.  I
spent last year in Hungary where a great deal of attention is now being
directed toward people who helped the Jews during the late 1930s and 1940s.
 This makes Hungarians, Germans and Polish people feel good, but
overstressing it amounts to historical distortion.  The fact is, most
people did not help the Jews.  I would hate to have our whole national
memory of the slavery period dominated by images of white people helping
escaped slaves.  That is not the major story.  Yes a few did escape, most
could not.  Yes there were whites willing to risk their necks, but hardly
most whites.  Now the story of the URR can be told in a way that emphasizes
the overwhelming reality rather than the cherry exceptions, but I fear that
our enthusiasm for this topic may be another way of erasing the most
painful and contradictory chapter in the story of American freedom.  What
do you think?

Patrick McGreevy


Patrick McGreevy
Department of Anthropology, Geography and Earth Science
Clarion University
Clarion, PA 16214

814-226-2649
Fax 814-226-2004

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http://wwwalet.clarion.edu/mcgreevy/home.htm