Over 150 years later, slavery's influence in American history continues to be felt, permeating many aspects of life - including some which, at first glance, have little to do with it. Consider zoos, for instance. The first US zoos opened their gates over a decade after the end of slavery, so there are no zoos in this country that were built by slaves or served by slaves, something that you can't say about, say, the White House. Many zoos were built in city parks, however, which may have begun their lives as plantations. Consider the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, which originally was the Dunn Plantation. When the Zoo was being built in its new location, it was determined that a slave burial ground was on site. The Zoo tip-toed around it for years, until it became clear that some planned construction would disturb it. At this point, the Zoo worked with the Tennessee state archaeologist to exhume and properly reinter the bodies elsewhere on grounds.
Many zoos were segregated during the era of Jim Crow, with blacks either banned from grounds as visitors, or limited to specific days. Which is to say that they weren't still taxed with monies going towards the upkeep of many facilities (zoos being just one) that they were not given access to.
When people talk about racism in zoos, the go-to story is of Ota Benga, the Congolese man who was (very briefly) displayed at the Bronx Zoo. This incident has, in recent years, cast a shadow over the legacy of the Zoo's Director, William T. Hornaday, threatening to overshadow his many more laudable accomplishments, such as saving the American bison from extinction. Popular accounts tend to misrepresent the event (a recent Wikipedia edit, for example, claims that the Zoo captured Ota Benga from the Congo and brought him to the US for exhibition, which is not accurate). The truth is that, as problematic as we now recognize them as being, such "ethnographic exhibitions" of putting people on display - both inside and outside of zoos - weren't that unusual in that era. The Bronx Zoo was just one brief stop that Ota Benga made in his career traveling the US as a human curio. You could argue if that makes the whole spectacle better... or worse.
(I realize the irony of spending a chunk of this post that is meant to address the history of racism within the zoo community defending a man that many would consider a racist. By today's standards, he certainly was. By the turn of the last century? Harder to say. I acknowledge fully that putting a person on display alongside an ape to promote the views of science of an era was bad, and was not a good thing to have done. Hornaday just happens to have been a long time hero of mine, and I hate seeing his legacy reduced to this. People - most of them, anyway - are more than just one thing.)
Also unrelated: Whenever I see animal rights organizations referring to animals, whether in zoos (such as the recent case of Happy) or in agricultural settings, as "slaves," I really find myself wondering exactly how that plays in the black community. Does it foster a sense of connection and empathy? Or does it seem like a cheapening of their history and generational trauma? From the conversations that I have had, and from the low levels of black membership in those organizations, I'm guessing the later.
Today, there is underrepresentation of black staffers at all levels of the zoo hierarchy outside of customer service and grounds-keeping, though there is a dedicated movement of recruitment and mentorship working to even out the imbalance.
Juneteeth, which has been observed in parts of the country (especially Texas) for generations before becoming a federal holiday, is celebrated by many as the end of slavery. It could also be said to serve as a reminder that there is still much more that needs to be done not to end slavery, but to thoroughly undo its legacy of segregation, discrimination, and reduced opportunities for communities of color.
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