ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Confederate monuments have been a hot topic around the country, including St. Augustine. Monday night, city commissioners heard a recommendation to keep the city’s Confederate memorial intact – with added historical context.
Now, some are questioning the future of the old slave market downtown.
This is the old slave market in St. Augustine (yes, PEOPLE were sold here). Knowing that, some want it gone. I’ll have a live report @ 5:30. pic.twitter.com/or7GHWUiYx
— Erica Simon (@EricaOnABC13) October 24, 2017
“It’s not something that I’m proud of. I’m a native of St. Augustine,” Richard White said.
It’s a sentiment many people of color around the Ancient City share. Old postcards and newspaper ads confirm African slaves were once auctioned off there.
“If you went bankrupt, or someone died and their estate had to be settled and their estate contained human property, they would hold an auction in the marketplace there,” historian David Nolan explained.
Action News Jax Erica Bennett met with Nolan Tuesday to get more backstory on the market.
“The slave patrol would meet here every night to go out on their rounds,” Nolan said.
In addition to people being sold, the KKK also met there to rally and intimidate local blacks. That was often met with peaceful protests from people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
It’s a timeline Nolan says is often denied.
“After the 1964 demonstrations, you started to hear a whole new line that said ‘No slave was ever sold in the slave market’ and there was even an attempt to rename it the 'flower market,'” he continued.
Organizers at the ACCORD Civil Rights Museum tell me, if Confederate monuments are going to be discussed, the slave market needs to be looked at as well.
2) Historian David Nolan says even though some deny slaves were sold in town, old postcards and newspaper ads show otherwise: pic.twitter.com/smhD0sQvI6
— Erica Simon (@EricaOnABC13) October 24, 2017
“It’s a divisive issue. I respect and I understand their point of view, but my job is to make what I think is the interest of the whole community,” city manager John Regan said.
For now, the market will stay – and for some, it does represent pain, but also represents triumph.
“This was a gathering place for the Klan. Yeah, we got that. During the '60s, this was their platform. It was also the platform for the foot soldiers when they marched around this marketplace in spite of the Klan,” White said.
Although some people feel like more can be done, the structure does have a plaque that was put up in 1930, confirming, calling it a former slave market.
Cox Media Group
