DAY SEVEN Washington DC

Our final day in the states was still a busy one - a visit to a news organisation in DC and a tour of the Houses of Congress. We just had time to stop at the Lincoln Memorial before making our waty to the airport for the short flight home. 

Words by Django and Yannik, Year 12 

Today we met Benji, Emma's cousin and a journalist in Washington DC. From the roof of his office we could see the White House and the Washington monument. With Benji we talked about how Washington DC was built through slave labor and aligned with the south and how despite the abolition of Jim Crow and the progress made we still see segregation throughout the city as a result of white flight and lack of support for black communities. 

Similar to us Benji had also visited Mt. Zion church in Charlottesville, Virginia to reflect on the ‘Unite the right rally’ that took place in 2017. He gave us a further insight on the feelings of the Mt. Vernon community and how they felt unsettled in their own homes and places of work as the people marching were their neighbors and colleagues. Benji also voiced his concerns about the increasing presence of fake news in the media (for example the idea that trump rigged the election). He also talked about how the jobs of reporters is to challenge the narrative whilst using a neutral tone so that the viewers may form their own opinions and how the increased use of TikTok/podcasts by political parties can have a significant impact on young peoples votes which he believed to be a large reason for trumps victory in the election.

Words by Gabriel, Year 13 

We entered the Capitol at 12:00 pm, where we watched a brief video on the history of the Capitol building. It started with the construction of the base structure, which included the Southern and Northern wings, housing the House of Representatives and the Senate respectively. It then went on to talk about the Capitol’s destruction, and subsequent reconstruction, in the war of 1812 following Washington D.C.’s capture by British and Canadian troops. It ended with the construction of the Rotunda, the dome that now sits in the middle of the Capitol, which remained under construction during the US Civil War of 1861-1865 despite wartime restrictions, and was completed in 1866.

After the video we met our tour guide Danny at the old Supreme Court, used before the Court’s relocation in 1935 and moved into the modern building. This was the location of many famous civil rights cases, such as the famous Dred Scott case where Scott, as a slave, sued for his freedom in the North when his master died, but he was rejected by the Supreme Court who argued that as an African-American, he was legally a slave. This set the precedent for civil rights law suits for decades to come.

Another interesting site was the literal centre of D.C. which was located in the middle of the Capitol building. When the city was being planned after the Revolutionary War of 1776, they used this location as a focal point to determine the position and name of each street. Danny told us that because of this fact the Capitol building has no address. In fact, the room where this point is located was meant to be the tomb of George Washington, however he made it clear in his will that he wanted to be buried in his family estate, Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Perhaps the part I found most interesting was the Rotunda, where several historically bigoted paintings and statues were presented, for example, each corner displayed a statue of each war fought against the native Americans who had monstrous faces. Despite having statues of Dr. King, and female suffrage campaigners, Danny argued that they are included to add diversity to the original propagandised presentation of American history, which failed to acknowledge the role African-Americans in building the country, since none were displayed. Nonetheless, the Rotunda was indeed glamorous and immensely impressive, however it’s currently only used for tours and ceremonial occassions such as Presidential funerals. Furthermore, the ceiling of the dome displayed a renaissance era painting depicting the apotheosis, or ascension to Godhood, of George Washington who was wearing an extravagant toga and surrounded by angels. 

From there we were taken to the old Senate room which was decommissioned due to capacity issues after the addition of many new states in the 19th century. However, the room is still used today when swearing in new Senators, and as a meeting place during times of national emergency. The history of the room is fascinating, it held all of the Senate debates over slavery which often led to violence on the Senate floor. The most notorious case of which was the caning of Charles Sumner, an abolitionist who was nearly beaten to death for delivering a speech condemning slavery. The Senator who assaulted Sumner was subsequently sent multiple replacement canes from wealthy Democrats, showing the violent rhetoric of many Southerners at the time. 

Lastly, Danny mentioned the January 6th rally, where thousands of Trump Supporters stormed the Capitol, causing a clash between police and rioters in the Rotunda. The rioters used bear spray which stuck to paintings and statues in order to deface them. Danny described the fighting as “hand-to-hand combat” which forced the police to deploy tear gas in order to disperse the crowd. Danny said that very few people were inside due to covid restrictions, however many of the police on duty suffered severe PTSD following the attack. Danny described feeling a constant state of mild fear when he works in the Capitol.

Words by Emma (Year 34?)

Our final stop before the airport was a fitting end to our journey, the Lincoln Memorial. 

The Lincoln Memorial, built in 1922, has a rich and significant history in American history and culture. It was built to commemorate the life and legacy of President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln is best known for leading the country through the Civil War and preserving the Union, as well as for his Emancipation Proclamation, which declared slaves to be free. We can admire him for all he did, especially knowing his beliefs and convictions.

The Lincoln Memorial has been the site of many important events in American history. In 1939, Marian Anderson gave a historic concert at the Memorial after being denied the opportunity to perform at Constitution Hall because of her race. In 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place at the Lincoln Memorial, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

And so we ended our trip with a re-creation of that speech. Markos admirably exclaimed to all onlookers: “I have a dream!” It was brave and meaningful and captured the essence of our experience: to put ourselves in the shoes of civil rights footsoldiers so that we can be allies and continue the struggle for human rights.