The Three Rs: Remembering, Recognition and Reconciliation

Contributed by Sierra R. Turner, Community Remembrance Project Coalition Co-Leader

When I think about our partnership with the EJI, I think about what I personally am referring to as the “Three Rs”: Remembering, Recognition, and Reconciliation. The EJI has laid the foundation for communities throughout the country to confront these “Three Rs” in way that is unique to each community.

In the case of the work we have in front of us, focusing on these “Three Rs” is important to furthering the mission of the not only the EJI but also of this community remembrance project. We have to start thinking about how we remember history and the narratives that are promoted—narratives that tend to downplay or completely omit and/or negate the lives and experiences of marginalized individuals. These omissions, like the lynching themselves, represent more than just mistakes or historical events that we can simply overlook. Instead, they should be viewed as important tools use to construct a nation built on racial violence and white supremacy--tools that still function in today's society to oppress people of color.

In addition to remembering, we have to focus on recognizing the experiences of those that have been marginalized, discriminated against and/or victimized at the hands of their oppressors. But we cannot stop at this step. One way to recognize these experiences and confront these injustices head on is the installation of lynching markers. In recent years, thanks to the work of the EJI (and other organizations), lynching markers have been installed throughout the country. In her essay, How the South Memorializes — and Forgets — Its History of Lynching, Sherrilyn Ifill discusses the lack of markers that recognize the lynchings that occurred between 1877 and 1950:

The statues and monuments we place there suggest who we were and who we wish to be. But what we choose not to put there is equally revealing.

The lack of lynching memorials in our public spaces speaks volumes about our enduring fear and paralysis in the face of our past’s darkest chapters.

It doesn’t have to be this way. There is much to gain from re-imagining a more inclusive narrative of who we are in our public spaces. An honest engagement with the truth — with, for example, the paradox that countless lynchings took place on the lawns of courthouses in towns across the South — offers us a chance to reckon with the inequities that continue to plague our society today.

In order for us to fulfill the mission of this project, we have to focus on how we as a community (both locally and nationally) reconcile competing narratives, omissions and the victimization of certain groups, among other important issues that plague our communities such as mass incarceration, excessive punishment, systemic and systematic racism and the denial of civil rights and basic human rights. Without reconciliation there can be no real transformation. Without reconciliation we will never be able to fully confront the racism and injustices present in today’s society. Without reconciliation there can be no healing which is important if our aim is to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome, appreciated, able to contribute and most importantly safe.