Remembering Vinegar Hill and Its Troubling Legacy – Part 2

Posted on May 5, 2015 by PLT Staff

Recording of a joint lecture given by Renae Shackelford and James Robert Saunders at the fifth meeting of the City and Congregation Workgroup in Charlottesville, Virginia. Saunders shares his time as a student at the University of Virginia, and his understanding of the racial and social attitudes in Charlottesville.

Excerpt: “A black person, and those who tried to encourage blacks to vote vote could be killed. The impression I’m getting is that a black who went to the ballot box to vote in Charlottesville would not be killed, but my Aunt has a term for these things she calls the ‘little murders.’ How you are treated. If you’re disrespected in your daily life you think you’re going to be disrespected if you go down to the ballot box. Just how people talk to you, who’s going to be there…. It’s just not worth it.”

  • Video Information
  • Date Recorded:March 7, 2003
  • Location Recorded:Charlottesville, VA
  • Speaker: James Robert Saunders
This video is published by the Project on Lived Theology (PLT). For any questions related to its use, please contact PLT (https://www.livedtheology.org//contact/). Copy available for use subject to Creative Commons License CC-BY-NC-ND (Attribution required, Non-Commercial use, No Derivatives, 3.0, Unported).