American history is full of macabre, if not downright horrific episodes of disturbing the dead. Think of all the Native American graves that have been dug up, pillaged, disrupted, in the long, often undignified history of US expansion from the colonial era through the twentieth century; or consider the American Civil War, when the dead on both sides of the conflict were ill-treated to demoralize and degrade the enemy; the early history of medical schools is full of episodes of grave-robbing—literally hiring “resurrectionists” who went out in the dead of night to unearth and carry back freshly buried corpses to basements for aspiring young doctors to dissect; or more recently, the tri-state crematory scandal in North Georgia with bodies left unburied on the grounds, defiled ashes after cremation, and living family members outraged by the disgraceful management of their dead.
Now with relatives of more than 7,000 bodies questioning the treatment and care of the dead entrusted to the Burr Oak Cemetery in Illinois, the American public is gripped by the indignity associated with the desecration of sacred remains, and the sympathy for family members affected by disturbances to the peace of the dead.
What could be more unsettling and infuriating than having your expectation of peace in the grave shattered by revelations like those we are now hearing about at this cemetery? Investigations, protests, inquiries, vigils, lawsuits, and a whole array of actions are currently being taken by relatives, political officials, and state regulators to get to the bottom of this scandal.
While we are likely to hear more about greed and illegalities, disrespect and ill-repute by employees there, this case also speaks to one of the most fearsome and disquieting acts imaginable: the profanation of the dead. The scale and longevity of mistreating the remains at Burr Oak Cemetery is astonishing indeed, but it does have a familiar ring to it in the longer view of US history, if not human history generally, of attitudes toward and abuses of the dead.
The profanation of the dead conjures up the worst of human motivations and actions: heartless mercenaries beholden to money, power, or prestige; savage instincts that betray humanity and dignity when it comes to the sacrosanct peace of the deceased; inhuman disregard for life and a universal morality surrounding the final resting place.
As the story of Burr Oak Cemetery unfolds, it will force the living—those affected but also those on the sidelines—to reconsider their relationships and responsibilities to the dead. Not only in terms of their spiritual value in the afterlife, though that is obviously an element; not only in terms of the therapeutic value of the peace of the grave, though this too is relevant; not in only terms of the economic value of fees paid to working professional and responsible parties, though of course this is an indisputable component.
But all of these combined—in other words, the total sacred investments we make in assuming that we have some degree of control over the fate of the dead as active spirit, comforting memory, and valuable commerce—in an uncertain, unjust world where the dead matter but not always for the same reasons.
Tags: cemeteries, corpse, crime, death, death and dying, grave
This is a deeply disturbing crisis. Our world is unastable and unsafe. Even the dead suffer from exploitation.
The entire subject of the disposition of Negro cemeteries in the good ole US of A is a continuing well kept disgraceful secret. Even with the most recent spotlight at Burr Oak this has not been revealed to the public. As in life so in death the bodies of black folk are worth less than the remains of many beloved dogs and cats owned by white Americans.
From the days of slavery to the recent times, most black folks could not find final resting places in white cemeteries, and were generally interred in some local cemetery reserved for black corpses. Whereas black populations have been the most mobile since the 1920's, most segregated Negro cemeteries suffer from extreme inattention and have sadly fallen into overgrowth and general ruin. Members of the 2nd and 3rd generations of black families are scattered across the nation, and many have no idea where their great grandparents are buried and most don't even give it a thought.
Hence, it is common practice especially in the south for local towns to sell off old black cemeteries to developers if there is any interest in the land. In turn the developers are either not informed that the land that they are about to dig up is a cemetary, or don't care if they have been told. In these instances bones, dirt and debris are all dug up together and trucked to some alternate site or landfill location for dumping.
An example of this type of descrecation occured years ago in Athens Georgia where the ONLY black cemetary in Athens was dug up and replaced by a new large building complex and mall. This cemetary contained bodies of black people going back the antebellum era in this country and now their graves no longer exist and their bones are scattered on the wind...
Another more recent example happened on Gulla Island in South Carolina. Despite the protests of black folks living on the island, the only black cemetary on the island was sold to developers and the bodies dug up and tranferred to landfills to make way for a new luxury development on the island. The town facilitated the sale of the land to developers by saying that the cemetary was abandoned. From the time of slavery many of the black folk on the Island we3re illiterate and most likely the land was purchased over a century ago with payment and a simple handshake. Thus the white administrators in the town government KNEW that no registered deed existed and just simply sold it off to developers knowing full well that it was a black cemetary. The developers were paying big money for this land and all of the proceeds from the sale went into the pockets of the white town officials.
Is it little wonder that Frederick Douglass had little praise for American honor in his famous Fourth of July speech.
Thank you, anonymous, for putting this Illinois situation into a broader context. I am shocked by your story and grieved by my ignorance of this history of desecration of black cemeteries.
For a hopeful, though oft-frustrated, grassroots effort to ensure descendants' access to the graves of African Americans in East Texas, see the recently published Love Cemetery as well as the December 2008 legal ruling. (www.chinagalland.com).
Also notable are the efforts of Athens, Georgia area residents who participate in an annual cemetery clean-up in order to maintain the graves of four victims of one of the "last mass lynchings" in the U.S. Through invitations to college students in and around the Atlanta and Athens area to participate in the clean-up, the Moore's Ford Memorial Committee's work over the past decade exposes the next generation to how the legacy of racism in the U.S. is embodied (and, even, tragically, embalmed). (www.mooresford.org)
May these efforts be a witness to what an honest discourse about the legacy of racism in the U.S. might look like if we have the courage to exhume the ancestral wisdom-- and not the bodies--of those who have gone before us.
Until these amoral cretins are held personally accountable by those affected, the crimes will not stop. I mean personally accountable ie: confront them personally and make them pay either in dollars or pain.
Since the law is completely inept in EVERY way possible there can not be any expectation of justice from the so called authorities.
Thank you, anonymous, for putting this Illinois situation into a broader context.Thus the white administrators in the town government KNEW that no registered deed existed and just simply sold it off to developers knowing full well that it was a black cemetary.
Resveratrol ultra
Abolitionist great grandfather is partly in a ditch on a public highway in North Carolina. I think that did not happen out meanness but it does suggest lack of respect.
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