ORO Editions

over recent years, critical race theory research has uncovered the depth of the slave-owning practices of some of the United States’ founding fathers. Former presidents George Washington Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were together responsible for some 1,500 enslaved African Americans. These former presidents’ plantations— Monticello, Mount Vernon, and Montpelier—are now tourist attractions for millions of Americans yearly. However, the slave houses, recently reconstructed, are hidden from view and an “optional” experience for tourists. We also acknowledge that the founding fathers occupied stolen land from indigenous tribes such as the Conoy, Doeg, and Monacans. These sites of trauma are essential to American history. Disruption of these patriotic tourist experiences is a top priority, including the acknowledgment of slavery and the hidden slave landscape, which is no longer a backdrop but the main storyline of these reconfigured tourist destinations.

Policy is slow by design, but reorienting landscapes can happen quickly. We