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"Plantation" Defined
“In the antebellum South, the plantation was a place of exclusion and privilege — the ultimate country club — where everyone knew his or her assigned status and role. Blacks were the ultimate outsiders and were only seen when a service was needed. Otherwise, they quietly maintained and operated the plantation but never enjoyed its benefits and prosperity. Occasional and courageous protests were either harshly punished or easily ignored.”
“When blacks hear the word "plantation," all of that history rushes in and we immediately grasp the political situation. "Plantation" is shorthand for an immoral concentration of resources, exclusion, and the arrogance that accompanies unchecked power.”
-- Robert Franklin
From: "All Things Considered," National Public Radio (NPR), January 18, 2006. Robert Franklin is Professor of Theology at Emory University. He commented on a controversial statement with racial overtones made by U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton on Martin Luther King Day.
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