It’s Emancipation Day here in D.C. – where we celebrate the fact that 150 years ago today the DC Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862 went into effect and ended slavery in the District

Being a resident of Capitol Hill, I visit Lincoln Park – or as it has also been known as “Racist Statue Park” – with some regularity. The picture above shows the Thomas Ball statue which resides on the western side of the park. I was really pleased to see a nice write up in the Post examining the complexities of this statue – which also addresses the important issue of how we view history today, and how different images and figures mean different things to different eras.