What are some of the ethical issues that you are grappling with in your research? What are some of the ways in which you are responding to these questions?

Reading through letters exchanged between governors and anti-lynching advocates in the Slavery Papers archive was quite devastating as it made me think about the overt neglect of Black Americans fighting for dignity and civil rights. The justification, excuses, and complete disregard for Black life in these letters wasn't surprising considering the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow in America. However, it made me wonder, how can justice be served amongst institutions that are inherently biased and flawed? How can dignity be restored to the Black community amongst certain media portrayals riddled with notions of Black inferiority, hyper-violent tendencies, and prejudice? Going through newspaper clippings which reported lynchings, in period of the 1800s, was quite interesting as the authorial voice often contained coded language justifying Black death. This came up repeatedly throughout multiple papers. I'm noticing a pattern amongst my research between race and viewpoint. Throughout history, Black death has polarized racial politics in America. Instead of focusing on the systemic relationship with Black premature death, it seems as though Black Americans continue to have to voice or express why their lives matter to the broader white America.  

As you continue your research, have you considered alternative viewpoints in your investigation? If so, how have these alternative viewpoints enriched or changed your project?

As I've immersed myself in the archive, I've noticed alternative viewpoints which usually reflect the Black and white racial divide during the time period. For example, in the Slavery Papers I've noticed the relationship between leaders in power and neglecting the urgency of Black lynchings. The overt complicity within state and federal systems was intentional and blatant during slavery and Jim Crow. I also have to remind myself to balance imposing my 21st century perspective onto 19th century politics and ideologies. These alternative viewpoints enrich my project by helping identify how power politics contributes to complicity and inaction in protecting Black Americans from any and all forms of racial violence. The process of going through these papers felt like I was being pulled in all directions, in regards to perspective and viewpoint. From governors refusing to even comment on the lynching problem in America to anti-lynching advocates and reverends highlighting the overt in justice of lynching, I was immersed in competing viewpoints throughout this archive. Overall, these viewpoints helped me make comparisons to issues within politics today,