Day 8: When The History of Slavery Hits You In The Heart
A building contractor comes face to face with Central Virginia's troubling racial past.
I am a building contractor in Central Virginia. During my fifty-plus years working in the construction industry, I have probably worked on close to a thousand projects. I have built, remodeled and renovated homes. My work includes new office buildings, new and renovated retail spaces, historic restorations, many restaurants, and three veterinarian clinics. I have renovated log homes and even added an addition onto a bus.
One reason I decided to follow a career in construction is the variety of projects out there. The nature of what I have a chance to work on challenges me in different ways every day. The one constant is constant change. The moving parts involve products, customers, technology, workforce, weather, and even locations. The goal on all our projects is to find the best combination of function, aesthetics, and budget for our customers.
Another characteristic of the construction industry that attracted me was the huge and wildly diverse cast of characters I get to work around. Some projects take hundreds of sets of hands joining together to create something. It involves finding ways to work with people from all over the spectrums of formal education, social skills, personal beliefs, political leanings, family backgrounds, financial status, and construction skills. We have to look past our different backgrounds and histories to create things that hopefully will last for generations. The beautiful thing about working with such a diverse group of people is that I never know what lessons I might learn from or with them at any moment. The key is to make sure you are paying attention, because you never know what you might learn or how you might be changed.
If I wasn’t paying attention, I might not know that one of the concrete truck drivers is an amazing gospel singer. Or that one of my subcontractors is a minister. Or that one of our cabinetmakers is a really good bass player in a Grateful Dead tribute band. If I wasn’t paying attention at a recent historic courthouse and museum renovation job, I would not have experienced one of the most powerful and moving moments of my life.
As I was accepting a delivery at this historic museum job, I shared a moment with a young black man that I will never forget. He was assisting the driver with the delivery when he noticed an artifact in the side yard of the museum. In this side yard, there was a 16”x 16” x 24” block of stone sticking out of the ground. A small sign identified the stone as a slave auction block. I cannot wrap my head around the fact that enslaved people once stood on top of this stone as other people bid to “purchase” them. I had seen this piece of pre-civil war history many times before, but in that moment my view of the auction block changed dramatically.
Right before getting back on the truck, this young man walked over to the auction block and bowed his head in prayer. I didn’t invade his space, but I stood close by and bowed my head as well. As we stood there in silence for a minute that seemed like an eternity, I could only think what his prayer might be. The reality of what took place on this stone made my heart sink. In these times of such racial strife and division, I wish more people could have shared that moment with me. As he raised his head and I raised mine, I simply said “Amen”. Nothing more was said. He just nodded and walked back to the truck.
Tom Gerdy is a building contractor and community activist with a passion for Habitat For Humanity. He often writes about making a difference in the world. If so inclined, you can find his work by Googling ‘Huffington Post-’ or ‘Medium-’ followed by ‘Tom Gerdy’.
"The key is to make sure you are paying attention, because you never know what you might learn or how you might be changed." -- I love this.
This is excellent. If I wasn't paying attention I would not know that Tom Gerdy is a talented writer! Thank you so much for this series.