BC Students Travel to NC on Black Culture Trip
Bluefield College students participated in an all-day field trip to Charlotte, NC, April 17, where they visited the Historic Latta Plantation and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture.
Organized by BC’s Public Relations II class, the field trip was designed to increase the overall awareness of black culture within the student body. The trip also included breakfast and dinner at the popular Cracker Barrel and Cook Out restaurants.
Both the Latta Plantation and the Harvey B. Gantt Black Cultural Museum had tours and educational features on black culture. The Latta Plantation is an exhibit that shows the realistic features of what a slave owner’s plantation would look like and how it was run during the time of slavery. The exhibit was an actual plantation that was preserved with minor alterations to one building that was restored after it burned. The tour featured the presentation of historical facts about how slaves and the overseers lived during that time, including what they wore, what they ate, and how they managed their everyday life. Some BC students said the exhibit focused too much on how white slave owners and their families lived rather than the realistic harshness of how slaves lived.
“I didn’t like the plantation so much because they overshadowed the way slaves lived during that time and mainly focused on the slave owner’s culture,” Antonio Perkins said. “Although, the museum was everything I expected it to be and most definitely made up for the downside of the plantation.”
The tour of the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture focused more on the art and delicate aspect of black culture. At the Gantt Center, BC students enjoyed a guided tour featuring many art pieces and demonstrations that helped highlight the elegance of black culture from long ago up until present day.
“I learned that Fredrick Douglas believed that photography could change the image of African-Americans,” Tiyanna Scott said. “It’s interesting because we black people often have to use our cameras today to justify their actions, protect our image, and sometimes even save our lives when being pulled over by the police, as well.”
The museum had art pieces that were created during the Civil Rights movement but also art pieces from the George Floyd altercation and much more. The guide for the tour had students choose their favorite pieces of art and explained the meaning of each to the group.
“I learned that not only art but photography, as well, was used to capture the hardships faced during those times,” Sarah LaPrade said.
The main attraction of the Harvey B. Gantt Center was a “Black Lives Matter” exhibit that showed the artistic responses the black community created during this time of grief, dissatisfaction and protest.
“The exhibit that I learned the most from was the ‘Black Lives Matter’ exhibit,” Mathhew Mainville said, “because I saw what the people of Charlotte did so that their voice could be heard, and I believe that was really inspiring.”
After the museum visits, the students were given three hours of free time in downtown Charlotte. The students were then treated to dinner before making their way back to the college.
“I was very satisfied with this trip,” Tanya Pinette said, “and I learned that people of black culture still struggle with feeling equal to others from the ‘Black Lives Matter’ exhibit because of current events that show how lives in black culture are at stake.”
After the trip the students were asked to complete a survey to measure the success of the outing. Eighty percent of the students who completed the survey said they were very satisfied with the trip.