The Color of History

I'm watching a re-run of a program on the History Channel called "The White House: Behind Closed Doors", hosted by former President and Mrs. Bush. The narrator is some History Channel guy. It makes for fairly interesting-yet-innocuous background noise while I wander the Internet and read a cookbook.

However, one statement by the narrator really caught my attention. He stated that the White House, "like much of America" was built "by laborers hailing from Africa and Europe." This struck a jarring note for me, given that much was made during President Obama's inauguration of the momentousness of a Black president taking the reigns in a city/capital/executive mansion built by slaves.

"Laborers"??? What kind of bland whitewash (yes, double-meaning intended) is THAT? But then I thought - now, don't be reactive; check your facts. So I did.

According to The White House Historical Association recruitment of European laborers was "dismal" and the District of Columbia Commissioners "soon... turned to African Americans - slave and free - to provide the bulk of the labor that built the White House, the United States Capitol, and other early government buildings."

C'mon History Channel - don't be purveyors of bland; be accurate, even when the color of history isn't lilywhite.

Photo of the White House from The History Channel.