--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The body count alone marks the plantation…" description: "\"“The body count alone marks the plantation as a sacred place, and yet that's not what hallows the grounds to most. Traditionally, the plantation is a p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/745/michael-w-twitty-24863_quote_the-body-count-alone-marks-the-plantatio_2219258.jpg" --- # The body count alone marks the plantation as a sacred… ![“The body count alone marks the plantation as a sacred place, and yet that's not what hallows the grounds to most. Traditionally, the plantation is a place where architecture and windows and wallpaper are lauded but the bodies who put them up are not. It is still marketed as the crux of the Old…” quote by Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/745/michael-w-twitty-24863_quote_the-body-count-alone-marks-the-plantatio_2219258.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/745/michael-w-twitty-24863_quote_the-body-count-alone-marks-the-plantatio_2219258.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/745/michael-w-twitty-24863_quote_the-body-count-alone-marks-the-plantatio_2219258.jpg) > ““The body count alone marks the plantation as a sacred place, and yet that's not what hallows the grounds to most. Traditionally, the plantation is a place where architecture and windows and wallpaper are lauded but the bodies who put them up are not. It is still marketed as the crux of the Old South, a place of manners, gentility, custom, and tradition; the South's cultural apogee. It is where much of Southern culture was born, and that includes much of Southern food, and it is the place where, by and large, black America was born - and that's precisely why I use the plantation as a place of reclamation.”” [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The plantation, historically celebrated for its culture, also embodies oppression; reclaiming it acknowledges hidden histories. **In simple terms:** Plantations hide painful pasts beneath cultural pride. Key Takeaway Bring marginalized histories to light. Themes history culture reclamation racialjustice Mood thoughtful critical Type historical social When to use this quote - education - public discourse - museum curation Key Concepts colonialism memory heritage Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance heritage with acknowledging trauma? - What role does art play in reshaping narratives? A Different Perspective Reclaiming can be contested and may face resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Plantation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plantation/) [Southern culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/southern-culture/) ## Related quotes > [Southern culture has fostered a type of imagination that has been influenced by Christianity of a not too unorthodox kind and by a strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/southern-culture-has-fostered-a-type-of-imagination-that-has-been/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [The South is about the abundance, beauty, and richness of Southern culture, but also its dark underside. 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Notice how often Southerners casually address…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lee-burke/as-flawed-as-southern-culture-is-mendacity-has-always-been-treated-in/) [James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lee-burke/) > [“Southern culture is vivified, made a culture, by the melding of influences that are held far more closely than in other, lesser parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markham-shaw-pyle/southern-culture-is-vivified-made-a-culture-by-the-melding-of/) [Markham Shaw Pyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markham-shaw-pyle/) > [William Ferris has long reigned as the unimpeachable source of the entire southern experience. 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Those who defend this practice by saying it is part of Southern culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-schlossberg/in-south-carolina-the-confederate-flag-flies-high-on-countless/) [Jack Schlossberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-schlossberg/) > [“I loved the land that surrounded me but hated the history that haunted that land.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kemp/i-loved-the-land-that-surrounded-me-but-hated-the-history-that/) Mark Kemp > [You have a plantation where you have 10 white people and you have about 50 or 60 black people. The automatic thought was, 'Why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldis-hodge/you-have-a-plantation-where-you-have-10-white-people-and-you-have/) [Aldis Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldis-hodge/) > [To me, entertainment is really the new plantation. It's the new sugar, the new cotton, that black people work for somebody else to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haile-gerima/to-me-entertainment-is-really-the-new-plantation-it-s-the-new-sugar/) [Haile Gerima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haile-gerima/) > [When I was 12 years old, I went to Natchitoches, La.; it was summer vacation with my family. We visited a plantation, Melrose. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson/when-i-was-12-years-old-i-went-to-natchitoches-la-it-was-summer/) [Robert Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson/) ## More by Michael W. Twitty > [“It is also clear that structural racism is beating down the black chef. It started with segregation; black chefs in the South were either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/it-is-also-clear-that-structural-racism-is-beating-down-the-black/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“Jewish food is a matter of text expressed on the table.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/jewish-food-is-a-matter-of-text-expressed-on-the-table/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“So much was lost—names, faces, ages, ethnic identities—that African Americans must do what no other ethnic group writ large must do: take a completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/so-much-was-lost-names-faces-ages-ethnic-identities-that-african/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“The Old South is a place where people use food to tell themselves who they are, to tell others who they are, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/the-old-south-is-a-place-where-people-use-food-to-tell-themselves-who/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“Before I officially began the journey to dig deeper into my food and family roots, I was racking up an internal encyclopedia about other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/before-i-officially-began-the-journey-to-dig-deeper-into-my-food-and/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“My entire cooking life has been about memory. It's my moth indispensable ingredient, so wherever I find it, I hoard it. I tell stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/my-entire-cooking-life-has-been-about-memory-it-s-my-moth/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“Jewish food and black food crisscross each other throughout history. They are both cuisines where homeland and exile interplay. Ideas and emotions are ingredients…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/jewish-food-and-black-food-crisscross-each-other-throughout-history/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“You have to know a lot of songs to cook the way our ancestors cooked. The songs are like clocks with spells. Some enslaved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/you-have-to-know-a-lot-of-songs-to-cook-the-way-our-ancestors-cooked/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“So much was lost - names, faces, ages, ethnic identities - that African Americans must do what no other ethnic group writ large must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/so-much-was-lost-names-faces-ages-ethnic-identities-that-african-2/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“There is no chef without a homeland. To be a chef today is to center yourself in the traditions of your roots and use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/there-is-no-chef-without-a-homeland-to-be-a-chef-today-is-to-center/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“Nothing ever really escapes memory, and even the things we forget often are condemned to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/nothing-ever-really-escapes-memory-and-even-the-things-we-forget/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“Your heritage foods are your health and your wealth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/your-heritage-foods-are-your-health-and-your-wealth/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“Food, racism, power, and justice are linked. What I’m trying to do is dismantle culinary nutritional imperialism and gastronomic white supremacy with one cup…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/food-racism-power-and-justice-are-linked-what-i-m-trying-to-do-is/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“A heritage that is only self-congratulating and masturbatory is not a heritage at all but rather insipid nostalgia. We cannot afford that; everything must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/a-heritage-that-is-only-self-congratulating-and-masturbatory-is-not-a/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“Closing down an event with Confederate reenactors is never really easy for a black guy. Let’s face it, the Confederates lost the War Between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/closing-down-an-event-with-confederate-reenactors-is-never-really/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) [Explore all 24 Michael W. Twitty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) ## More Plantation quotes > [When I was 12 years old, I went to Natchitoches, La.; it was summer vacation with my family. We visited a plantation, Melrose. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson/when-i-was-12-years-old-i-went-to-natchitoches-la-it-was-summer/) [Robert Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson/) > [To me, entertainment is really the new plantation. It's the new sugar, the new cotton, that black people work for somebody else to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haile-gerima/to-me-entertainment-is-really-the-new-plantation-it-s-the-new-sugar/) [Haile Gerima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haile-gerima/) > [You have a plantation where you have 10 white people and you have about 50 or 60 black people. The automatic thought was, 'Why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldis-hodge/you-have-a-plantation-where-you-have-10-white-people-and-you-have/) [Aldis Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldis-hodge/) > [“On the day of their arrival on Hazel Hill my family’s history and fortunes—and my own heritage—were first indissolubly linked with the enslavement of human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-himes/on-the-day-of-their-arrival-on-hazel-hill-my-family-s-history-and/) [Andrew Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-himes/) > [We worked over at that place The Plantation Inn with The Del Rios. It was really wild over there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bell/we-worked-over-at-that-place-the-plantation-inn-with-the-del-rios-it/) [William Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bell/) > [There are times of great beauty on a coffee farm. When the plantation flowered in the beginning of the rains, it was a radiant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/there-are-times-of-great-beauty-on-a-coffee-farm-when-the-plantation/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [I think if you say that art and politics, or religion and politics, mustn't mix, don't mix, that is itself a political statement. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-think-if-you-say-that-art-and-politics-or-religion-and-politics/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I was born on a plantation, and things weren't so good. We didn't have any money. I never thought of the word 'poor' 'til…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-b-king/i-was-born-on-a-plantation-and-things-weren-t-so-good-we-didn-t-have/) [B. B. King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-b-king/) > [Plantation gospel music was the stuff I fell in love with when I was a kid - these beautiful melodies and these hard, hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-womack/plantation-gospel-music-was-the-stuff-i-fell-in-love-with-when-i-was/) [Bobby Womack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-womack/) > [“Negro slavery, thus, had nothing to do with climate. Its origin can be expressed in three words: in the Caribbean, Sugar; on the mainland,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-williams/negro-slavery-thus-had-nothing-to-do-with-climate-its-origin-can-be/) [Eric Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-williams/) > [I was raised in the suburbs. I wasn't on a plantation or anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-ervin-beam/i-was-raised-in-the-suburbs-i-wasn-t-on-a-plantation-or-anything/) [Samuel Ervin Beam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-ervin-beam/) > [“And, you see, the little boy’s father was working hard to make the Negroes sweat on the peanut plantation, and he thought that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mich-le-audin/and-you-see-the-little-boy-s-father-was-working-hard-to-make-the/) [Michèle Audin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mich-le-audin/) > [If Mr. Ware does not want republican laborers on his plantation, let him pay them in full for the time contracted for, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-e-merrill/if-mr-ware-does-not-want-republican-laborers-on-his-plantation-let/) Charles E. Merrill > [Brother and mi father afi chop sugar cane. Pon the plantation under stress and shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/capleton/brother-and-mi-father-afi-chop-sugar-cane-pon-the-plantation-under/) [Capleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/capleton/) > [I grew up on a plantation in Alabama in a small town outside of Montgomery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-lee-peterson/i-grew-up-on-a-plantation-in-alabama-in-a-small-town-outside-of/) [Jesse Lee Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-lee-peterson/) [Browse all 39 Plantation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plantation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The body count alone marks the plantation as a sacred place, and yet that's not what hallows the grounds to most. Traditionally, the plantation is a place where architecture and windows and wallpaper are lauded but the bodies who put them up are not. 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