Weekly Reflection: The “Fuller Story” in Franklin, TN

Recently a new statue was unveiled near the county courthouse in Franklin, TN. It is called “March to Freedom” and honors the contributions of Black soldiers who fought for the Union in the Civil War. The statue is the culmination of several years of advocacy and organization led by a group of pastors and a local historian. They called their effort the “Fuller Story,” and it began as a response to the violence perpetrated by white supremacists in Charlottesville, VA in 2017. As with many county courthouse squares throughout the South, there is a Confederate statue in Franklin that has stood there for decades. The leaders of the “Fuller Story” decided to lift up the history of Black soldiers who served in what was called the US Colored Troops. Unfortunately the history and contributions of the nearly 200,000 men of the USCT remain largely unknown by many people. The statue along with several interpretive markers around the courthouse square not only make clear that Black people actively participated in their own freedom, they also provide an accurate counter narrative to the mythology of the “lost cause” that gave rise to Confederate monuments. The first video posted below tells more about the “Fuller Story” in Franklin, TN. The second video traces the development and legacy of the distorted “lost cause” narrative promoted by The United Daughters of the Confederacy. There is a crucial difference between history that lifts up the contributions of marginalized people and history that attempts to justify the superiority of one race over others. As people of faith, the Bible is the story of God’s way of freedom and liberation for everyone because we are all made in the image of God. That is the ultimate “Fuller Story.”