In a rather peculiar ceremony, nine slaves owned by George Washington will be honored Thursday, the day before Americans celebrate the nation’s independence.

According to PennLive.com, event planners will use the occasion to tell the slaves’ stories and dedicate permanent memorial in their name.  The memorial has been erected at the former site of the President’s House which was demolished in the 1930’s and stood just yards from the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.  Both Washington and John Adams lived in the building while they served as president between 1790 and 1800, when Philadelphia was the nation’s capital.

Now enough with the history lesson.  This story gives me the creeps and leaves me scratching my head.  I agree that the contributions of slaves and their labor need to be better represented and remembered in this country but this ceremony and subsequent monument seems a little odd.  According to the site, these  slaves were just nine among hundreds, Washington owned.  In his will, he arranged for them to be freed after the death of his wife.  If anything I would have been more in favor of drawing attention to the fact that our beloved, holier than thou George Washington was a slave owner.  I just think memorializing his slaves is pound foolish and in my opinion a waste of resources that could have been spent on something else.