Them there steps were built by slaves

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The Executive Residence of the White House is a very impressive place.
As one of three sections of the building that houses the presidency of the United States of America, the Executive Residence is the official home of the president and his family, occupying three floors and two sub-basements in one of the most majestic structures in the country.
The White House, built on the edge of the mighty Potomac River in Washington, stands six stories high, with 132 rooms and 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, three elevators and training and sports facilities that include a tennis court, bowling alley, putting green, jogging track and swimming pool.
When the Obamas, Barack, Michelle, Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, are finally unpacked and settled-in at their new home, it will, as one American commentator says, “a profound commentary on race in America.”
A Black family as chief residents in a building that represents all the power and prestige of the USA, but built by slaves who were never paid and only recently recognized for their labour, and whose offspring today continue to be over-represented among the poor and powerless.
And as Barack Obama appeared at the Capitol Building to thunderous applause to take the presidential Oath of office, it must be remembered that the steps upon which he stood were also built by slaves.
And as President-elect Barack Obama appeared at the Capitol building to thunderous applause to be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, it was an historic and poignant moment, for Black people especially, knowing that the steps upon which he stood to take the Oath of office is the same place Martin Luther King Jr. stood and delivered his “I have a dream” speech.
Evidence of the work carried out by forced labour in the construction of the White House and the Capitol from 1792 through much of the 1800s, has always been available but has never been fully acknowledged.
According to historians, slaves worked as carpenters, laborers, quarrymen, brick-makers and masons in the constructions of not only the White House, but the Capitol, buildings that today stand as representation of freedom, moral authority and political strength.
According to the White House Historical Association, when the planners of the new District of Columbia started laying the foundation of the new capital city, the objective was to import workers from Europe, but that recruitment initiative failed, so they turned to slave owners in the Washington area who gladly hired out groups of slaves to do the work.
The white workers were paid between $4 and $10 per week while the slave-owners were paid about $5 a week for each slave hired out.
Among the many slave-owners of the day, was then president George Washington. The White House was his pet project.
Even after the completion of the building, no less than eight presidents, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, John Tyler, James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor occupied the White House with their slaves.
In fact, the second person born in the White House was a slave child born to Jefferson.
For nearly two hundred years, the slaves and the free labour they provided in building America’s capital had gone without official recognition until 2000 when a reporter stumbled upon documents showing money paid to slave-owners by the US government.
After that revelation, a congressional task force was established to determine the role slaves played in building Washington.
Seven years later, they acknowledged the efforts of those who toiled for decades with without pay or respect, by naming a large room at the Capitol building, Emancipation Hall.
Of course,  that gesture can be seen as,  too late… too little, given the magnitude of the contributions. (It has been estimated that well over 600 slaves were used over the course of a hundred years or so.)
However, with the Obamas  making use of the place and with the hope and promise that his election has brought to all the descendants of slaves, America has been given another opportunity to catch up and make up.