Susan Hutchison

I have been interested in the issue of racism and working to end it for many years. That interest led me to learning about US history, particularly the history of US slavery and what followed, and also led me to learning more about my family history. Being a descendant of Thomas Jefferson (and his wife Martha, through their granddaughter Ann Cary Randolph Bankhead), as well as many other early ruling class Americans, has made me feel more personally connected to these subjects and has, I think, made them even more fascinating and compelling for me than they would have been.

After participating in an email discussion list including white and black Jefferson descendants, and meeting some Hemings descendants at a Monticello Association meeting, I was honored to be invited to the first reunion of Elizabeth Hemings' descendants a few years ago. What a wonderful
experience! On behalf of a small group of other descendants of Thomas and Martha Jefferson who were present, I made a public apology to the Hemings family for Jefferson's enslavement of their ancestors. This was tremendously meaningful to me. About a year later, I met Will Hairston of Harrisonburg, Virginia, a white descendant of the wealthy Hairston slave-holding clan. For many years, Will has been involved with members of the black Hairston clan (a large group of descendants of those enslaved on white Hairston plantations who shared the name Hairston). Will and I quickly became friends, and with major support from Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, started a project called "Coming to the Table" (www.comingtothetable.org). CTTT provides support and leadership to the growing movement of linked descendants of US slavery, people who have made contact with their "counterparts," descendants from the "other side" of a slave/slave-holder relationship (not necessarily biologically related). Twenty descendants from five linked families participated in our pilot event in January of 2006. With further funding we will hold more events and expand the scope of our work.

I've been a counselor for about 25 years, helping people of many different backgrounds understand and heal from emotional wounds. This always includes exploring how they and their families were and still are affected by the society in which they grew up (rather than seeing their struggles as separate from it). It's been meaningful to me to learn something about how people of different backgrounds (myself included) are affected by various forms of oppression, including how the privileged are hurt by their privilege. It's very interesting to me to try to understand Thomas Jefferson – how to appreciate his profound contributions, and how to look honestly at his weaknesses – how to see him as a human being, and understand the dynamics of the culture from which he came and was a part. It's also interesting to me to consider what of my strengths and weaknesses come to me, to some degree, from Jefferson and his world.

I grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and now live in Seattle with my wonderful husband and delightful two-year-old son.

Webmasters Note:- After a valiant battle with cancer,  Susan's wild ride coasted slowly and into the station on December 16, 2016.