Louisiana plantation tours skittish on slavery history

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Louisiana’s magnificent antebellum plantation homes draw thousands of visitors each year to the state. The tourists come to see the stately live oaks, the imposing columns, the luxurious 19th-century furnishings.

But what the visitors most probably won’t encounter is any meaningful discussion of the slavery underpinning the wealth that led to the creation of these homes.

And that’s starting to become a problem.

“There are places that don’t want to talk about it,” said Aaron Sheehan-Dean, a history professor at LSU. “It’s a strange thing if you’re advertising yourself as a resort, but you are advertising yourself as a historical property as well but choose to ignore the topic of slavery. I don’t see much value in trying to sideline or ignore it.”