Historic Williamsburg and the memorial limits of a theatre of colonial slavery

Using Historic Williamsburg as a focus the chapter considers the representation of African Americans within the American heritage industries. Based on extensive interviews with participants in Williamsburg's African American Historical Re-enactment Programmes the analysis reveals the censorship and repression of African Americans within the forms of history and memory sanctioned by American museums and historical sites connected to the memory of slavery. The chapter ends by speculating on the limits of slavery, memory and recoverability in the 21st century.