Coming February 6, 2024 . . .
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
Coming February 6, 2024 . . . MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
Comments
Slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction are still with us. There has been a massive effort to remove memories of the past from memory. A black woman finally realized that stories told to her about the ceremony were real. There was similar amazement when comedian Chris Rock found out that one of his ancestors fought in the CivilWarad served in the South Carolina House of Representatives. Rock was informed of the history by Henry Louis Gates.
The story continues with us today. Gates ended the article with
http://time.com/5562869/reconstruction-history/
We are not dealing with isolated events, we are dealing with a deep routed problem.The fact that events have been hidden from our view means that we have certainly not had enough discussions about race.
by rmrd0000 on Tue, 05/28/2019 - 10:47am
Gates's PBS show Finding Your Roots is wonderful precisely because it does not focus solely on slavery nor race all the time, 24/7 and does not at all make everything about race. Rather it makes everything about history and how history may have affected all kinds of individuals lives or not as the case may be. Myself, I usually find in the show a very inspiring message about personal empowerment, how one can overcome any family background within a generation or two. And that Americans are often very special people. The show is almost a testament to American Exceptionalism to a fault, in that there's never a tragic bad result, all is eventually overcome, families overcome their circumstance and rise, almost like a Maya Angelou poem. In a way the show is a testament against grievance getting you anywhere. It is also very much a testament to the melting pot. He does his best to show people how their heritage is simply fascinating and complex, definitely NOT A BLACK VS. WHITE THING at all.
by artappraiser on Tue, 05/28/2019 - 12:43pm
Likewise:
A memorial of civil war dead by freed blacks was assimilated over decades to a Memorial Day honoring all war dead and to be celebrated by the entire nation. And that is a unifying thing and a wonderful thing. Not a bad thing, not a stealing of a cultural thing. People were touched and they felt similar towards other war dead and wanted to share the commonality of human grief, remembrance, pride in honor....
Just like there is not a separate Black Mother's day, there is just Mother's Day, as everybody has a mother.
by artappraiser on Tue, 05/28/2019 - 12:50pm
Along the lines of America being a special place, what I have seen Gates do with the show is that he does not hide when the person has an ancestor like a slave owner as the ancestor of an Afro-American or a thieving scoundrel ancestor of a Caucasian celebrity or a lowly Cantonese immigrant paid less than whites ancestor of someone Asian. He stresses the incredulity of how quickly we rise over that after multi generations and generations of the same old same old in other countries without any change.
by artappraiser on Tue, 05/28/2019 - 1:00pm
Gates wrote the last paragraph in the article. You miss the big picture because you see things as isolated events not as a continuum. What unites the hidden story of the first Memorial Day and Chris Rock’s lack of knowledge about his ancestor is a concerted effort to bury the past. The effort is to minimize the black experience.
The effort to hide the past is also apparent in the suppression of the fact that the Statute of Liberty was in honor of the abolition of slavery, not a tribute to immigrants. There is also the recent discovery of the last slave ship to dock on the shores of the United States. Descendants of those enslaved people were ridiculed for telling the story until the actual remains of the ship were found. Dismal and suppression is part of a long tradition.
We see a similar long tradition in the ongoing battle to control women’s bodies. Like blacks, women had to fight for the vote. Women were ridiculed for demanding their rights. There is an ongoing battle for control in the efforts to abolish women’s right to choose. The last abortion clinic in Missouri is slated to close this week. The battle for control of women’s bodies like the battle to suppress blacks is part of a continuum.
Slavery is still with us and the fight for women’s rights are still with us. There is no pity olympics, there is a recognition of an ongoing battle. #MeToo is one response the The forever war. Reminding people of persistent racism is another battle in the war.
Fortunately, there are activists and members of Congress who understand the continuum are are attempting to fight the good fight.
Read the final paragraph of the article citing Gates again.
by rmrd0000 on Tue, 05/28/2019 - 2:24pm
I know what it said. I also saw that particular show with Chris Rock. I also know Gates' work quite well. I am a scholar of 19th C American culture since undergrad years and do try to keep up. As to
Slavery is still with us....
Gates writes and talks waaaaaaaaaay more nuance than you on that and the Reconstruction thing and where we are at with it. He happens to focus on Afro-American because that is his specialization, but like any good historians, he is interested in all the other tribes too, doesn't ignore them. And like Obama and say, Fukuyama, he's not into tribalism and divisiveness like you are. Just the opposite
Just an example. Fresh Air @ NPR.org, April 3
my underliningg of two sentences:
by artappraiser on Tue, 05/28/2019 - 2:59pm
This is the end of my conversation with you on this. Say whatever you like but I am not going to be dragged in.
I would rather spend the time reading or talking on a Henry Gates type level. Not repeating the same shit over and over. I think you are way too invested in simplistic grievance, negativity, tribalism and black and white scenarios without any grey, to the point of masochism. It's just as depressing to interact with you as with any Trump fan.
by artappraiser on Tue, 05/28/2019 - 3:08pm
AA, Gates says that the echoes of Reconstruction effect us today and that we have to fight to keep our rights. Thank you for admitting that the fight is ongoing. He says that we have to remember the past to prepare for the present and the future. Thank you again for publishing his words.
He talks about Redeemer governments. Those are the state governments we face today.
So where does your pity olympics fit in?
by rmrd0000 on Tue, 05/28/2019 - 3:08pm
What Memorial Day is really about, from a Jelani Cobb thread:
by artappraiser on Tue, 05/28/2019 - 4:27pm