(no subject)
A friend sent me the following e-mail: "editors are making a new copy of Huck Finn and replacing "Nigger Jim" with "Slave Jim". what're your thoughts Hobson?"
This is my response:
1) It's just another excuse for Very Serious White People on news talk shows to say "nigger" on television and radio without Al Sharpton showing up in the parking lot.
2) More proof that we as a country have a cultural attention span of 10 minutes and are better than anyone in the free world of denying our own history and the consequences of what our ancestors did to each other. For further proof, see the celebrations of the Civil War in the South coming this year and for the next four years. I for one am mystified at the glorification of people who (and I know I'm being insanely broad and general here) rebelled and started an incredibly bloody war because other people told them they couldn't systematically oppress and enslave another group of people. Which leads me to...
3) The desire of masses of our countrymen to "protect the children" from the harsh realities of history and all the awful things that accompany them. Things like that are SUPPOSED to bother us. When we watch an old movie from the 30's or 40's and some character says "that's mighty white of ya" or "I haven't seen you in a coon's age," it's supposed to be upsetting to us, because it is. It's a reminder that we were not always as enlightened as we are. (Not that we still don't have a long way to go.) Whitewashing (hurr hurr, works on two levels LULZ) that is the first step on the path of "well, it wasn't sooooo bad, you know..."
In closing, the Ramones are the best band of all time.
This is my response:
1) It's just another excuse for Very Serious White People on news talk shows to say "nigger" on television and radio without Al Sharpton showing up in the parking lot.
2) More proof that we as a country have a cultural attention span of 10 minutes and are better than anyone in the free world of denying our own history and the consequences of what our ancestors did to each other. For further proof, see the celebrations of the Civil War in the South coming this year and for the next four years. I for one am mystified at the glorification of people who (and I know I'm being insanely broad and general here) rebelled and started an incredibly bloody war because other people told them they couldn't systematically oppress and enslave another group of people. Which leads me to...
3) The desire of masses of our countrymen to "protect the children" from the harsh realities of history and all the awful things that accompany them. Things like that are SUPPOSED to bother us. When we watch an old movie from the 30's or 40's and some character says "that's mighty white of ya" or "I haven't seen you in a coon's age," it's supposed to be upsetting to us, because it is. It's a reminder that we were not always as enlightened as we are. (Not that we still don't have a long way to go.) Whitewashing (hurr hurr, works on two levels LULZ) that is the first step on the path of "well, it wasn't sooooo bad, you know..."
In closing, the Ramones are the best band of all time.