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I'm not sure I understand you. Are you saying that we should have equal reverence for the perpetrators of the injustice as for the victims?
I'm saying we should have reverence for history. I'm also saying that there are aspects of the Confederacy that fall under "tradition" or "way of life" for many people, and do not these people deserve to have their history memorialized? I'm not saying that everything they stood for is worthy of honor -- far from it -- but I also don't believe in totally suppressing it because some aspects of it were less than exemplary.
To be honest, from what I've read, Emmett Till really didn't do anything that was particularly worthy of honor. In fact, he came across to me as rather crass: a 14-year-old boy supposedly bragging about his sexual conquests. Did he deserve to die? No, absolutely not. But did he deserve statues in his honor? No, not really. But the reason that he is worthy of memorializing is not because of the person himself, but rather what his death represented: the very worst of a racist, oppressive system.
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"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 11 days ago)
35,637 posts, read 17,989,189 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bus man
I'm saying we should have reverence for history. I'm also saying that there are aspects of the Confederacy that fall under "tradition" or "way of life" for many people, and do not these people deserve to have their history memorialized? I'm not saying that everything they stood for is worthy of honor -- far from it -- but I also don't believe in totally suppressing it because some aspects of it were less than exemplary.
To be honest, from what I've read, Emmett Till really didn't do anything that was particularly worthy of honor. In fact, he came across to me as rather crass: a 14-year-old boy supposedly bragging about his sexual conquests. Did he deserve to die? No, absolutely not. But did he deserve statues in his honor? No, not really. But the reason that he is worthy of memorializing is not because of the person himself, but rather what his death represented: the very worst of a racist, oppressive system.
I disagree with your details on what Emmitt Till was guilty of, which is basically being black around a woman who wanted her husband's attention and knew accusing a black (child, as it were) of sexual attention would catch her husband's eye.
And the bolded. That's worth remembering, just as we remember Auschwitz. As a reminder.
I disagree with your details on what Emmitt Till was guilty of, which is basically being black around a woman who wanted her husband's attention and knew accusing a black (child, as it were) of sexual attention would catch her husband's eye.
And the bolded. That's worth remembering, just as we remember Auschwitz. As a reminder.
I'm old enough that the death of Emmett Till had a direct effect on how my parents taught me to behave around white people, particularly to keep in mind that any given white person could become instantly deadly without consequence.
That said, I don't think either Emmett Till nor Confederate rebels deserve monuments.
I'm not sure how the tragedy should be commemorated. His death was not a terribly unusual thing of the times. What made it unusual is that his mother refused to let it be another of the nation's dirty secrets.
But I don't think it should be commemorated by a monument.
I'm old enough that the death of Emmett Till had a direct effect on how my parents taught me to behave around white people, particularly to keep in mind that any given white person could become instantly deadly without consequence.
That said, I don't think either Emmett Till nor Confederate rebels deserve monuments.
I'm not sure how the tragedy should be commemorated. His death was not a terribly unusual thing of the times. What made it unusual is that his mother refused to let it be another of the nation's dirty secrets.
But I don't think it should be commemorated by a monument.
His coffin is on display at the new Museum of African American History.
I'm old enough that the death of Emmett Till had a direct effect on how my parents taught me to behave around white people, particularly to keep in mind that any given white person could become instantly deadly without consequence.
That said, I don't think either Emmett Till nor Confederate rebels deserve monuments.
I'm not sure how the tragedy should be commemorated. His death was not a terribly unusual thing of the times.. What made it unusual is that his mother refused to let it be another of the nation's dirty secrets.
But I don't think it should be commemorated by a monument.
The bold is the part of history that was & still is being suppressed.
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"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 11 days ago)
35,637 posts, read 17,989,189 times
Reputation: 50679
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph_Kirk
I have some problems with the concept of the Museum of African American History.
I haven't visited that museum--I'm sure I would be emotionally overwhelmed by it.
But my feeling at the moment is that African-American history should not have been entirely removed from the Museum of American History.
Sometimes you have to have museums that focus on specific things. Like, you can have a museum of 20th century pop culture, a president's museum, Ellis Island museum. So that you can take a more indepth look at a particular subject.
I have some problems with the concept of the Museum of African American History.
I haven't visited that museum--I'm sure I would be emotionally overwhelmed by it.
But my feeling at the moment is that African-American history should not have been entirely removed from the Museum of American History.
I think that a legitimate stance and you could apply that to Black History month as well.
But the Black experience in America is a special one.
I have not visited it yet but will once the crowds die down, if ever.
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