Bouncing blog
There she is, the little darling! She's been elusive this morning. Sit, blog. Stay.
I just saw this near the end of a review of a book titled "Forever Free - The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction", by Eric Foner. It concerns the aftermath of the US Civil War. (the first one, in the 1800's, not the one that's brewing currently...) The review is in the WAPO weekly edition for the week of March 20-26, and is written by Heather Cox Richardson, who is billed as an associate professor of history at U of Mass at Amherst, and who has a published piece of work entitled,"The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor, and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901." In the review, she examines Foner's work, which she says doesn't give the whole picture. She says racism alone wasn't the defining feature of of the nation, that other groups were engaged in the struggle.
"...the fortunes of different groups shifted as various interests fought for control of postwar America. But 'Forever Free' is curiously quiet about political competition and the class tensions that drove it. It suggests that whites and blacks fought over suffrage without reference to political policies.
In fact, white opponents of black suffrage hammered on the idea that black voters would support politicians who promised welfare legislation, paid for by taxes levied on propertied whites. When this idea took hold during economic downturns, suffrage became limited to those perceived to be supporters of conservative regimes - usually (but not always) white men.
Increasingly, powerful Americans embraced the idea that those who did not own taxable property should not decide how tax money was spent. By 1900, voting restrictions across the nation kept poor Americans, black and white alike, away from the polls. By the 20th century, political invective about tax reform had turned certain groups of white Americans into killers who found it entertaining to lynch the black men they thought threatened their own prosperity."
She ends her review with:" That 19th-century demands for tax reform blossomed into festive 20th-century gatherings where black people were lynched seems a perilous lesson for today's Americans to ignore."
Yes, I agree, but unfortunately, some of them are NOT ignoring it, and are in fact, taking that page from history to try to repeat it, or have been keeping the hatred alive all along, and not just in the Southern USA. And the passage about suffrage for those poor old beleaguered white men - spooky. Hence the current ravaging of our country by neocons and libertarians.
I'm thinking that one of the very bad ways of America - as in, "It's the American Way!" - is, fucking things up, as in not dealing fairly with former slaves after the Civil War, and letting it fester for a century and a half, then starting the sick cycle over. Somehow the USA skated on the aftermath of Vietnam. I do not think we will skate this time, in the Middle East.
In stark contrast to my dark thoughts: The beloved spouse and I put on our little backpacks, and walked down to the Puget Sound Consumer Cooperative branch in the Fremont neighborhood to pick up some special groceries, such as... maple butter. Yes, I confess, I buy such an "unnecessary" commodity, something which technically I could live without. Which, when Armageddon arrives, I shall endure existence without...but shit, it isn't as if I drive a Hummer, or have to have a fucking second home somewhere in a gated golf community!
Well, we had a lovely walk.
I just saw this near the end of a review of a book titled "Forever Free - The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction", by Eric Foner. It concerns the aftermath of the US Civil War. (the first one, in the 1800's, not the one that's brewing currently...) The review is in the WAPO weekly edition for the week of March 20-26, and is written by Heather Cox Richardson, who is billed as an associate professor of history at U of Mass at Amherst, and who has a published piece of work entitled,"The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor, and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901." In the review, she examines Foner's work, which she says doesn't give the whole picture. She says racism alone wasn't the defining feature of of the nation, that other groups were engaged in the struggle.
"...the fortunes of different groups shifted as various interests fought for control of postwar America. But 'Forever Free' is curiously quiet about political competition and the class tensions that drove it. It suggests that whites and blacks fought over suffrage without reference to political policies.
In fact, white opponents of black suffrage hammered on the idea that black voters would support politicians who promised welfare legislation, paid for by taxes levied on propertied whites. When this idea took hold during economic downturns, suffrage became limited to those perceived to be supporters of conservative regimes - usually (but not always) white men.
Increasingly, powerful Americans embraced the idea that those who did not own taxable property should not decide how tax money was spent. By 1900, voting restrictions across the nation kept poor Americans, black and white alike, away from the polls. By the 20th century, political invective about tax reform had turned certain groups of white Americans into killers who found it entertaining to lynch the black men they thought threatened their own prosperity."
She ends her review with:" That 19th-century demands for tax reform blossomed into festive 20th-century gatherings where black people were lynched seems a perilous lesson for today's Americans to ignore."
Yes, I agree, but unfortunately, some of them are NOT ignoring it, and are in fact, taking that page from history to try to repeat it, or have been keeping the hatred alive all along, and not just in the Southern USA. And the passage about suffrage for those poor old beleaguered white men - spooky. Hence the current ravaging of our country by neocons and libertarians.
I'm thinking that one of the very bad ways of America - as in, "It's the American Way!" - is, fucking things up, as in not dealing fairly with former slaves after the Civil War, and letting it fester for a century and a half, then starting the sick cycle over. Somehow the USA skated on the aftermath of Vietnam. I do not think we will skate this time, in the Middle East.
In stark contrast to my dark thoughts: The beloved spouse and I put on our little backpacks, and walked down to the Puget Sound Consumer Cooperative branch in the Fremont neighborhood to pick up some special groceries, such as... maple butter. Yes, I confess, I buy such an "unnecessary" commodity, something which technically I could live without. Which, when Armageddon arrives, I shall endure existence without...but shit, it isn't as if I drive a Hummer, or have to have a fucking second home somewhere in a gated golf community!
Well, we had a lovely walk.
posted by isabelita at 9:50 AM
4 Comments:
Isa,
Thought you would appreciate this. I just popped over to REI today and used my 20% discount and divident to purchase a new pack and harness for pending trip to Joshua Tree. GoLite Speedy - all of two pounds. And, if I cut some of the longer straps and extranious stuff, I could get it under two easy.
Is it a climbing harness, 'spike? Are you going to be doing some long runs there, and need a light pack, or what? We took Platypus water bags, and I have a Camelback lightweight pack, but didn't end up using them. However, if you end up doing long runs, you'd probably need more water than we did. The temperatures lately look similar to what we had back in mid January.
Is it this weekend? Dang, yes, I'm getting a pang or two, thinking about that trip. I look at my husband's photos of it frequently.
Don't worry, I. Soon all of us liberals will be put in gated communities by the government and be taken care of for life. There won't be golf, but I understand there will be an exercise yard.
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