The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    LET. IT. GO.

    By EmmaZahn on Tue, 04/12/2011 - 11:57pm |

    Comments

    Rather than listing some of the possible things we'd be better off if we let go  Innocent, can I ask: to which letting go you're referring, Emma?

    I sure love seeing the poster.  Is it that we are hanging on to the Civil War and/or the South?


    by we are stardust on Wed, 04/13/2011 - 11:39am

    Neither.  I love history and the Civil War is significant and complicated history worthy of serious study.  I also love the South and its cultural diversity -- a diversity greater and/or deeper than most other parts of the country.  

    African-American Population Census 2000 

     

    We need to let go of the historical revisions, fantasies and sentimentalities long associated with the Civil War, its causes and its aftermath; of things like sesquicentennial observances, anniversary editions of notable books; and re-releases of popular movies.   Most of all we need to let go of things that are promoted by the mad men of marketing to just to make a buck or by those who seek to divide us for political gain.

     


    by EmmaZahn on Wed, 04/13/2011 - 12:13pm

    All good points, Emma, especially your final sentence.  I think it was you (as I said in a thread yesterday, hope I was correct) who posted that more blacks were moving South, which is what Lulu speaks to below. 

    'Revisionist history', though: historians and novelists both keep plugging away at sussing out 'the truth' (yeah, I know) or edging closer to Native American history, and I'm really glad of it.  The histories for too long literally were owned by the victors, and often were out and out lies and distortions by politicians and those who owned the printing presses at the newspapers.

    Now even an increasing number of Native Americans are producing flims, and are giving a whole new perspective into the past and even more importantly, the present.  I love it all to pieces.

    Can't say I know enough about original Civil War and Souther history to guess what's revisionist or just teasing out more of what's so and what's not so.

    I know that is our neck of the woods, celebrations leave out lots of the hard truth about what happened here to Native Americans; and I know from bitter experience that Hispanics want to forget their histories and cultural backgrounds in order to fly under the radar and be thought 'good citizens'.  Kinda hard to watch.

    Thanks for explaining; sorry if my humor went awry.


    by we are stardust on Wed, 04/13/2011 - 1:22pm

    I just drove 3000 miles round trip and so listened to a lot of radio. Tuesday's edition of NPR's "Talk of the Nation" had an interesting program about todays ongoing migration of black Americans back from the North to the South. They invited anyone who fit into that category to call in and discuss why they had done so and their feelings about the move since. Anyone who still believes that the South is a uniquely racist part of the USA compared to the rest of the country should listen to the comments by black Americans about their experience of the cultural differences that exist today.
     I have read comments here at Dagblog by people who otherwise seem intelligent and well informed that indicate they have ideas about the South of today that are completely outdated and which they should "Let Go Of".

     Quoting one typical caller from the small self-selected number whom I heard:

    "MCKINLEY (Caller): About seven years ago, I moved south due to happenstance and economy turning sour from the Detroit area. I moved here to South Carolina looking for work and to assist a friend of mine who got out of the Marines. After being here for about five or six years, getting established with the work, which was abundant here, I moved my family down here, which is - I'm in an interracial family. And I found that the South has been incredibly refreshing in comparison to my experiences in the central area of Michigan.

    CONAN: Hum. Is there no regrets at all?

    MCKINLEY (Caller): Oh, absolutely none. The people have been a lot more friendly, communicatable(ph). When it comes to the constant strain of bigotry that I experienced in some of the towns I lived in in Michigan, here it's been nonexistent in comparison.

    CONAN: It's interesting. Do you see yourself - there was a time when the Great Migration people moved up in historic numbers from the South to the northern cities in places like Detroit. Do you see yourself as part of a historic movement?

    MCKINLEY (Caller): Well, it was always confusing to me, reading it in the history books and learning how the black community was treated so badly in the South. And of course, that fear resonated inside of me when I decided to move down here. Interestingly enough, one, when it comes to the, of course, gorgeous weather and two, the fight down here has been so predominant and so long, I think it's a lot more of a relaxed interracial mingling environment for all the communities, especially the black community.

     The program can be listened to or the transcript read at the link below.

    http://www.npr.org/programs/talk-of-the-nation/


    by A Guy Called LULU on Wed, 04/13/2011 - 12:56pm

    Thanks for the link.

    Here's the NYT coverage of same

    Many U.S. Blacks Moving to South, Reversing Trend

    http://dagblog.com/link/many-us-blacks-moving-south-reversing-trend-9551

    I'd also like to add this one to mix (I just love stereotype busting!):

    Parenting by Gays More Common in the South, Census Shows

    http://dagblog.com/link/parenting-gays-more-common-south-census-shows-8634

    To even carry the theme further, at my first link, a second story is cited which points out how the younger U.S. generation is increasingly mulitracial. If one thinks a minute, this also bodes well for "letting it go."


    by artappraiser on Wed, 04/13/2011 - 2:29pm

    Thank you.


    by EmmaZahn on Wed, 04/13/2011 - 3:01pm

    Black Agenda Report blames that trend at least partly on white gentrification of city neighborhoods.

    BTW, Jena LA is not so black-friendly:

    Civil rights activist Catrina Wallace, who received national acclaim for her central role in organizing protests around the Jena Six case, was convicted today of three counts of distribution of a controlled substance. She was taken from the courtroom straight to jail after the verdict was read, and given a one million dollar bail. Her sentencing is expected to come next month.

    Wallace, who is 30, became an activist after her teenage brother, Robert Bailey, was arrested and charged with attempted murder after a fight in Jena High School. Bailey and five others later became known as the Jena Six, and their cause became a civil rights rallying cry that was called the first struggle of a 21st century Civil Rights Movement. Their case eventually brought 50,000 people on a march through the town of Jena, and as a result of the public pressure the young men were eventually freed. The six are all now in college or – in the case of the youngest – on their way. Wallace and her mother, Caseptla Bailey, stayed in Jena and founded Organizing in the Trenches, a community organization dedicated to working with youth.

     

    Wallace was arrested as part of "Operation Third Option," which saw more than 150 officers, including a SWAT team and helicopters, storm into Jena's Black community on July 9, 2009. Although no drugs were seized, a dozen people were arrested, based on testimony and video evidence provided by a police informant, 23-year-old convicted drug dealer Evan Brown. So far, most of those arrested on that day have pled guilty and faced long sentences. Devin Lofton, who pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute, received ten years. Adrian Richardson, 34, who pled guilty to two counts of distribution, received twenty-five years. Termaine Lee, a twenty-two-year-old who had no previous record but faced six counts of distribution, received twenty years.


    by Donal on Sun, 04/17/2011 - 11:06pm

    I would just like to give a shout out for Margaret Mitchell and David O. Selznick.

    Some pseudo sophisticadoes like to bash the related works. Not I. I never tire of watching the movie and I'm not one to often rewatch movies more than once or twice. Even the title instructs: let it go, it's gone, any system can go in an instant, that's the main theme for crying out loud, not the glorification of the past, but dealing with enormous change during a single lifetime, for good or ill.

    Not to mention that Scarlett and Mellie, and their interaction throughout, are two of the greatest characters of all time. Smile  Melodrama at its finest, with nuance carefully and subtly woven in. Those who disagree haven't really read the book or watched the movie carefully.


    by artappraiser on Wed, 04/13/2011 - 2:52pm

    I agree it is a great book and a great movie.  But as you say, it is about letting go.   Someone recently called it a eulogy and that feels right.

    Yes, great characterizations.  Mellie was the only one who loved Scarlett just the way she was.   Rhett and Ashley only loved fantasies of her.  :)

     


    by EmmaZahn on Wed, 04/13/2011 - 3:06pm