Monday, October 29, 2018
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Garry Wills on Abraham Lincoln's Writing of the Second Inaugural
C-SPAN fro Gettysburg - the Writing of Abraham Lincoln
MARCH 4, 1865, the day of Lincoln's second inauguration as President, began in a driving rain that raddled Washington's famously muddy thoroughfares — women would wear the mud caked to their long dresses throughout the day's ceremonies. Walt Whitman saw Lincoln's carriage dash through the rain "on sharp trot" from the White House to the Capitol, scene of the swearing-in. He thought Lincoln might have preceded the tacky parade in order to avoid association with a muslin Temple of Liberty or a pasteboard model of the ironclad Monitor. Though Whitman was a close observer of the President, and would shadow him throughout this day, there was no way for Lincoln to recognize him in the crowd.
It was otherwise with Frederick Douglass. After the parade had arrived at the Capitol's east portico and the presidential company had come out, Lincoln recognized the civil-rights leader from Douglass's earlier visits to the White House. He pointed him out to Andrew Johnson, who had just been sworn in as Vice President in the Senate chamber. Douglass thought Johnson looked drunk, but did not know what a fool the Tennessean had made of himself after taking the oath. After Johnson had given a rambling and slurred speech attacking privilege, he melodramatically waved the Bible in the air and passionately kissed it. Benjamin Butler, of Massachusetts, who later led the impeachment effort against Johnson, said in a public speech that the Vice President "slobbered the Holy Book with a drunken kiss." Lincoln, who studiously avoided looking up during Johnson's odd performance in the Senate, quietly told the parade marshal, "Do not let Johnson speak outside." Perhaps Lincoln was trying to be compensatorily reassuring when he made conversation with Johnson by pointing out Douglass. But Johnson's disoriented sullenness came out as pure hate when this former slave owner looked at the escaped slave who was now a celebrity. Douglass recorded the instant.
Much of future tragedy could be glimpsed in that silent exchange of glances — and much of the problem Lincoln faced in framing a speech for this occasion.
READ MORE - excellent article - Gary Wills also highlights the lyrical poetry of Lincoln.
The Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania November 19, 1863
It was otherwise with Frederick Douglass. After the parade had arrived at the Capitol's east portico and the presidential company had come out, Lincoln recognized the civil-rights leader from Douglass's earlier visits to the White House. He pointed him out to Andrew Johnson, who had just been sworn in as Vice President in the Senate chamber. Douglass thought Johnson looked drunk, but did not know what a fool the Tennessean had made of himself after taking the oath. After Johnson had given a rambling and slurred speech attacking privilege, he melodramatically waved the Bible in the air and passionately kissed it. Benjamin Butler, of Massachusetts, who later led the impeachment effort against Johnson, said in a public speech that the Vice President "slobbered the Holy Book with a drunken kiss." Lincoln, who studiously avoided looking up during Johnson's odd performance in the Senate, quietly told the parade marshal, "Do not let Johnson speak outside." Perhaps Lincoln was trying to be compensatorily reassuring when he made conversation with Johnson by pointing out Douglass. But Johnson's disoriented sullenness came out as pure hate when this former slave owner looked at the escaped slave who was now a celebrity. Douglass recorded the instant.
The first expression which came to [Vice President Andrew Johnson's] face, and which I think was the true index of his heart, was one of bitter contempt and aversion. Seeing that I observed him, he tried to assume a more friendly appearance, but it was too late; it is useless to close the door when all within has been seen.
Much of future tragedy could be glimpsed in that silent exchange of glances — and much of the problem Lincoln faced in framing a speech for this occasion.
READ MORE - excellent article - Gary Wills also highlights the lyrical poetry of Lincoln.
The Gettysburg Address called people to be dedicated to "the great task remaining before us." The last sentence of the Second Inaugural supplied the moral music, as it were, with which the nation must "finish the work we are in."
With malice toward none;Long as this sentence is, it is simple in structure, gliding down from the heights of the preceding period. Instead of the complex interconnections of the other long sentences, which have an internal dialectic, this one begins with simple anaphora in the three opening phrases (with/with/with), and then lines up four infinitives (to finish/to bind/to care/to do), the last one expanded into a coda. The tone is supplicating, like the sighing replications of a litany.
with charity for all;
with firmness in the right,
as God gives us to see the right,
let us strive on
to finish the work we are in;
to bind up the nation's wounds;
to care for him who shall have borne the battle,
and for his widow,
and his orphan —
to do all which may achieve and cherish
a just, and a lasting peace,
among ourselves,
and with all nations.
Biographer David W. Blight on Frederick Douglass
On November 6th, in The New York Times, Yale Professor David W. Blight wrote an Op-Ed about Douglass and our current times.
Blight writes about a fierce conversation that Douglass had at the White House with President Andrew Johnson in 1866
Blight concludes:
See - David W. Blight's book: Frederick Douglass; Prophet of Freedom
What America Owes Frederick Douglass
He said black people had three tools: their voice, their pen and their vote. Today all three are under threat.
By David W. Blight
Mr. Blight is a professor of history at Yale and the author, most recently, of “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.”
Blight concludes:
Douglass left a timeless maxim for republics in times of crisis: “Our government may at some time be in the hands of a bad man. When in the hands of a good man it is all well enough.” But “we ought to have our government so shaped that even when in the hands of a bad man we shall be safe.” Politics, he insisted, mattered as much as the air he breathed.
Douglass’s words echo on today. Are our institutions adequate to the challenges presented by a president animated by a combination of authoritarianism and ignorance? Is the right to vote really safe and free? Are our political parties disintegrating? Is our free press robust enough to withstand the attacks upon it and the technology revolutionizing the dissemination of information?
At this moment in our history we too are tested by the same question Douglass posed about bad men and government. And the only weapons most of us have in this historical moment are those Douglass named: our voice, our pen and our vote.
See - David W. Blight's book: Frederick Douglass; Prophet of Freedom
NPR: Frederick Douglass
NPR Articles on Frederick Douglass
FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? Frederick Douglass asked that famous question 155 years ago this week in his speech "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro."
The 34-year-old former slave was, by then, a successful writer and an orator of international fame.
In this speech, which he gave in New York to a crowd of 600, Douglass delivered a scathing rebuke of America. Douglass said the existence of slavery voided all the ideas of democracy and freedom this nation holds so high, especially on Independence Day.
Here to talk about Douglass' speech is David Blight. He's a professor of American history at Yale University.
FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? Frederick Douglass asked that famous question 155 years ago this week in his speech "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro."
The 34-year-old former slave was, by then, a successful writer and an orator of international fame.
In this speech, which he gave in New York to a crowd of 600, Douglass delivered a scathing rebuke of America. Douglass said the existence of slavery voided all the ideas of democracy and freedom this nation holds so high, especially on Independence Day.
Here to talk about Douglass' speech is David Blight. He's a professor of American history at Yale University.
Monday, October 22, 2018
Trending Topic: What is Redlining?
Can you name these cities?
LA, like most American cities, is highly segregated:
 |
| The RED dots show white people, BLUE is black, ORANGE is Hispanic, GREEN is Asian, and YELLOW is other. |
From Business Insider "21 Maps Of Highly Segregated Cities In America"
Rebecca Baird-Remba and Gus Lubin Apr. 25, 2013:
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — White people cling to the coast around Santa Monica and Brentwood, and the north side of the city beginning with the Hollywood Hills.
L.A.'s black-white dissimilarity score is 65.0, according to a study of 2010 Census data by professors John Logan and Brian Stults of Brown and Florida State University. A score above 60 on the dissimilarity index is considered very high segregation.
The red dots show white people, blue is black, orange is Hispanic, green is Asian, and yellow is other, according to maps of 2010 Census data by Eric Fischer.
To watch the entire documentary, to read background information and to order DVDs, visit:
http://newsreel.org/video/RACE-THE-POWER-OF-AN-ILLUSION
"The House We Live In" asks, If race is not biology, what is it? This episode uncovers how race resides not in nature but in politics, economics and culture. It reveals how our social institutions "make" race by disproportionately channeling resources, power, status and wealth to white people. These scenes are excerpted from California Newsreel’s acclaimed three-part documentary series, Race-The Power of an Illusion. To learn more and watch the entire series.
30 Minutes:
RACE – THE POWER OF AN ILLUSION: How the Racial Wealth Gap Was Created from California Newsreel on Vimeo.
Analysis | Redlining was banned 50 years ago. It’s still hurting minorities today.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
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