contextualizing on fear

8/11/2019 Contextualizing on Fear

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Contextualizing On Fear

Glossary and Background Information

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William Faulkner-

Deep South- The Dee !outh is traditionally considered to consist of "la#ama$ Georgia$ %ouisiana$

&ississii$ and !outh Carolina' The title can also #e extended to the first se(en states to secede$ )hich

adds Florida and Texas$ as )ell as culturally similar arts of ad*oining states like "rkansas$ Tennessee$etc' They )ere marked #y their deendence on cotton and the large lantations that ruled #efore the

Ci(il +ar$ as )ell as a larger "frican,"merican oulation than the -er !outh$ )hose occuants

)ere historically less )ealthy and o)ned fe)er sla(es than the !outhern ca(alier .aristocracy. oflanters/ the stereotyical image of the !outherner in the -er !outh tended more to)ards "alachia

than the Cotton Belt'

&ississii is sometimes considered the .deeest. of the original Dee !outh states$ understanda#lygi(en its osition as the most +estern of these states sa(e %ouisiana and0or Texas$ and as lacking the

international contact and resence granted those states #y contact )ith the Cari##ean and Central

"merica in cities like 1e) Orleans' !ee$ for instance$ in the recent contro(ersial film D*ango-nchained$ )herein the eonymous hero must tra(el to &ississii lantation Candieland to rescue

his ensla(ed )ife' In this film as in many others$ &ississii is characterized as the #elly of the #east$

an in(erted heart of darkness that reresents the most #ack)ard and intransigent forms of !outhernreactionary culture and ci(il religion'

The Supreme Court decision abolishing segregation in schools- In Bro)n (s' The Board of

2ducation$ 34555$ the -nited !tates !ureme Court re(ersed its earlier searate #ut e6ual ruling from3455.s 7lessy (s' Ferguson$ ordering nation)ide desegregation not only in schools #ut in a general

trend to)ards the a#olition of 8im Cro) la)s'

Our most idel!-read "emphis paper-

# la compelling "ississippi $among others o% course&-

The evil times following the Civil War when our land was a defeated andoccupied country-

A sneer at the Nobel Prize which was awarded me- Faulkner received theNobel Prize in 1949 for his powerful and unique artistic contribution to themodern American novel!

!

"he only alternative to change is death-"his quotation neatl# summarizesa prominent preoccupation of Faulkner$s entire corpus of writin%&

"he contempt of the Northern radicals who believe we dont do


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enough-

Another small #ississippi town li$e my own- Faulkner

%r &alph 'unche and (eorge Washington Carver and 'oo$er "!Washington-

"he ta)es for which he has no representation- No ta'ation withoutrepresentation! was one of the rall#in% cries of American settlers a%ainst the(ritish colonial %overnment& who ar%ued that no %overnment could )ustl# ta' theircitizens if citizens were not %iven representation in the process of %overnment& asin *****

"he Negro can gain our country*s highest decoration for valor- African+Americans participated in ever# American war& includin% on both sides of the ,ivil-ar& and won especial honor in the -orld -ars&

+!

"homas ,eerson and Abraham .incoln both held that the Negro wasnot competent yet fore/uality!-.espite Abraham /incoln$s reputation as a liberator& this reference likel# pertainsto"homas 0eerson is a more storied case %iven his personal embroilment in ase'ual relationship with one of his slaves& 2all# *****& con3rmed b# .NA evidencefrom their descendents

0enator ,ohn C! Calhoun made his address in favor of secession-

0enator ,eerson %avis wrote a public letter to the 0outh-

0enator Calhoun and 0enator %avis had the then undisputed validity of0tates* &ights-

1ne of our 2nited 0tates senators-

"here is the voice of one of our circuit 3udges-

"he white Citizens* Councils and the NAACP-

4!

"he 1ld "estament 5ve thousand years ago said it was-"he ld"estament stor# of ,anaan was widel# interpreted to support slaver#& used as)usti3cation to reconcile ,hristianit# with the ownership of human chattel"he attribution of 3ve thousand #ears& %ivin% the ,anaan incident as occurrin% inappro'imatel# 5666 A.& re7ects one common consensus of the time as to the


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world$s a%e ******and would not be

1pen forum letter to our #emphis paper-

%o unto others as you would have others do unto you!-"his

ubiquitousl#+quoted passa%e comes from the New "estament& ****

6 am the only distinction among men since whoever believeth in #e7shall never die!- Althou%h not as widel# known as $do unto others&$ this pieceof scripture is also widel# cited& with its ori%ins in ****

"he facts stated in the Look magazine account of the "ill aair- 2ee8uie& "he 2hockin% 2tor# of Approved :illin% in ;ississippi&=40anuar# 19?@B 4@C4D& ?6

Ets editor$s note reads as followsB En the lon% histor# of man$s inhumanit# to man&

racial con7ict has produced some of the most horrible e'amples of brutalit# "herecent sla#in% of mmett "ill in ;ississippi is a case in point "he editors of Lookare convinced that the# are presentin% here& for the 3rst time& the real stor# ofthat killin% C the stor# no )ur# heard and no newspaper reader saw!

Amon% the famous quotations %leaned from the article there is one of thel#ncher$s self+)usti3cationsB -ell& what else could we doG 8e was hopeless E$m nobull#H E never hurt a ni%%er in m# life E like ni%%ers C in their place C E know how towork $em (ut E )ust decided it was time a few people %ot put on notice As lon% asE live and can do an#thin% about it& ni%%ers are %onna sta# in their place Ni%%ersain$t %onna vote where E live Ef the# did& the#$d control the %overnment "he# ain$t

%onna %o to school with m# kids And when a ni%%er %ets close to mentionin% se'with a white woman& he$s tired o$ livin$!

"hey have no recourse in law for protection from nor restitution norin3ustice and violence!-

8e will propose marriage to our daughter- Enterracial marria%e wasoIciall# ille%al in the state of ;ississippi until *****

1ur ancestors were not afraid li$e this-"he cult of the ancestor wasantebellum le%endJcavalier m#th

.au%hters of the ,onfederac#

"he 5rst shipload of manacled Negros across the #iddle Passage-

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"o stalemate the idea of communism-"he ,old -ar itself can be said tohave consisted of a sin%le massive stalemated chess %ame between the so+calledFirst and 2econd -orlds& pla#ed out in strate%icall# situated se%ments of the


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"hird "his stalemate came the closest to breakin% in international incidents likethe (a# of Pi%s or the ,uban ;issile ,risis& but the con7ict remained ideolo%ical ondomestic soil

%rag the whole universe into the abyss- Amidst more poetic ima%es ofapocal#pse and nihilism& Faulkner also evokes the idea of total nuclear war "his

mutuall# assured destruction b# America and Kussia was feared throu%hout the,old -ar but never came to fruition

'etter confederate and confederate fast-"his line is perhaps the mostincendiar# of the piece for both 2outhern and Northern audiences& %iven itsostentatious co+optin% of the name of the ,onfederac# and its ,onfederate soldierfor interracial cooperation

"o continue to endure-

ndurance is one of Faulkner$s favorite virtues& ascribed to African+Americans as

well as unvanquished! women nvisioned as a stubborn& stalwart faith even inthe face of suerin%& this passive variet# of patience has been widel# criticized asre7ectin% a more beni%n stereot#pe& that African+Americans are content to ****

We have watched the nonwhite peoples e)pel-

At least e/uality in slavedom-

2outherners continuousl# conceptualized their own le%al and economicsubmission to the North as parallel to the situation of black slaves under whitemasters

Communism or monolithicism-

"he Phi 'eta :appas-"his desi%nation of >privile%ed white colle%e menprobabl# refers to 8arvard fraternit# members or somethin% similar& with Phi(eta :appa! the pedi%ree he awards one of his most educated characters& whitecount# law#er Lavin 2tevens

"he poets and musicians-

8ave yet to produce a ;uchs!!!-"his refers presumabl# to .r :laus Fuchs&

who despite Lerman ori%in is identi3ed as representative of all ,aucasians&includin% American whites Fuchs was convicted in 19?6 of"his identi3cation of a traitor to Kussia as the worst e'ample of the race isindicative of the Ked "error! mood of the decade& which set the sta%e for;c,arth#ism in the ne't

"o gain e/uality7 one must deserve it-"his merit theor# of racialbetterment was controversial even in its time& not to speak of toda#&


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"he bugaboo of miscegenation-

6n Africa-

A caste system of e/uality-"he most famous formalized caste s#stem isEndia$s& which

A homogeny e/ually and unchallengeably free-"he reader ma# also question where the ideolo%ical distinction& apart from racialvs politicalJreli%ious& reall# falls between homo%en# and monolithicism

contextualizing on fear

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