Monthly Archives: January 2018

Then came the Hummers (and improbably yet predictably, stretch limousines built out of Hummers), which finally won the status battle, being the largest, heaviest and most wasteful of all, with the bonus factor of having military associations. Indeed, the invasion … Continue reading →

Can you remember what public life was like in those first days and weeks after the tragedy of 9/11/2001? You know, back before the beginning of the longest war in American history. I’m thinking of how expression of our reactions … Continue reading →

Fifty Years Later Martin Luther King’s assassination in April of 1968 marked the end of the Civil Rights movement. What has changed since then? Few would deny that significant, fundamental transformation has occurred in American race relations over these decades. … Continue reading →

Conflicting Images of the Other in the South Q: What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy? A: I don’t know and I don’t care! The old joke comes close to explaining the stunning combination of racial animosity and innocent ignorance … Continue reading →

Red, White and Black It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning. – Martin Luther King, Jr. The genocide of the Native Americans (“the outer Other”) created two problems for the … Continue reading →

Part One: The Mythological and Psychological Background  Southern trees bear strange fruitBlood on the leaves and blood at the rootBlack bodies swinging in the southern breezeStrange fruit hanging from the poplar trees…  — Abel Meeropol Myths are the stories people … Continue reading →