tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post6986156214459278937..comments2024-02-12T17:59:33.534-06:00Comments on RAZORED ZEN: Uncle Tom's ChildrenCharles Gramlichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-25496688272528243242015-01-31T09:36:14.034-06:002015-01-31T09:36:14.034-06:00David, I'm trying to read some classics I'...David, I'm trying to read some classics I've missed this year.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-59189346085279073872015-01-31T03:28:52.006-06:002015-01-31T03:28:52.006-06:00Been years since I've read it but I remember b...Been years since I've read it but I remember being deeply moved as well.David Cranmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04749857752139212888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-37881212702313223552015-01-30T09:11:24.573-06:002015-01-30T09:11:24.573-06:00Oscar, he may have. I don't know about that pa...Oscar, he may have. I don't know about that part of it. I know the stories in this collection were mostly published elsewhere first.<br /><br />Ron, guilt is usually a choice people make, about whether to feel it or not. Of course some folks will try to make one feel guilty for all kinds of things as a manipulation. But one doesn't have to feel guilt for the way one's ancestors treated someone else's ancestors. That doesn't change the fact that you need to be aware of such mistreatments and about how that has affected our history.<br /><br />Mark, although I didn't mention it in the review, Wright does illustrate in places where oppressed blacks got their revenges. Humans as a species are the same all over, no matter the nationality or ethnicity, and it seems a characteristic of that is to need someone to look down on and abuse. It is a sad quality of the human species, and one we should always be aware of.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-6011025261499630782015-01-30T07:08:23.291-06:002015-01-30T07:08:23.291-06:00I wonder if their is a Yin to the Yang of Jim Crow...I wonder if their is a Yin to the Yang of Jim Crow? I live as a minority among a huge majority population of Blacks who have not the faintest care for any barb, discrimination or racist rant thrown my way.<br /><br />I understand the past, never felt any "white guilt" (and yes that is the term) for it. I still come at race, which is still the biggest factor in Detroit moving forward, from the center. <br /><br />I don't give a shit what your color is if I need a blood transfusion and I don't give a shit when you're being a saint or an asshole what your color is.<br /><br />Stories centered on race, have worn me out, maybe Jim Crow was different in the south but in Detroit in 1925 an all white jury acquitted a black man of murder for killing a white man in defense of his brothers home. That incident could have been a building block for new idea between people but hell no, after Clarence Darrow left town and the hoopla was over it was right back to the same old biases, both Black and White.<br /><br />I have come to the conclusion that 95% of people do not want to understand that an equal society by every measure is a safe society and a society that needs to have a lower caste to spit on is one that will forever be on edge.<br /><br />Don't for a minute think that Blacks during Jim Crow though while abused still did not get their little revenges in. <br /><br />That is reality all over the world, no matter who is on top and who is on the bottom. Some caste will always overpower another making them their nigger, until everyone says no more, no mas, enough, it is finished.the walking manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10058913927297370740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-47648462684173597782015-01-29T18:21:48.967-06:002015-01-29T18:21:48.967-06:00We all, regardless of color, need to read these. T...We all, regardless of color, need to read these. The issue of guilt raised by RT came up in a western seminar I once taught. A student said she was tired of being made to feel guilty about Native Americans. I was taken by surprise that she had come to believe guilt was her only option as a response, while I had assumed that learning for its own sake was reason enough to read and study. Ron Scheerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15357501069513854664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-50509078897204919042015-01-29T16:47:24.794-06:002015-01-29T16:47:24.794-06:00Started Native Son but never finished. I think he ...Started Native Son but never finished. I think he had some articles or stories in Playboy, if I remember correctly.Oscar Casehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10328166606910469945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-15752387002672466682015-01-29T13:28:03.588-06:002015-01-29T13:28:03.588-06:00R.T. agreed
R.T. agreed<br />Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-72001933632988210972015-01-29T10:00:38.803-06:002015-01-29T10:00:38.803-06:00To anyone who feels guilty about the past (and thi...To anyone who feels guilty about the past (and this comes up a lot in class discussions when I have assigned stories by authors like Wright), I simply make the point: You need to understand that Germans in 2015 have no reasons to feel guilty about the Nazi era; Japanese in 2015 have no reasons to feel guilty about Pearl Harbor and WWII in the Pacific; Americans in 2015 have no reasons to feel guilty about past treatments of Native Americans, African Americans, and others who suffered in the past. We must all simply avoid repetitions of the past. And we go a long way to doing that by learning about the past -- through history and through literature. Guilt is inappropriate. Honest, clear-eyed study and appreciation of the past is appropriate. And authors like Richard Wright help us with our honesty and our clarity. So, the bottom line is this: we owe nothing to the anyone in the past; we only have a responsibility to the present and the future. (End of sermon -- no collection -- now I will be quiet.)R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-14995524869757968992015-01-29T09:30:57.869-06:002015-01-29T09:30:57.869-06:00Riot Kitty, I actually liked this collection bette...Riot Kitty, I actually liked this collection better than Native Son, although that one is later and probably more polished. There's a rawness to this that is quite powerful.<br /><br />Clouda, thankee.<br /><br />Prashant, he was not a prolific writer but his stuff is quite good.<br /><br />Brian, yes, and it is good to see that we have come far in general as a nation from that point.<br /><br />Sage, it is hard. I don't feel guilty when I read this kind of material, but I feel angry at the white people who behaved in such horrid fashion.<br /><br />R.T., I actually liked this better than Native Son as well, partly because of the varied views I got of characters. Maybe not as polished as the later Native Son, but raw and full of passion.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-79852705023978817192015-01-29T08:15:54.361-06:002015-01-29T08:15:54.361-06:00There is a wonderful episode in Wright's life ...There is a wonderful episode in Wright's life during which he lived (with others -- including Carson McCullers, W. H. Auden, George Davis, and more) at 7 Middaugh Street in Brooklyn. About 17 to 18 years ago, a colleague and I were working on a book about the residents' tenure at that address when we were beaten to the punch by another researcher/author (her book is entitled February House).<br /><br />I happen to think Wright's short works are superior to his longer efforts. "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" is my favorite. The focus is primarily a generational rather than a racial conflict. And that is universal.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-62706554498804548452015-01-29T07:54:59.334-06:002015-01-29T07:54:59.334-06:00Thanks for the review. I think it is hard for us ...Thanks for the review. I think it is hard for us (white folk) to read this but it is also necessary. I've not read this but have read Native Son. <br />sagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17499891950639742366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-48140110691578974302015-01-29T07:49:07.437-06:002015-01-29T07:49:07.437-06:00nice...i will check it out...and the perceptions a...nice...i will check it out...and the perceptions are a great view into the times...and attitudes....and realities....Brian Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00722940075884718007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-30945334982863367112015-01-29T05:35:51.731-06:002015-01-29T05:35:51.731-06:00Charles, I had absolutely no idea of this collecti...Charles, I had absolutely no idea of this collection or even Richard Wright for that matter. Thanks for the review. Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-63443201221549052562015-01-29T01:30:28.967-06:002015-01-29T01:30:28.967-06:00Wise and beautiful review, Charles
ALOHA from...Wise and beautiful review, Charles<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />ALOHA from Honolulu<br /><a href="http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">ComfortSpiral</a><br /> <3 Cloudiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05853753108637831069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28221839.post-46366224804153124702015-01-29T01:17:00.645-06:002015-01-29T01:17:00.645-06:00Shame on me, I've not read him yet.
I can'...Shame on me, I've not read him yet.<br /><br />I can't even imagine the indignities and fear of African Americans during that time. I'm reading a biography of Rosa Parks, and it's just so shameful.Riot Kittyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02725825736285347870noreply@blogger.com