Critical Confederacy Studies

The economic Civil War by Michael Lind

pachter — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:52:31 +0000

“The economic Axis is collaborating with the neo-Confederates against their common opponent — the American Union. If they succeed, the losers will be not only non-Southern regions in the U.S., but the majority of Southerners of all races, whose interest in decent wages, good education, and adequate public services have almost always been sacrificed to the greed of the well-connected few by Southern statehouse gangs.”

see the article

The Boondocks

be the change — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 03:23:28 +0000

Quite possibly the single most influential cartoon of my adult life, The Boondocks never ceases to impress me with it’s ability to both offend and educate me at the same time. In order to examine McGruder’s cartoon, it is helpful to see it as a continuation of the comic strip, but through a completely new medium that allows the legacy of minstrelsy as American entertainment to fully manifest itself. The comparison is not an attempt to present a direct relationship between history and present, but give insight into the show and its choices of representation. The comparison will then be exposed for its involvement in the general legacy of racist entertainment through scholar’s interpretation of media dating to the current decade. Its is important to note that the references to historical stereotypes in The Boondocks are not accidental on the part of McGruder, but there is not enough purpose to let them break out of their historical cage. Additionally, as a Black man, he hardly fits the stereotype of a producer of entertainment historically speaking. His images do, however, employ many of the vocalizations and images reminiscent of the past.

Carnival Memphis

cd5as — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:45:09 +0000

Caitlin Del Conte

Interview about Obama’s race speech

pachter — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:34:18 +0000

Here’s the brief interview I did on WRVA 1140 A.M. this week. I come in at about 7:30 (though you can’t fast forward this player, as far as I can tell?) Note the song choices made by Jimmy’s radio show and how they frame the discussion of the “controversy” over Reverend Wright.031908-harry-jackson-paul-achter-obamas-speech.mp3

Opponents to Reparations

jl9hp — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:18:19 +0000

David Horowitz and Armstrong Williams

welcome

pachter — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:51:42 +0000

Welcome to the blog for our interdisciplinary course and research project. This project is generously supported by the Weinstein Family Fellowship, in collaboration with the School of Arts and Sciences, the Weinstein Chairs, and the departments of Political Science and Rhetoric and Communication Studies. We are a team of professors and students who lead a course, plan public events, and pursue scholarship related to contemporary manifestations of the confederacy.

Critical Confederacy Studies: History, theory, race

asimpson — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:11:37 +0000

1. Understanding the Meanings and Uses of Criticism and Space—What is the “South”?Looking at historical text, empirical data, popular culture (music, movies, television), political rhetoric (particularly surrounding the ’08 political campaign and, Obama, and reparations), we will continue to come back to the question “what is the South? in the United States” and how does a cultural conception of space uproot itself from physical geography to become part of the national imagination? In her recent book For Space, cultural geographer Doreen Massey urges us to think critically about maps. Her concern is that a conception of space-as-surface is problematic because it permits us to think of “places, peoples, cultures simply as phenomena ‘on’ this surface.” The political stakes are high and the question for Massey foundational: a people that are no longer fully conceived of as human beings are more susceptible to territorial domination. Equating a people with the map of their territory, Massey points out, can threaten a people’s history and culture. Moreover, abandoning a view of space as maps, she argues, might allow us to see “a simultaneity of stories-so-far,” and places would become “collections of those stories, articulations within the wider power-geometries of space.”2. Understanding the Historical, Social, Political, and Symbolic Meaning of the ConfederacyLast fall at Brown University, they sponsored a conference entitled “Repairing the Past: Confronting the Legacies of Slavery, Genocide, & Caste.” Building on this concept, we wish to situate the confederacy as a cultural phenomenon in order to confront history, theory, identity, and place. Our interdisciplinary approach still affords the war a prominent role in helping us understand the Confederacy, but, among other advantages, it preempts the possibility that the confederacy can be understood as a relic of history or that it can be conflated with military conflict. We wish to examine how the places, rhetoric, food, music, art and popular media of the Confederacy inform our thinking about race, and how the Confederacy is implicated in today’s racial discourse. Though a history of the Confederate States of America (CSA) would be interesting and important as a stand-alone topic, “Critical Confederacy Studies” enhances and challenges current approaches based on narratives or history by emphasizing the materiality of everyday life.3. Understanding Reparations and Resistance to Reparations for the Descendants of SlavesOne of the most interesting political, legal, and intellectual debates centers on the idea of reparations for descendants of slaves. Reparations have been granted to other groups—the victims of the Jewish Holocaust and the Japanese-Americans placed in Internment Camps to name two. Yet, when the idea of reparations is raised for African-Americans as a way to correct past wrongs, there are many who resist, some on legal issues, and others on the grounds that there is no way to compensate those who actually experienced slavery. We hope to begin a discussion of reparations with recognition of the way slavery, as an institution, is depicted in contemporary Southern life—especially the tourist industry. When Williamsburg, Virginia, re-enacted a slave auction, there were extreme reactions on the part of White and Black “bystanders.”4. Understanding Where We Live, Learn and Play: Richmond, Capital of the ConfederacyIn one way or another, there has always been a struggle over the territory of Richmond, Virginia. The Confederacy is crucial to that struggle. This is evident from the prominence of confederate statuary and public memorials in the street plan, to the annexation of portions of the city in 1970 by Chesterfield County that diluted the collective power of a growing black population, to the remnants of desegregation plans in the public school districts. It is evident also in its absences or disconnections: as banks find themselves making reparations for slavery nationally, Richmond’s black history museum makes no mention of slavery or the Confederacy in its exhibits. To many, “public” spaces in Richmond re/present a hostile, racist Old South, and the stubborn permanence of the monuments and other symbols serve as daily reminders that Richmond is still the preeminent place of/for the Confederacy. Perhaps the most tangible and prominent of confederate symbols is the flag, which recently again prompted an impassioned debate, this time in the context of a Virginia Senator’s re-election campaign. A Lexis-Nexis search for articles about the Confederacy in the Richmond Times-Dispatch reveals that in the past five years there have been 928 stories, an average of three to four per week.