See and Reclaim the Truth

They were talking very low, but even though I was a few steps ahead of them I heard the anger and self-righteous demeanor of their voices.  I heard their words too.  They said we were "fetishizing pain."  That was hardly our motive.  Who does that? Well, I know, but we were interested in things like history, remembering, and reclaiming.
This conversation occurred during an intense summer institute that brought teachers from three parts of the country to discover and "make" American Literature.  The two whispering about fetishizing pain were referring to a film we had just watch: Ethnic Notions by Marlon Riggs.
Ethnic Notions is a look at the history and development of racial stereotypes in America.  It is most informative, but it is also brutally honest and often difficult for many people to watch.  The shocking content features the origin and evolution of everything from the iconic racist images of Sambo, the Pickaninny, Mammy, Aunt Jemima, Uncle Tom, et.al.  The film must be used in context; it must be used carefully.  As it is available on YouTube, I won't include too much content here because what concerns me most now are how people process learning about the overt racism that was once so prevalent in this country.
The aforementioned conversation took place between some educators from Michigan and Georgia.  My group, from California, recommended and presented the film.  Since the institute was at UC Berkeley, it was good publicity for the filmmaker, who was teaching there at the time.
In trying to process the apparent indignation these out of state teachers felt, I decided that it was probably a form of denial.  It would be so much easier for them to ignore or rationalize our obsession with the pain these images caused that to deal with it.  Then there was the issue of making this content part of their curriculum.

Today when I see the current crop of politicos finding that their past will often catch up with them, I understand how important it is to reveal and reclaim America's racist past.  It's alarming and almost unbelievable that people today still don't know or understand the history and motivation of whites appearing in blackface.  The current governor of Virginia will step down this week as the latest to pay the price.  Sometimes the price can be rather high.  I reference Megan Kelly, the journalist (?) who was taken off the air abruptly for thinking that becoming a later day minstrel was probably OK.  How anyone making $29 million could be so ignorant is beyond me but it begins with thinking that those of us who expose and reclaim this history are somehow enjoying it.  We enjoy teaching and seeing the truth and helping others to do the same...safely.