Dunces of Print

Subject: Dunces of Print Thu 21 Jun 2007, 9:12 pm

http://www.texasmonthly.com/2007-07-01/graham.php

Okay, 'Texas Monthly.' You can be as cocky and as irreverent as you care to be today, but have you considered how will you be remembered say, one hundred years from now (should your words survive)? For not giving a da*n, for your iconoclasm, and for your cockiness. Oh, and for not even attempting to really, REALLY, understand the history of the state and region which you so casually write about.

Somebody's teaching our kids wrong. When they get to college, a number of them are not thinking at all. Somebody has already done that for them, and all they have to do is say 'yea,' and 'amen,' and they get the bonus points.

History reconsidered is not the same as history rewritten. The difference, however, is not so starkly evident as it is between 'historic monument present,' and 'historic monument destroyed' (or, 'moved').

When will it end? Even at little Texas Woman's University, the 'Pioneer Woman' is deemed by many students to be 'irrelevant' as a school symbol (though it is unlikely -- I think -- that her WPA-era statue will be removed from its place on campus); many of the valuable gowns of the (DAR) Texas First Ladies Collection held there have been allowed to fall into decay. The happenings and neglectfulness demonstrated at this university and at powerful, UT Austin, are probably being repeated at campuses large and small across the state .... in connection to holdings and monuments which past generations have left to their care.

Should the statues which Don Graham wrote about be moved? I voted 'no' in 'Texas Monthly's' monthly poll.

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Re: Dunces of Print Thu 21 Jun 2007, 9:56 pm

An ad endum ...

I probably do find concordance with Don Edwards on several points, but found this statement amazing:

"Johnston’s is one of seven memorials that I have been walking past for more than forty years without ever reading the inscriptions."

Who this writer is, and what he does at UT, I do not know .... which probably, is just as well.

Rip Van Winkle could tell him a thing or two!
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Trailblazer Joined : 29 May 2007 Posts : 88

What he does is - obviously, from his own pen - pay no attention to what is around him. Probably including his job and/or any students he is supposed to teach.

I find myself (once again) utterly incensed at the attitude that seeks to denigrate the figures of the past because they lived in a different time. With different laws and different customs.

An example of this sort of thing can be found in Jefferson, Texas, where there is one of the standard statues erected in remembrance of the Confederate soldiers from Marion County. In recent years, the demographics there changed and a black-dominated (I'm extremely tempted to say "N-word dominated", but perhaps shouldn't and won't, not explicitly and spelled out) Commissioner's Court had the inscription chiseled off. Words, except ones that would be improper, fail me.

Subject: Re: Dunces of Print Fri 22 Jun 2007, 1:34 pm

Clyde ... have you ever seen the bumper sticker on some (not to stereotype, but ...) pickup rolling past you on the highway which reads: "Heritage, Not Hate"? I have noticed several of these over the years, and they caused me to ponder. Interestingly, two of the vehicles which I remember having sported this sticker were driven by young, white males.

At some point -- should we hope to develop in a healthy way -- we all have to 'own' our heritage. Not erase it or pretend that it never existed .... but face it head-on. I have no idea what Don Graham's background may consist of, but judging from the insights with which he has provided us in this article, he has not yet moved into the acceptance/contemplation which characterizes 'stage three.' Most likely, he has skipped it altogether .... and he is not alone.

Holly

PS. I'm stepping across the threshold of stage three at this moment. Stage four must involve some kind of action. Hmmm ...
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Re: Dunces of Print Fri 22 Jun 2007, 1:45 pm

Also, Clyde ... these bumper stickers were set in a background of the Confederate flag. They have become so absorbed by my psychology that I neglected to elaborate. Sorry!
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Trailblazer Joined : 29 May 2007 Posts : 88

Yeah, I've seen a few of them. If I put bumper stickers of any sort on my cars, I might get one.