LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Saturday, July 19, 2008

The White Man's Burden

Concerning the Perry book again: he quotes a response to Kipling's 1899, "White Man's Burden," by Robert Underwood Johnson (editor of the Century magazine, which plays such a role in Grant's life,) as the author attempts to penetrate the confusion about slavery and emancipation that grips both Grant and Twain -- and the nation, even today. (Johnson wasn't confused -- he was an abolitionist early on, and a dedicated anti-imperialist):

What is the White Man's Burden
That weighs upon his sleep?
To the hear the hundreds dying!
To see the thousands weep?
Oh, wanton war that haunts him!
Oh seed that he must reap!"
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