Laramie

When I first learned that we would be watching The Laramie Project, I thought it would be just another boring documentary with a bunch of boring interviews. How wrong I was! I thought was very interesting to hear the views of all of the “Laramese” citizens. All of them were appalled, at the heinous crime, but some of them disapproved of his lifestyle. I can remember the one lady who said that although she thought it was a terrible thing to happen, she didn’t like that he was gay. I saw how a society like this could produce such people to do crimes like that. What I really liked was when the “angel people” put on their costumes and covered up the Westboro Baptist Church people with their wings. I thought it was really creative and a unique idea.

Yoshino and Toulmin [Previously Unreleased]

The following is from my archive of unfinished blogs. Feel free to comment.

In The Pressure to Cover, Yoshino explains the common practice of covering, and the implications

There's No Such Thing as Free Lurch...

Linda attained her freedom by being bought by Mrs. Bruce, a kind white woman who Linda worked for as a nurse. She did, however, have mixed feeling about her situation. To her, the concept of slaves being bought as property was morally appalling, even if it were to buy their freedom. When Mr. Dodge offered Linda a chance to buy her freedom, Mrs. Bruce said ". . . she would go to the ends of the earth, rather than pay any man or woman for her freedom, because she thinks she has a right to it." (p. 161) This is a subtle indicator that Linda was so outspoken about her beliefs on slavery and freedom that even Mrs. Bruce could relay them to a total stranger. To eventually have been "bought for freedom" is quite paradoxical; while Linda's ultimate goal was to win freedom from slavery for herself and her family, the means through which it was achieved left her without the satisfaction she would have gained from directly winning her own struggle.

Truthful Incidents

That Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is not fiction only serves to help its cause. First of all, this greatly enhances the credibility of the writer. If it were simply a made-up story about fictional events, its potential as a form of abolitionist advocacy would be severely reduced. An opponent could easily say that the events contained within this fine literary work are not representative of actual scenarios; it could be touted as Northern propaganda designed to offend and endanger the Southern way of life, as was common at the time. In addition, the reader also knows that the story is told by the writer, so there is no chance of facts becoming misrepresented or altered by being "passed on" by several people. This also ties in to the emotional appeal presented by the writer; one can know that her views on the situation could only be heartfelt due to the fact that she experienced the hardships herself; this also makes her more credible. Lastly, her overall logic for desiring the abolition of slavery can be supported by her various experiences and observations as a slave. The non-fictitious nature of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl definitely has a major influence not only on its reception, but on its own influence on the world.

Jefferson

Throughout American culture, many different people, organizations, and even entire nations and cultures have been portrayed in historically inaccurate manners, either positive or negative emphasis, and Thomas Jefferson, one of our own “founding fathers” is no exception. When given the “traditional classroom” view of Jefferson, he is made out to be a great hero of our nation; any personal blemish or fault simply did not exist for this great man. But on the other hand, when given the harsh reality, one cannot help but notice the stark contrast. Many noble-minded portrayals of Jefferson fail to mention the fact that he owned hundreds of slaves, and coincidentally leave out the fact that he view whites as racially superior to all. The passage that I read was intended to tell the truth, and that’s exactly what it did.