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Sunday, February 27, 2005
What a weekend.
Talk about a rollercoaster ride. On Saturday I presented my work on the Potawatomi Trail of Death to the First Annual Teaching American History Conference in Bloomington. The presentation went way better than I expected, with a full room and an interested audience (what else can one expect?). They laughed at my jokes, and my increasing distance from reality did not seem a distraction.
During the Q & A, several questions were directed at the validity of the Trail of Death as an actual tragedy. For example, this Professor questioned whether the 2 month, 660 mile march was actually the cause of the deaths, or if the typhoid epidemic at the time might have done them in. Dr. Wyman asked about cholera, while another academic wanted to know the perspective of the white settlers, and why I don't have, say, Henry Sadoris' take on the whole thing in the lesson. As we went back and forth (rather fruitfully, I might add) it became clear that another myth of the Right was dissolving in front of my eyes. Where were the "liberal" professors, I wondered? Why were these white, middle America professors pushing so hard against the notion that the white man's removal of the Potawatomi was a tragedy which caused the deaths of almost 50 people? Hmmm. Maybe the Universities aren't bastions of liberal ideology after all? So coming off the buzz of the presentation, I went to church this morning to hear about our new worship pastor, who is a woman I hardly know (she only started attending last summer). She seems nice enough, but my best friend was passed over for this position because of this woman and I now find myself having very hurt feelings. She is an Asian-American, and specializes in contemporary African-American worship. I can't stop wondering if she was hired because of the issue of diversity, which seems to be predominant in our direction these days. I am considering leaving this church, which I've attended for over 10 years, because of this turn of events. So I guess the universities are becoming the hotbeds of conservative thinking, and the churches are liberalizing themselves. Maybe I should take up video games.  
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3 Comments:
Nice work on the Potawatomis. Kudos.
First let me say very nice work on the "Trails of Death".
But I was quite disappointed in your "What a weekend" article. Why is it that when an "individual" disagrees or may not understand the entire picture that they are automatically classified into one ideology group? So there were Professors who had problems with your presentation of the tragedy and you automatically classify them as "Conservative". Or a Minister comes into your church and is of a different race than yourself or your friend, then it must be the Church is now becoming "liberal".
The Trails of Death in my opinion was not only a tragedy, but also a "Travesty" as well. But your "What a Weekend" article is an example of a different type of Tragedy & Travesty happening today in this country, the type that classifies a majority by the actions of one.
The fact is "individuals" have different sets of views based on "individual" comprehensions. It's time individuals in this country stop steriotyping people. In my opinion you just demeaned your entire presentation. See the Trails of Death came about due to prejudices and stereotyping of the Native Americans and it took you all of a few paragraphs to destroy the lessons behind the Trails of Death. Only instead of it being the Native Americans, it was just your plain ordinary citizen that happens to vote at the polls along party lines.
chyrl -
thanks for your comments. actually, it seems the trail of death came about more for pure greed than for anything else (though that is debatable). the white settlers were very friendly with the natives in this land, but found no reason to stop their removal. i doubt it was because they found them to be savages. more likely they were glad to get the cheap land.
as for my post - you may be right about generalizations, though i think in this case you are speaking out of turn. it was quite clear from the comments of the people in the presentation that they held a conservative bent: ie they wanted to challenge the notion that it was even wrong to remove the Potawatomi. That is the quinessential conservative statement, since the folks years back believed the same thing (ie: conservative).
Liberals believe the natives should have been treated more fairly. That's why they are liberals.
Though i agree with the sentiment that stereotyping is a bad thing, for sure. Just in this case I was speaking philosophically and not politically.
Have a great day! Thanks for posting.
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