Blog 11

After reading the moving poem "The Lynching" by Claude McKay, one particular line stuck with me. Starting at line 10, it says "The ghastly body swaying in the sun/ The women thronged to look, but never a one Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue". I don't understand how can women and children be numb to such a site. It continues to say "And little lads, lynchers that were to be" as the kids are expected to grow up around such violence and racism. They left a man hanging burnt in front of women and children to prove what point? A man of any circumstances should have the dignity to not expose their family to such brutal acts. How can a "true woman" not feel sorrow for such acts, to not be moved at the sight of a burnt hanging body. Where is the humanity? These lynches were justified by exaggerating or flat out lying about crimes they did not commit and it was out of pure blood lust. Are they any more human than the African -Americans they treated as sub par humans. It seems the roles have changed and now these mobs are the barbaric, inferior race who cannot solve a problem with out spilled blood and an African-American to blame. McKay's poetry really brings light in these wrong doings and are very influential there meanings.

Journal #10

Reading The Wife of his Youth, by Chesnutt, ended very surprisingly. It is such an incredible moment of fate for that to happen. As I was reading the story, I started becoming a little confused on where it was going. It just had random segments of introduction about Mr. Ryder's current life and his relations with Ms. Dixon. The story continue's to lead to a love tale to Ms. Dixon by Mr. Ryder as he emphasizes her perfections. Then ironically the little old woman, Liza, comes in to the story, portrayed the quite opposite of Ms. Dixon, and by then I am confused about this whole story, wondering where this going and what not. And the dialogue of Liza was near impossible to fully understand so that didn't help the situation. Then as I continued to read through the end to learn that he was the man Liza has been searching for along. I had no clue that would be coming and I reread that last segment another time and I came to understand. He is today because of whom he was in the past, and that no one can escape their past. But he embraced it and welcomed his past and he did so in such a fashionable manner. I was taken by surprise about how he handled the manner. He did such an honorable act by embracing the wife of his youth and his past. The wife of his past helped drive him to the status he holds, all those events come together, and it was destiny that finally brought them back together.

Journal #9

After reading about the aftermath of the civil war and the chaos the nation was in at the time reminds me of the turmoil our country is in today. We are over 13 trillion dollars in debt and we are in a political stand still. We have a lack of leadership on the part of the president and we have no idea what direction our country is going in. Just like right after the Civil War. Their leader Lincoln was just assassinated and the ripples of his death could be felt through out the country. Their was also a lot of tension between the south and the north. Everyone wanted to take the country in their own direction and no one could agree on anything. There were accounts of dispute between the president Andrew Johnson and congress. He vetoed the 14th amendment and many other reconstruction laws passed by congress. He was soon impeached but saved by a vote. Which sounds a lot like our politics today. We couldn't even agree on whether to raise the debt ceiling until the very last minute and it's all just political warfare and party lines. No one wanted to look past themselves and ask the question what does America really need? So after reading about the confused and perilous times and I couldn't help but to relate to the times we are in now. We have a lack of leadership, direction, and unity in our nation just like the reconstruction era.

Journal #8

Two texts that I found conversing with each other was Henry Garnet's speech made before Congress and Mary Chesnut's diary entry. Although the two are provided in a different context, their meaning's walk along the same path. They both argue their ideal way of wife and their speculations on the matter, but their beliefs drive opposite ways. In Garnet's memorial, he preaches an equal opportunity for African-Americans, he states "... and all men holding allegiance to the government shall enjoy every right of American citizenship." Readers in that time can relate to the ideals of the American dream of which this nation was founded upon, the pursuit of liberty and happiness. That black men have every right to make a life of their own as does a white man. In times of such political turmoil and where a part of the American identity emerges, the meanings of the government are on everyone's mind. On the other hand in this situation, Chesnut's diary explores the deep roots of the Southern mind set. She talks about how she has nothing and the "Yankee's" will have nothing to take, but at the end of the diary she learns about Abe Lincolns assassination. She writes "The death of Lincoln I call a warning to tyrants. He will not be the last President put to death in the capital, though he is the first." They see him as a tyrant, that is their mindset. Their belief is their pursuit of liberty and happiness and they are entitled to that as much as any other American. She doesn't talk about her regret or a bad conscious, she just continues life with her mindset. And it all comes down to perspective, The North discontinued slavery and adapted to that way of life, which is the complete opposite of those in the South. It's all about one's way of life and perspective. But the lack of insight and appeal in the diary doesn't compare to Grant's memorial in terms of persuasive power.