Category: william apess

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“Transmission of Racist Thought” Syllabus

Over the past few years, I have thought about the transmission of racist thoughts, the myriad ways in which racism gets passed down from generation to generation and transmitted from person to person across the centuries and decades. I’ve thought about how we need to sever this circuit, breaking it in twain so that the information stops before the transmission occurs. If we cannot … Read More “Transmission of Racist Thought” Syllabus

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The “True” American History: Part II

The White House Conference on American History, as I pointed out in my last post, continued the narrative that God divinely sanctioned America and its founding. This narrative presents the Founding Fathers as devoutly Christian and purposefully focused on making American a “Christian” nation; however, that is not necessarily the case, and even if its is, as Lillian Smith points out in “The White … Read More The “True” American History: Part II

The Narcissism of White Supremacy

Every time I listen to Propaganda and Sho Baraka’s “Cynical,” new lines stick out to me. This time, the first few lines of Sho Baraka’s verse jumped out, mainly because of the ways they relate to a lot of my recent posts about the effects of racism on children, especially white children who imbibe racist ideas and white supremacy then regurgitate it, generation after … Read More The Narcissism of White Supremacy

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American History and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”

Last post, I wrote about the Southern paradoxes in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Today, I want to look at the opening of the novel because Scout traces the events of the novel deep into our nation’s history, before Jem, Scout, or Atticus arrived on the scene. This is important because for all of the missed moments of reflection in the novel, the … Read More American History and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”

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Introductory Lecture for American Literature Course

Tomorrow, my ENG122 course, American Literature and Culture, will being at the University of Bergen. The course is set up with lectures (about 150 students) and seminars (about 30 students). There are four instructors, and each instructor delivers about 3-4 lectures each throughout the course of the semester. As well, each instructor has two of the seminar sessions. I will be presenting the four … Read More Introductory Lecture for American Literature Course