Ida B. Wells begins Southern Horrors: Lynch law in All Its Phases (1892) by quoting a piece she wrote in the May 21, 1892, edition of the Free Speech, a Black newspaper in Memphis. In the piece, she lists recent acts of racial violence across the United States. She writes, “Eight negroes lynched since last issue of the ‘Free Speech’ one at Little Rock, … Read More Accountability and the Banality of Evil
When I initially picked up Gregor von Rezzori’s Memoirs of an Anti-Semite, I wanted to incorporate it into a course alongside Anna Seghers’ Transit, Magda Szabó’s Katalin Street, and other novels focusing on texts by European writers written during or following the Holocaust. However, as I read the five stories collected in Rezzori’s text, I discovered that it may be a difficult text, for … Read More Looking at Ourselves in Gregor von Rezzori’s “Memoirs of an Anti-Semite”
I constantly think about the transmission of racist and hateful thought, specifically the ways that this thought gets passed down from generation to generation. Along with this, I think about the ways that everyday people, who in their hearts know what they see happening around them is wrong, end up becoming part and parcel of the oppression enacted upon others. These two topics have … Read More “What will I do to ensure life, liberty, and freedom for those being attacked?”
A couple of years ago, I started doing something I never really thought I’d do: I began to read and research more about the Holocaust and World War II. I grew up with media depicting the Untied States’ perspective during World War II, specifically the heroic acts of United States service members in the fight against fascism. All of this, of course, positioned the … Read More World War II Literature Syllabus
Growing up, I’d be riding with someone and as we drove through a parking lot, the person may look at a Cadillac or a car that was not parked correctly and say, “Gotta be a Democrat.” Or, while waiting in line somewhere, a person might say, “Look at that Canadian acting like that.” In each of these cases, the speaker attempted to code their … Read More The Importance of Critically Engaging with Language
Interminable Rambling 