Good on you, Judith, for posting this. Gordon Wood's review implies that the male scholars "had long accepted" the notion of T.J. as the father of Sally Heming's kids, but that wasn't my experience a couple of decades ago when I was working with a woman writing a psychoanalytic bio of Tom. Dumas Malone and others were absolutely horrified when some of the Hemings offspring wanted to be part of Monticello's activities and reminiscences. There was a huge rift caused in "the family" because of it. It's sad that it took DNA tests to prove what so many people -- TJ's black descendants -- already knew. But twas ever thus with miscegenation in the plantation south. Alice Walker does a good riff on this in "The Color Purple," too.
Racism seethes below the surface, both here and there and everywhere; always has and, we can only hope and pray, it isn't always going to be that way. It's so systemic, though, Susan, even "enlightened" media peeps still say, "those people," or "these people," as if we are all not one people. I often wonder what people would do if the roles had been reversed and how civilisation would have developed; but, then, it makes me think of that short story, the one about the butterfly being crushed by the time traveller I read in high school; and, I think it was Ray Bradbury; but, I could be losing it. He returns from his time-travel trip, though, to discover the government he left was a democracy and the government that greeted him was a communist one.
Everybody talks about the race card; but, for the life of me, I don't see why (except that even our best and brightest sometimes don't seem to me to be playing with a full deck). And, yep, they're generally the shrink-wrappers among us, fer cryin' out loud! (But, thanks for the kind words; made my day, eh?)
Good on you, Judith, for posting this. Gordon Wood's review implies that the male scholars "had long accepted" the notion of T.J. as the father of Sally Heming's kids, but that wasn't my experience a couple of decades ago when I was working with a woman writing a psychoanalytic bio of Tom. Dumas Malone and others were absolutely horrified when some of the Hemings offspring wanted to be part of Monticello's activities and reminiscences. There was a huge rift caused in "the family" because of it. It's sad that it took DNA tests to prove what so many people -- TJ's black descendants -- already knew. But twas ever thus with miscegenation in the plantation south. Alice Walker does a good riff on this in "The Color Purple," too.
ReplyDeleteRacism seethes below the surface, both here and there and everywhere; always has and, we can only hope and pray, it isn't always going to be that way. It's so systemic, though, Susan, even "enlightened" media peeps still say, "those people," or "these people," as if we are all not one people. I often wonder what people would do if the roles had been reversed and how civilisation would have developed; but, then, it makes me think of that short story, the one about the butterfly being crushed by the time traveller I read in high school; and, I think it was Ray Bradbury; but, I could be losing it. He returns from his time-travel trip, though, to discover the government he left was a democracy and the government that greeted him was a communist one.
ReplyDeleteEverybody talks about the race card; but, for the life of me, I don't see why (except that even our best and brightest sometimes don't seem to me to be playing with a full deck). And, yep, they're generally the shrink-wrappers among us, fer cryin' out loud! (But, thanks for the kind words; made my day, eh?)