Tag Archives: segregation

Faulkner: Racist in Life, Not in Fiction

In life, Faulkner was a racist. In his fiction, he deconstructed racism brilliantly.

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Books Banned Because They’re Powerful

Book banning is on the rise in the U.S., including recently in Virginia. Brecht’s “Burning of the Books” is always powerful.

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The Lynching of Jesus

In “Christ in Alabama,” Hughes imagines a black Christ being lynched by a white mob.

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Specter of Racial Violence Haunts Faulkner

Faulkner’s depiction of racial violence shows America’s dark side. Faulkner’s own racial views are less important than the truths that he shows.

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How Literature Saved Richard Wright

In his memoir, Richard Wright describes how literature gave him a framework and spurred him to action in the segregated south.

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My “Last Lecture”

I share here my “last lecture” from my retirement ceremony. (But rest assured: I will not be retiring from this blog.)

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Robinson Ran Against Walls, Never Broke

A Ken Burns documentary on Jackie Robinson gives me an excuse to run this short, powerful Lucille Clifton poem honoring the player who broke baseball’s color line.

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Children Lit’s Changing Racial Landscape

My mixed race granddaughters have children’s books with protagonists of color. It’s a far cry from the Dick-Jane-and-Sally books of my childhood and of the reality described by Toni Morrison’s “Bluest Eye.”

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My Memories of a Mountain Writer

May Justus, an Appalachian author who wrote children’s books and poetry, has a great poem about windy weather. Recalling it recently brought back other memories of this remarkable woman.

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