In life, Faulkner was a racist. In his fiction, he deconstructed racism brilliantly.
Tag Archives: segregation
Faulkner: Racist in Life, Not in Fiction
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Dry September, lynching, Michael Gorra, racism, Saddest Words, William Faulkner Comments closed
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.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Burning of the Books", banned books, Bertolt Brecht, censorship, Fascism Comments closed
The Lynching of Jesus
In “Christ in Alabama,” Hughes imagines a black Christ being lynched by a white mob.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Christ In Alabama", Langston Hughes, lynching, Martin Luther King, Scottsboro Boys Comments closed
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.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Absolom Absolom, Light in August, racism, Sound and the Fury, Toni Morrison, William Faulkner Comments closed
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.
My “Last Lecture”
I share here my “last lecture” from my retirement ceremony. (But rest assured: I will not be retiring from this blog.)
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aristotle, Bertolt Brecht, Chinua Achebe, Divine Comedy, Goethe, Heart of Darkness, Horace, Huckleberry Finn, integration, Jane Austen, Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain, Martha Nussbaum Wayne Booth, Matthew Arnold, Percy Shelley, Plato, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Samuel Johnson, Sir Philip Sydney, Terry Eagleton, W. E. B. Du Bois, Wayne Booth Comments closed
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.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Baseball, Jackie Robinson, Lucille Clifton, racism, Sports Comments closed
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.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Bluest Eye, Childhood, Children's literature, racism, Toni Morrison Comments closed
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.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Winds A'Blowing", Highlander Folk School, May Justus, Nature, racism Comments closed
