Tag Archives: Toni Morrison

Beloved’s War against White Supremacy

By Robin Bates | Published: December 14, 2021

One reason the far right may hate Morrison’s “Beloved” is because a Black woman resists attempts to control her fertility.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged abortions, Beloved, Black fertility, slavery, white supremacy | Comments closed

First They Came for Toni Morrison, Then…

By Robin Bates | Published: November 3, 2021

In the right attacks Toni Morrison novels, does this mean that Homer, Dostoevsky, Milton, and Sophocles are next?

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Beloved, Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky, GOP, Homer, Odyssey, Oedipus, Sophocles | Comments closed

“Beloved” Under Attack Once Again

By Robin Bates | Published: October 27, 2021

An attack on Toni Morrison is concluding the Virginia governor’s race. Once again the GOP is targeting people of color.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Beloved, racialized politics | Comments closed

Toni Morrison’s Flying Lessons

By Robin Bates | Published: October 11, 2021

After flying with a newly licensed student, I shared passages on flying from Morrison’s “Song of Solomon.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged flight, Flying, Song of Solomon | Comments closed

When Hate Groups Devour Their Own

By Robin Bates | Published: January 18, 2021

Conspiratorial hate is feeding on itself. Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol Oates both describe the process.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged 2020 election, Capitol Hill insurrection, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Joyce Carol Oates, Song of Solomon | Comments closed

Harris’s Literary Favs Reveal a Vibrant Soul

By Robin Bates | Published: November 16, 2020

Kamala Harris’s favorite lit reveals a woman engaging in foundational exploration, especially regarding race and gender.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Amy Tan, C. S. Lewis, immigrants, Joy Luck Club, Kamala Harris, Khaled Hosseini, Kite Runner, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Native Son, race relations, Richard Wright, Song of Solomon | Comments closed

Specter of Racial Violence Haunts Faulkner

By Robin Bates | Published: September 3, 2020

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, segregation, Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner | Comments closed

Covid Costs Us Loved Ones’ Final Words

By Robin Bates | Published: July 12, 2020

Among the many tragedies related to Covid is how family and friends are missing out on final words. Many literary works touch on the importance of this last encounter.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Aeschylus, Agamemnon, COVID-19, death and dying, death bed words, Henry Fielding, Richard II, Song of Solomon, Tom Jones, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Toni Morrison’s Black Gothic

By Robin Bates | Published: February 24, 2020

If the Southern Gothic grows out of white denial about white terrorism, what are we to make of black gothic? Morrison’s “Beloved” offers some answers.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Beloved, gothic literature, return of the repressed, Southern Gothic | Comments closed