tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post2072290983631108927..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Froude, And Questions About The SelfAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-32144051075717507702013-01-22T11:05:32.487-05:002013-01-22T11:05:32.487-05:00james wilson - thank you. I suspect your understa...james wilson - thank you. I suspect your understanding is the better one.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-14937861435264140432013-01-22T04:14:19.655-05:002013-01-22T04:14:19.655-05:00That is not my reading of Froude, who was a knee-j...That is not my reading of Froude, who was a knee-jerk liberal for his day in reactionary clothing. He states clearly in the book his bedrock belief that the Negro is made inferior purely due to the circumstances and disadvantages of his birth, an astonishing opinion for a learned imperialist to make in 1882, and one that is only now being fully discredited, almost secretly. <br /><br />The type of language which he used to describe race was once unexceptional, from Clemens and Froude to Chandler. I miss them. Now we own excessive sensibilities, which are but a form of morbid self-consciousness. james wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06423091782308888563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-31275955506068646522013-01-11T22:30:03.322-05:002013-01-11T22:30:03.322-05:00Noted. Peace is not the absence of war, but agree...Noted. Peace is not the absence of war, but agreement, comity, accord. In revolutions, even violent ones, it is revealed all in a moment that many who were prepared to be passive and cooperative for many years are equally prepared to risk all if they sense the moment is right. They are not willing to sacrifice themselves fruitlessly on an altar just for show, even if their cause is just. That is quite wise of them.<br /><br />I have said elsewhere that African Americans other than MLK had courage and persuasiveness before his time. The crucial added piece that he brought was that the time could be now. Only at that moment could the courage and persuasiveness be of maximum value.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-59789098870923054222013-01-10T21:33:06.661-05:002013-01-10T21:33:06.661-05:00And yet in other places he refers to "the inf...And yet in other places he refers to "the inflammable negro nature," which suggests that he realizes that his "light-hearted" Eden isn't as happy a place as he makes out to be.<br /><br />Roll, Jordan, Roll was an interesting book. In one passage the author describes what the mistress of one plantation wrote about the reactions after the slaves were freed. The house slaves who she had thought were the most friendly and happy wouldn't meet her eyes and didn't want to talk to her, but the rebellious farm hand who'd never been anything but trouble was willing to meet the master as a friendly peer.<br /><br />Perhaps he was interpreting a cultural obligation as a personal characteristic. Sort of the reverse of the Lake Woebegon "Can't complain too much" approach.jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792036361407527304noreply@blogger.com