The Act of Misremembering

Although our discussion class this past Thursday only watched a small portion of the film, The Birth of a Nation, I still managed to detect the negative sentiments towards Blacks and their emancipation. There were many occasions in the film through which feelings about racial hierarchy and the fears about the destruction of whiteness and white purity manifested themselves.  One scene I remember distinctly is the one in which the black militia attacked the town toward the end of the movie.  This scene was introduced with a few words describing the black fighters as "guerillas", a term that carries with it various connotations--some of which include bestiality, force, aggression, unorganized fighting, and above all can very well signify ideas based on scientific racism and eugenics.  As we moved further along into the scene, the blacks began to destroy everything and everyone in their path reflecting the threat that these newly-freed slaves posed for the white population and their ideas about how the nation should be.  Lastly, the scene ended with the appearance of the words "Confederates to the rescue" and a band of white men rushing in and chasing away the fearsome black militia.  

This one scene gives us insight into the apprehension that the people of the nation were experiencing post-civil war and the nation's constant need to verify and assert its purity and strength.  This desire to rid the nation of those who did not fit the ideal social structure of the time can be seen not only in this film but in many of the readings we have read as well, such as Killing Custer.  We have already begun to see the darker side of our nation's history and it is quite sad, however true, that there was (and still is) such a divide in our country and such an aversion to accept the other--whomever the other may be at the time.

I will end this short commentary by saying that this course has already begun to change the way in which I view the nation and our past.  Of course, one could argue that some things that we as a nation have accomplished could not be possible had we not done some bad things.  This may be true to a certain extent and this, of course, cannot be changed.  What I find most fascinating, though, is the fact that we tend to gloss over some of the horrible, unprovoked things that we have done and even, in some cases, try to forget them altogether; or worse, try to justify them.  Professor Hass talked a great deal in lecture about the act of "willfully misremembering the past" in order to shape and construct our own realities so that they fit with what we most want our nation to look like.  I see now, more and more, how much this "misremembering" has affected our past and how it continues to play a big role in social construction and the way we view the world today.