- Jul 11, 2001
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I should really check this out... deeply. I don't know the facts. I watched a couple of highly touted movies the last couple weeks, generally considered to be among the best westerns ever made by a legendary film maker, John Ford, who was idolized by none other than Akira Kurosawa: "The Searchers" (1952) and "My Darling Clementine" (1946). Normally, I shy away from movies made in the 1950s or before, but I do like a very few. I was shocked by the racism of these movies. Equally shocking is that the American public was prepared to enjoy these films without remorse. This wouldn't be possible today, thankfully. I can only think that these movies indicate a miserable past in America of which I am not aware. IIRC, they didn't touch this in my grade school history classes."Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" - tells the story of the American West from the indigenous people's perspective and highlights many of the atrocious things we, as a country, did (or allowed others to do) to them.
I did fairly recently start reading an American history book that does not sugar coat the facts, a book recommended me by a friend of mine, an exceptional fellow. I should get the book from the library again. It's "White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America" by Nancy Isenberg, who teaches history at L.S.U.
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