Respond to the following discussion-must be formal. You have now written 2 papers for me regarding this topic. I will upload both.
I’m not sure if there was a specific intention to cover the face of the worker in Panel 4 of Jacob Lawrence’s The Migration Series, but you can certainly derive that the focus was around menial, unforgiving hard labor. A worker was not seen as a person, just as two hands to get the job done. There was no time for emotion, and putting faces, or names, to the employees only slowed progress. This was also present in Conditions of the Slaughterhouse, where we saw a sort of dehumanization of workers.
In Panel 5, there is a certain artistic quality, very bold and contrasting colors. It stands out and makes you further interpret it’s meaning. The descriiption refers to passage to northern industries, jobs, and a better life hopefully. But I also read into the importance of the railroads. Trains never stop. Whether it’s because of Carnegie, or the Government, trains keep running (industry keeps going) through the night, never stopping. And in some cases that’s great – more jobs, migrants and previous slaves getting out of the south, but like so many readings this Unit, it’s a machine, that rarely cares for who’s on board, it just has to keep going at all costs.
At first, I thought Panel 16 just screamed exhaustion, working until there was nothing left to give. Then after reading the descriiption about a lynching, I felt a different kind of sadness. This poor woman has seen so much, lived within the boundaries of her community, and still had everything taken from her. Whether it’s The Lynching at the Curve, Lynching and State Sanctioned Murder, (Unit 2 Sources), or any despicable act, it’s not just the ones lynched that suffer, it’s loved ones, family members, communities. The pain felt in this picture does not go away.
Panel 58 gives a sense of hope. Education is paramount to advancement. W.E.B. Du Bois knew it, Mary Church Terrell knew it, and many white supremacists knew it too as they fought to keep everyone ignorant. This picture though, shows the desire to rise above.
Daniel Immerwahr’s How to Hide an Empire was particularly fascinating. It absolutely belongs in a history class and if only somehow was made a requirement for everyone. As much as it is fascinating, it was equal parts frustrating is it perfectly encapsulates the ignorance of Americans throughout history. The fact that FDR knew the American people wouldn’t understand Hawaii is part of America. The fact that GI’s were incredulous when a “foreign” nation spoke English. And even in recent times when aid was delayed to Puerto Rico during the 2017 hurricane due to (putting it nicely) bickering bureaucrats. Towards the end when he starts talking about McCain, you instantly knew he was going to mention Obama and the “birther” conspiracy. Why do we Americans continue to be swept away so easily with this blatant and slanderous propaganda?! It detracts so much and takes that much longer for people to get over it, it stunts American progress. There was a time described where it seems America was maybe a little smarter as a collective then we’ve come to be now.
“If history repeats itself, it’s only because human nature stays relatively constant”, Noah Y. Kim laments in How the 1918 Pandemic Frayed Social Bonds. Which is such a sad sentiment, knowing better but being almost bound to an unceasing cycle. There was a coming together during that time, I feel more so than today. People checking in on each other through house windows, even with today’s technology it’s not the same, there was at least a common goal. People have too many opinions these days which isn’t always a good thing. Those who aren’t affected just don’t have the capacity to care, which isn’t criminal, but it hinders concession and solidarity. The “5 Cent A Spot” picture in Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives reminds me of how Ona and Jurgis lived, crammed into a small dwelling. It’s real. It’s gritty. I understand why folks would want to ignore or refuse to believe it exists. It’s not the America they (want to) know.
There was a bit of a similar theme with Over There as previously seen in The Strenuous Life. Specifically with the line in the sand phrasing where “every citizen must declare himself American or traitor”. That’s a bit harsh, and of course folks are going to choose the former. What stuck out the most was the reversal of public opinion, and how fathers were now proud to send their children and young men to war. Of course the mothers were not given a voice, so there were very divisive opinions outside of the polls.
