James W. Loewen is great and I enjoyed his frankness as it regarded the history we supposedly "teach"! Here are my favorite quotes from his site:
1. "However, back then everything was presented as if it were the full picture," she continued, "so I never thought to doubt that it was."
2. Textbooks stifle meaning as they suppress causation. Therefore students exit them without developing the ability to think coherently about social life.
I appreciated his suggestion that we as readers become 'detectives' and challenge what is read and told to us by referring to primary sources, talking with old city leaders, or searching census records etc...Particularly interesting was the process of creating a text book. I had no idea that historians researched primary facts, and then editors watered down the historian's versions even further adding only the state's biases through vague and ambiguous words. Like Loewen said, its no wonder people are bored and stupid!
I did some detective work on my own to search for a sundown town using two of Loewen's methods. I used my own biases about where minorities might not live and came up with Iowa. After finding Iowa, I then googled "Iowa ordinance and race". BINGO! I stumbled across a housing discrimination suit as quoted below:
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA EASTERN DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
v.
Case No.
THE CITY OF JANESVILLE, IOWA,
Defendant.
____________________________________
CONSENT DECREE
The United States initiated this action on November 5, 2004, to enforce the provisions of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601, et seq. The United States alleges that the Defendant City of Janesville made housing unavailable on the basis of national origin, race and color in violation of Section 3604(a) of the Fair Housing Act when it decided in January, 2000 to deny the re-zoning request of private developers Cindy and Kennith Kuhr ("the Kuhrs") for the construction of "The Arbors," a 116-lot manufactured home development in Janesville.
Source: www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/documents/janesvillesettle.htm
According to the 2000 census, the demographics of Janesville's population is as follows:
Total Population: 822
White: 822
Black: 0
Native American or Alaskan Native: 0
Asian: 3
Pacific Islander: 0
Other race:0
Two or More Races: 4
Latino:2
Is if this wasn't enough, I checked the city's ancestry records. Here is what I found:
German - 41%· Irish - 11%· English - 8%· Danish - 4%· Norwegian - 4%· French (except Basque) - 4%· Dutch - 3%· Greek - 2%· Scottish - 2%· Polish - 1%· Swedish - 1%· Welsh - 1%· Scotch-Irish - 1%· Swiss - 1%· Italian - 1%
source for population as well as ancestry: www.epodunk.com
Using Loewen's methods, I believe the town of Janesville actively excludes minorities and is a formidable sundown town. My guess is the town informally shuns minorities as its formal attempt to exclude them was knocked down in court. This is obviously a small town and doesn't much economic or educational opportunities, so it's feasible that people are not looking to settled down there, however its still hard for me to imagine out of a group of 800 or more people that none are black.
4 comments:
I looked into the small town of Pulaski Va. I was also surprised by the lack of minority representation in the town. Due to the fact that we cannot participate in the face to face questioning Loewen suggest in the later part of his method, I feel that we cannot wholey grasp whether or not a town is discriminating agaist blacks and other minorities. Pulaski does not have a thriving economy. I think that our inability to get into the nuts and bolts of any particular town makes it all but impossible to make an assumption either way.
tks for your posting of the consent decree. Pretty good example of what Loewen encourages us to reveal through discovery. Discovery can change mentalities and move community "standards" when it is accompanied by
public critical discourse; the very public discourse that Loewen foments -and the fact that he provides efficacious tools - creates discovery . My sense is that absent any of the tools he puts on offer we would not have as full an experience of revelation. By combining written, remembered, collected, illustrated and photographed events he covers the bases and is I think able to defend himself (and his students, of which we are now some!)) against skeptics who have suggested he is biased and/or selective. His journey of discovery is transparent and very motivating. Thank you for sharing this one of yours.
Very interesting discoveries Jamie! I think what you have done is to create space to begin to ask the question of why things are the way they are. Questions such as those we raised in class last week during our discussion of Gee come to mind.
-what discursive practices are in play and who benefits from these practices
-who is marginalized or othered by such practices
-who is advantaged/disadvantaged by such practices
...
Thanks Jamie
vivian
I truly enjoyed your post. Either I did something incorrectly or I didn't probe deep enough. It is refreshing to see Loewen's tools at work. I went to the census data site. There was a wealth of information in which i got lost. I also have to admit that I got so caught up in being a "detective" I even began questioning different things about Lowen's site. However, I am definitely purchasing Loewen's books. As a reading specialist; I've noticed that anything controversial is not only a "good read;" but it almost always grabs student's attention. What could be better than Lowen's books? It will grab their attention and open their eyes.
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