I Am Not Your Negro

Heather Finch, Belmont University

Location

JAAC 1037

Presentation Type

Event

Start Date

13-9-2018 7:00 PM

Description

“History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history. If we pretend otherwise, we literally are criminals.” This may be the least troubling statement from James Baldwin in this entire film. And that is exactly why we should watch this 2016 documentary by director Raoul Peck which uses words from Baldwin’s unfinished novel Remember this House to explore the history of race in America through clips of Baldwin as well as voiceovers set against archival news video. But this is not the story of yesterday alone, as is clear when we hear this statement, which could as easily have been written today as fifty years ago: “ I'm terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart, which is happening in my country. These people have deluded themselves for so long that they really don't think I'm human. I base this on their conduct, not on what they say. And this means that they have become, in themselves, moral monsters.” Hard words on a topic to be addressed during the Symposium as well Discussion to follow.

Comments

Convocation Credit: Global Citizenship, Leadership, Diversity, the Professions

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS
 
Sep 13th, 7:00 PM

I Am Not Your Negro

JAAC 1037

“History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history. If we pretend otherwise, we literally are criminals.” This may be the least troubling statement from James Baldwin in this entire film. And that is exactly why we should watch this 2016 documentary by director Raoul Peck which uses words from Baldwin’s unfinished novel Remember this House to explore the history of race in America through clips of Baldwin as well as voiceovers set against archival news video. But this is not the story of yesterday alone, as is clear when we hear this statement, which could as easily have been written today as fifty years ago: “ I'm terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart, which is happening in my country. These people have deluded themselves for so long that they really don't think I'm human. I base this on their conduct, not on what they say. And this means that they have become, in themselves, moral monsters.” Hard words on a topic to be addressed during the Symposium as well Discussion to follow.