In Senator Obama's speech, he quoted Southern writer William Faulkner who had said this about history:"The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past."
When you think of Southern history and all that has passed between blacks and whites over the last 400 years, this quote seems to make more and more sense to me.
As we progress through this Civil Rights unit, tell me what you think the author means by the quote. Think of our history going all the way back to slavery times, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and through the Jim Crow times that Faulkner lived in.
Maximum points: 5
Minimum words: 150
Due by the end of April.
11 comments:
Lorne Carter
April 6, 2008/2nd Hour
What I think the author means by the quote "The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past." Is that the past has never stopped to become the past. It’s referring to the situation of the blacks and the whites, that it was happening back then and its happening now. I believe it was a foretelling. That the tension between the two races has and is still continuing, it has not stopped. It would have to stop to become the past, so if it is still continuing it can never be the past because it has not cease to end. The segregation has still not come to an demise. I believe William Faulkner has fore-shadowed the future, and knew that relationship between blacks and whites wasn’t going to get any better or improve. The greatest accomplishment between the two races was to live together, but not in harmony
This quote has a great signifigance(that word is probably not spelled right but any whooo...) because in the begening of the quote it said " the past is not dead" what i think that means is that all the pain and agony and the history that black people has lived through it is not going to be forgotten becuase at the end of the quote " in fact it's not even dead." is a sense of him telling us that maybe we are not getting lenched or whites calling us "Ni.." any more but believe it or not their is still going to be one person in this world is still going to be stuck in the past, but in my conclusion we still have to take what we learned from the past though it will make us stronger...
By: Lydia Gaiters
I think that this quote in a way makes sense to me too because if you think about it, he is saying that just because something is over, disent mean that it is done with and isnt stil thought about. some of the things from the past still greatly effect the present, and so , in a way, they arent past, they are still here. i think that this qute is also really confusing too though, because its hard to think of the past as still present when these sorts of things happened so long ago.
Megan Walsh
4th hour.
I think what William Faulkner means by the quote "The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past." Is that if there is a major event in history that changes a whole nation, that event will be remembered forever. I think that this quote is referring mainly to America, southern history, all of the stuff that has happened between blacks and whites in the past 400 years. In senator Obama’s speech, he said that Americas original sin was slavery, and I think that is a good point because that is an issue that is still haunting America to this very day. There is still tension between blacks and whites, it is not as bad as it used to be in the Jim Crow times, but it still isn’t perfect. I find it ironic that Obama would restate this quote because just the fact that he is a historical groundbreaking candidate, which is a huge step forward to forgetting the past and looking forward to a brighter future for blacks and whites in America.
Matt Bajorek
4th
When William Faulkner said that “the past is not dead, in fact it’s not even the past” he meant that we are, in some ways, living in the past. All the things that were done before, we still do now. Racism, for example, is still going on even if we think it was in “the past”. There is still the Klu Klux Klan, and others groups or cults who still discriminate against other races and minorities. Also, presently China denies the people in Tibet the human right; that started along time ago and is still going on now. Another example is how in some places women are still denied the right to pursue their dreams just because they weren’t “made for the job”; not only women but others too. So no matter how much we think we have progressed in the world, we’re just living in another version of the past. It’s still in black and white (well sort of). If you don’t pay attention to the past, then you won’t understand the future.
Nikita Charles
4th hour
I think that the author means that there are a lot of things that the U.S says that we’re over, but really aren’t. There are still people who live in the days we’re blacks were considered unworthy to be thought of as human beings. So there’s still a lot of tension going around because some people haven’t let go of the past long enough to let it become the past. But that’s on both sides of the color line. Blacks are stll blaming things that don’t go their way in the corporate world on the “the man”, when it just might be that you weren’t qualified. But then that is taken advantage of sometimes which is why a lot of blacks think the way they do. There are still things like slavery that haunt America’s past and there are too many people who refuse to let the past go and move on. And therefore, the past which should be just that: the past, is constantly brought up in the present because people refuse to move on.
Alexandra Anderson 5th hour
What I think the quote, "The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past" saying is that events that happen in the past still effect us every day. There is still some hardship today between some blacks and whites. Blacks have had a much tougher time in the country than whites have. The prejudice against blacks was once very bad. The whites were not fond of blacks back then. There were many racist laws like the Jim Crowe laws that caused this racism. These laws segregated everything from schools to buses between blacks and whites. Tension built up because of segregation because many blacks were angry with whites and many whites were angry the blacks did not like where they were. There is still tension between whites and blacks today partly because of this. Many African American leaders still talk about the past because they are being discriminated against today. Obama said this quote because he is the first black man running for office. People may not vote for him because he is black and do not judge him for what his beliefs are. This is what I think is trying to be said in the quote, "The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past" by William Faulkner.
robert g 5th
What William Faulkner meant when he said, “The past is not dead. In fact, it’s not even the past.” Is history doesn’t go away. In order to truly understand the past we need to embrace it in the present. During the slavery era of the United States, African Americans were treated very poorly and had little to no rights. Even after slavery ended there were Jim Crow laws that limited Blacks rights in almost all public places. During the Civil Rights Movement, civil rights leaders used the past events that blacks have gone through to help justify change in their racist community. The leaders used events in their lives in which they were discriminated as examples of the racism that was still present. They embraced the past, and by doing so they made it the present. Obama also brought the past into the present when he made his speech about uniting the nation. Faulkner’s quote about history is right; in order to understand the past we must embrace it.
Robbie Lewis 5th Hour
"The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past."
As we progress through this Civil Rights unit, tell me what you think the author means by the quote We have definitely progressed since civil war times but some things have not changed. Blacks are now treated with the same respect and have the same rights as whites do. An example of how we have progressed is senator obama running for president. This is an extreme election and it may effect peoples votes. All I can say for sure is that the times have really changed and some people embrace it but still others are stuck in the past.
Marin Haffey 5th hour
Derrick Brown is da man
5th hour
"The past aint dead. In fact, it's aint even past."
what my mans saying is. back in his time people would refer to quotes like dat wit some sarcasism.(i think). Obama said that because, we was suppose to had cival rights and all dat black and white stuff, but its still seems like it's a major issue for a black president. well it is, but alot of people think negatively and it still is some racist folks out here ineese streets. so thepast is not even the past if its still happenin. like vitamin D. it still comes from milk.
I think that the author means that there are a lot of things that the U.S says that we’re over, but really aren’t. There are still people who live in the days we’re blacks were considered unworthy to be thought of as human beings. So there’s still a lot of tension going around because some people haven’t let go of the past long enough to let it become the past. But that’s on both sides of the color line. Blacks are stll blaming things that don’t go their way in the corporate world on “the man”, when it just might be that you just weren’t qualified. But then that is taken advantage of in cases sometimes which is why a lot of blacks think the way they do(if i was a black person i would think it to going though what ive been through). There are still things like slavery that haunt America’s past and there are too many people who refuse to let the past go and move on. And thats the reason why sometimes i feel that people hang on the past because they dont want to let go. but when the bad types of pasts come up it should just be left alone. Some people really need to jsut learn tomove on if you know what i mean.
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