Contextualizing On Fear

Glossary and Background Information

1.
William Faulkner-
Deep South- The Dee !outh is traditionally considered to consist of "la#ama$ Georgia$ %ouisiana$
&ississii$ and !outh Carolina' The title can also #e extended to the first se(en states to secede$ )hich
adds Florida and Texas$ as )ell as culturally similar arts of ad*oining states like "rkansas$ Tennessee$
etc' They )ere marked #y their deendence on cotton and the large lantations that ruled #efore the
Ci(il +ar$ as )ell as a larger "frican,"merican oulation than the -er !outh$ )hose occuants
)ere historically less )ealthy and o)ned fe)er sla(es than the !outhern ca(alier .aristocracy. of
lanters/ the stereotyical image of the !outherner in the -er !outh tended more to)ards "alachia
than the Cotton Belt'
&ississii is sometimes considered the .deeest. of the original Dee !outh states$ understanda#ly
gi(en its osition as the most +estern of these states sa(e %ouisiana and0or Texas$ and as lacking the
international contact and resence granted those states #y contact )ith the Cari##ean and Central
"merica in cities like 1e) Orleans' !ee$ for instance$ in the recent contro(ersial film D*ango
-nchained$ )herein the eonymous hero must tra(el to &ississii lantation Candieland to rescue
his ensla(ed )ife' In this film as in many others$ &ississii is characterized as the #elly of the #east$
an in(erted heart of darkness that reresents the most #ack)ard and intransigent forms of !outhern
reactionary culture and ci(il religion'
The Supreme Court decision abolishing segregation in schools- In Bro)n (s' The Board of
2ducation$ 34555$ the -nited !tates !ureme Court re(ersed its earlier searate #ut e6ual ruling from
3455.s 7lessy (s' Ferguson$ ordering nation)ide desegregation not only in schools #ut in a general
trend to)ards the a#olition of 8im Cro) la)s'
Our most idel!-read "emphis paper-
# la compelling "ississippi $among others o% course&-
The evil times following the Civil War when our land was a defeated and
occupied country-
A sneer at the Nobel Prize which was awarded me- Faulkner received the
Nobel Prize in 1949 for his powerful and unique artistic contribution to the
modern American novel!
!
"he only alternative to change is death- "his quotation neatl# summarizes
a prominent preoccupation of Faulkner$s entire corpus of writin%&
"he contempt of the Northern radicals who believe we dont do
enough-
Another small #ississippi town li$e my own- Faulkner
%r &alph 'unche and (eorge Washington Carver and 'oo$er "!
Washington-
"he ta)es for which he has no representation- No ta'ation without
representation! was one of the rall#in% cries of American settlers a%ainst the
(ritish colonial %overnment& who ar%ued that no %overnment could )ustl# ta' their
citizens if citizens were not %iven representation in the process of %overnment& as
in *****
"he Negro can gain our country*s highest decoration for valor- African+
Americans participated in ever# American war& includin% on both sides of the ,ivil
-ar& and won especial honor in the -orld -ars&
+!
"homas ,e-erson and Abraham .incoln both held that the Negro was
not competent yet for
e/uality!-
.espite Abraham /incoln$s reputation as a liberator& this reference likel# pertains
to
"homas 0e1erson is a more storied case %iven his personal embroilment in a
se'ual relationship with one of his slaves& 2all# *****& con3rmed b# .NA evidence
from their descendents
0enator ,ohn C! Calhoun made his address in favor of secession-
0enator ,e-erson %avis wrote a public letter to the 0outh-
0enator Calhoun and 0enator %avis had the then undisputed validity of
0tates* &ights-
1ne of our 2nited 0tates senators-
"here is the voice of one of our circuit 3udges-
"he white Citizens* Councils and the NAACP-
4!
"he 1ld "estament 5ve thousand years ago said it was- "he 4ld
"estament stor# of ,anaan was widel# interpreted to support slaver#& used as
)usti3cation to reconcile ,hristianit# with the ownership of human chattel
"he attribution of 3ve thousand #ears& %ivin% the ,anaan incident as occurrin% in
appro'imatel# 5666 A.& re7ects one common consensus of the time as to the
world$s a%e ******
and would not be
1pen forum letter to our #emphis paper-
%o unto others as you would have others do unto you!- "his
ubiquitousl#+quoted passa%e comes from the New "estament& ****
6 am the only distinction among men since whoever believeth in #e7
shall never die!- Althou%h not as widel# known as $do unto others&$ this piece
of scripture is also widel# cited& with its ori%ins in ****
"he facts stated in the Look magazine account of the "ill a-air- 2ee
8uie& 99"he 2hockin% 2tor# of Approved :illin% in ;ississippi&<< /ook =& no = >=4
0anuar# 19?@AB 4@C4D& ?6
Ets editor$s note reads as followsB En the lon% histor# of man$s inhumanit# to man&
racial con7ict has produced some of the most horrible e'amples of brutalit# "he
recent sla#in% of Fmmett "ill in ;ississippi is a case in point "he editors of Look
are convinced that the# are presentin% here& for the 3rst time& the real stor# of
that killin% C the stor# no )ur# heard and no newspaper reader saw!
Amon% the famous quotations %leaned from the article there is one of the
l#ncher$s self+)usti3cationsB -ell& what else could we doG 8e was hopeless E$m no
bull#H E never hurt a ni%%er in m# life E like ni%%ers C in their place C E know how to
work $em (ut E )ust decided it was time a few people %ot put on notice As lon% as
E live and can do an#thin% about it& ni%%ers are %onna sta# in their place Ni%%ers
ain$t %onna vote where E live Ef the# did& the#$d control the %overnment "he# ain$t
%onna %o to school with m# kids And when a ni%%er %ets close to mentionin% se'
with a white woman& he$s tired o$ livin$!
"hey have no recourse in law for protection from nor restitution nor
in3ustice and violence!-
8e will propose marriage to our daughter- Enterracial marria%e was
oIciall# ille%al in the state of ;ississippi until *****
1ur ancestors were not afraid li$e this- "he cult of the ancestor was
antebellum le%endJcavalier m#th
.au%hters of the ,onfederac#
"he 5rst shipload of manacled Negros across the #iddle Passage-
9!
"o stalemate the idea of communism- "he ,old -ar itself can be said to
have consisted of a sin%le massive stalemated chess %ame between the so+called
First and 2econd -orlds& pla#ed out in strate%icall# situated se%ments of the
"hird "his stalemate came the closest to breakin% in international incidents like
the (a# of Pi%s or the ,uban ;issile ,risis& but the con7ict remained ideolo%ical on
domestic soil
%rag the whole universe into the abyss- Amidst more poetic ima%es of
apocal#pse and nihilism& Faulkner also evokes the idea of total nuclear war "his
mutuall# assured destruction b# America and Kussia was feared throu%hout the
,old -ar but never came to fruition
'etter confederate and confederate fast- "his line is perhaps the most
incendiar# of the piece for both 2outhern and Northern audiences& %iven its
ostentatious co+optin% of the name of the ,onfederac# and its ,onfederate soldier
for interracial cooperation
"o continue to endure-
Fndurance is one of Faulkner$s favorite virtues& ascribed to African+Americans as
well as unvanquished! women Fnvisioned as a stubborn& stalwart faith even in
the face of su1erin%& this passive variet# of patience has been widel# criticized as
re7ectin% a more beni%n stereot#pe& that African+Americans are content to ****
We have watched the nonwhite peoples e)pel-
At least e/uality in slavedom-
2outherners continuousl# conceptualized their own le%al and economic
submission to the North as parallel to the situation of black slaves under white
masters
Communism or monolithicism-
"he Phi 'eta :appas- "his desi%nation of >privile%edA white colle%e men
probabl# refers to 8arvard fraternit# members or somethin% similar& with Phi
(eta :appa! the pedi%ree he awards one of his most educated characters& white
count# law#er Lavin 2tevens
"he poets and musicians-
8ave yet to produce a ;uchs!!!- "his refers presumabl# to .r :laus Fuchs&
who despite Lerman ori%in is identi3ed as representative of all ,aucasians&
includin% American whites Fuchs was convicted in 19?6 of
"his identi3cation of a traitor to Kussia as the worst e'ample of the race is
indicative of the Ked "error! mood of the decade& which set the sta%e for
;c,arth#ism in the ne't
"o gain e/uality7 one must deserve it- "his merit theor# of racial
betterment was controversial even in its time& not to speak of toda#&
"he bugaboo of miscegenation-
6n Africa-
A caste system of e/uality- "he most famous formalized caste s#stem is
Endia$s& which
A homogeny e/ually and unchallengeably free-
"he reader ma# also question where the ideolo%ical distinction& apart from racial
vs politicalJreli%ious& reall# falls between homo%en# and monolithicism