So, I'm not going to complete the exercise, but if I were going to, I would now write one paragraph about a historical image of the Klan from the time period that my great-grandfather was involved with that movement, the 1920s (top image). I would then type another paragraph about my second image, one that would describe this more contemporary -- from my time, per se -- representation from (larger) macro-American pop-culture (image below). This is a video capture of Ed Norton starring in the film American History X. Perhaps I would describe how this image better represents the racism that I have encountered in my life experiences, and how that subculture has morphed and changed from my great-grandfathers time, which pre-dates Nazism in Germany, into my time, my cultural moment. Get to work.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Example for Day 11 Prompt: Aaron.
The concrete example from my life experiences that I picked is my great-grandfather, who was in the Klan back in the 1920s. Though I never saw him in robes or even learned of his involvement until I was older, this involvement of one of my family members in such a hate group causes the images of bigotry in America to strike home for me in real and literal ways. Below are my two images that connect to my concrete example.