George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin, and Me
hnns blog JAMES LOEWEN
I write late in the evening on Tuesday, April 10. This morning I woke
up famous, at least in certain circles. George Zimmerman, famous for
killing Trayvon Martin in Florida, had cited me on his new website.
Correspondents rushed to tell me. His site was receiving so much
traffic that it took seven minutes to log on to his home page. I could
not reach any subsidiary page, specifically the page titled "The
Facts," where I had been told Zimmerman prominently displayed my
words, until late in the morning.
Many other websites had picked up my quote, however. According to
"George Zimmerman Launches Website to Fund Legal Costs," an unsigned
article at JD Journal, a site whose motto reads "Nothing but the
Truth,"
The site carries a quote from sociologist James W. Loewen: "People
have a right to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.
Evidence must be located, not created, and opinions not backed by
evidence cannot be given much weight."
At their websites, MSNBC, CBS, and many other news services also
included the quote. CBS termed it "a philosophy attributed to
sociologist James W. Loewen." By mid-afternoon at least 427 sites,
from the New York Times to the "Brother Of Yeshua Blogspot," included
the quotation.
I'm not the only person Zimmerman quoted, but I'm the only living
person. He also included a famous sentence by Edmund Burke: "The only
thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing."
A jury might take this quote to be a rationale for his vigilante
activism toward "evil." Hence Zimmerman's attorneys might well have
been unhappy with this posted quote, even before they resigned as his
counsel later in the day. However, the Burke sentence pales compared
to the macabre connotation of his second quotation, by Henrik Ibsen:
"A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed."
Again, his lawyers could not have been happy that Zimmerman posted
this sentence, since a jury might infer that he wanted to make a "deep
impression" by committing a dastardly deed. Lastly, Zimmerman quoted
Thomas Paine: "The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren,
and to do good is my religion."
I'm happy to be in the company of Burke, Ibsen, and Paine. Who knows?
Maybe Zimmerman will get me into Familiar Quotations. (I had hoped
that my one-liner, "Those who don't remember the past are condemned to
repeat the eleventh grade," which I used at the beginning of Lies My
Teacher Told Me, might make the grade, but so far, only three websites
use it.) However, the first of my two sentences was said in essence
by Bernard Baruch in 1950, by various folks since then, and probably
by others long before. So I think I must search elsewhere for my
fifteen minutes of fame.
Still, it was jarring to see my name and quotation behind the talking
heads Tuesday as they told the story of Zimmerman's lawyers'
resignations on the evening news. I'm not happy with being used as a
resource by George Zimmerman, and I disclaim any relationship with him
and his cause. Of course, once they have unleashed words upon the
world—in particular, upon the World Wide Web—authors have no control
over their use, for good or ill. Moreover, one reason why I have not
written a thing about the death of Trayvon Martin is my lack of facts.
I know only what I have learned from the newspapers (yes, I subscribe)
and other media. Anyone likely to read anything I might write about
the matter has already read the same sources.
I would like to know how George Zimmerman learned of my words that he
used. They appear on page 358 of Lies My Teacher Told Me. While I
would like to believe he read the entire book, if he did, he seems to
have missed its anti-racist central message.
When it comes to "Brother Of Yeshua," who actually emailed me Tuesday
morning to tell me he had used the quotation, I think it's safe to
infer that he first encountered my words at Zimmerman's website or
news sites that quoted it. Again, he has a (Constitutional) right to
use my words to support any position he wants, and here is what he
used them for:
When rightly understood, what we are presented with is the
manifestation of the statement by James W. Loewen that while "People
have a right to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.
Evidence must be located, not created, and opinions not backed by
evidence cannot be given much weight"—and while the facts demonstrate
that Mormonism is actually closer to the original Gospel teachings and
objectives, mainstream Christianity has been in denial of the very
facts that they have long censored and remain in denial of, to the
degree that those who believe they are Christian, have been
spiritually disenfranchised by the very Church they look to for truth.
So now my words are invoked to support belief in Mormonism as well as
George Zimmerman's innocence!
"Brother Of Yeshua" writes further, "2000 years ago I lived as Jacob
who people call James, and was known as the Brother of Yeshua/Jesus."
Such a statement does not carry the weight of fact. Elsewhere on his
site, he states that he holds to "Religion As The True System Of
Education"—again at odds with education based on fact.
At some point, I should relate all this to the study of history as
taught in our K-12 schools—on which I've spent much of the past twenty
years—so let's do so now. One reason why many Americans are not
critical readers and do not insist upon facts stems from their history
textbooks. Bear in mind that five-sixths of all Americans never take a
history course after leaving high school. High school history
textbooks include no footnotes or other system of references.
Moreover, even when issues remain contested, such as when and how did
people first get to the Americas, textbooks cite no evidence—in this
case, from archaeology, human biology, or anthropology. They just go
on blandly relating certainties, even on topics still ruled by
uncertainty.
Moreover, if Allan Cronshaw in Graham, North Carolina, writes as
"Brother Of Yeshua," that's not so different from what happens in the
K-12 textbook world. There, unnamed gnomes deep in the bowels of the
publishers write in the names of Daniel Boorstin, Alan Winkler, and
many other famous historians whose names grace the covers of books
they didn't write.
Nor does the style of history textbooks—written in a monotone,
presenting "information" to be memorized—promote critical thinking
skills or prompt students to question sources. Such skills might have
induced Mr. Zimmerman and others not to profile young African American
males, which—this much seems factual—he seems to have done.
Then there is Zimmerman's use of the American flag on his website. He
wraps himself in the flag to stop thought, not to start it. All six of
the twenty-first-century textbooks that I analyzed for the new edition
of Lies My Teacher Told Me similarly wave the American flag on their
covers, and for the same reason: to quell critical thinking.
Publishers wave it so prospective purchasers will not question them or
doubt that they are "good Americans." If instead these books would
distinguish between patriotism and nationalism, their flag-waving
might be different. I take my definition of a patriot from Frederick
Douglass, who said, "For he is a lover of his country who rebukes and
does not excuse its sins." Surely textbooks need to help students to
develop informed reasons to criticize as well as to take pride in
their country. Nationalists, on the other hand, take pride in their
nation no matter what—and do not care to think about its sins. If
textbooks made that useful distinction, then Americans might not
"follow the flag" even when our leaders take it into dangerous places
on behalf of foolish and even immoral purposes. If the flag connoted
"do your best critical thinking about the U.S.," then when
politicians, vigilantes, and textbook authors waved it to garner
unthinking approval, the rest of us would simply laugh at them.
I believe—at least I hope—that the millions of people who came upon my
statement comparing facts and opinions Tuesday do not infer that I am
George Zimmerman's ally. I am not. Rather, I hope that Americans will
ground their opinions about this case on the facts. We all surely hope
that a process has finally been set in place that will allow the facts
to emerge. Meanwhile, those of us far from Sanford, even far from
Florida, must set processes in place that will transform how we teach
about the American past in grades K-12. When we allow facts to
emerge—even awkward and untoward facts—when we encourage students to
question national and local policies—and yes, when we insist that
"opinions not backed by evidence cannot be given much weight"—then we
are educating. Then we are producing Americans who are unlikely to
profile. Then we are patriots.
More:
http://hnn.us/blogs/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-and-me
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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