FW: Deconstructing History
dhend...@renaissanceamerican.com
Herstory, too. There is a fascinating and important story in today’s NY Times (Biz section) about a German Jewish woman, Emilie Landecker, whose father was killed by the Nazis, who fell in love with one, Albert Reiman, Jr. She had three children with him. The Reiman business which “took pride in cleansing its staff of non-Aryan elements” became over time one of the largest conglomerates in the world, now known as JAB Holding Company, worth over $20 Billion and still controlled by the Reiman family. Like many German companies, it’s Nazi history went unreported for decades. The current CEO urged the family to research their past before somebody else did. They did, and the younger generation is taking action to protect liberal democracy and have renamed their foundation for Alfred Landecker, Emilie’s father, tying the past to the present. The chair of the foundation’s academic advisory council, one Norbert Frei, is quoted as saying, “This is not just about researching and remembering the past. It’s about stabilizing and maintaining democracy today.” Indeed.
In my hometown of Tyler, Texas, there is a street that runs through the historically-Black side of town called Confederate Avenue. (There is also a high school called “Robert E. Lee”.) For years when I was chair of the county Democratic Party, I tried to start a movement to change the name of Confederate Avenue, but none of my Black friends thought it was important. (A more recent effort to change the name of the school was not successful.) I encouraged a friend of mine to research the naming of that avenue in hopes that shedding light on it will help us get it changed. His research has uncovered a remarkably terrible history. Shortly after the war, five Black, apparently, soldiers (read Union/Reconstruction soldiers) were hanged from the same oak tree. (Last I heard we have not confirmed that they were soldiers but there are reports to that effect.) The town was a hotbed of Confederate enthusiasm and several local leaders were instrumental in getting Texas to secede. There were lynchings in Tyler well into the 20th Century. None of this sordid record has ever been made public in recent times. My American History teacher at Lee spent 12 weeks on the War of Northern Aggression. We fought ever major battle on the blackboard and never got to the 20th Century. I was not prepared for Anne Scott’s American History class.
Exposing our rancid past “is not just about remembering it. It’s about stabilizing and maintaining democracy today.” This document about Duke’s confederate past should be an inducement to change some names on campus.
Cheers!
d.
Robert Creamer
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