this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2024
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History
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I will try to say this gently, I get we valorize John Brown because his starting point is similar to most of the people here, but I feel like there are many many more black & indigenous people who fought valiantly and died trying to liberate themselves that we could focus on as role models instead
One time I went to the blacksonian in DC expecting John Brown to have a fairly sizeable presence and was surprised to see he was a footnote in one small windowed exhibit off the main hall. I think a lot about that feeling of surprise I had and what it means.
I think this is a reasonable take.
I love John Brown but will shamefully admit some of it comes from a vestigial West Wing brain compartment that reads all his letters and speeches and feels intoxicated by the illusion of them powerfully moving people to change. I’ll still enjoy them as a treat but I’m trying to kill my inner Aaron Sorkin.
Hexbear likes John Brown because Hexbear is mostly white lol. No need to complicate things.
Tbh, I'm surprised he was mentioned at all. American history up until recently really hasn't been very polite to him. He's pretty much treated as a traitor. The one big feature he's got in popular media (The Good Lord Bird) treats him like a clown. I kinda suspect the author of it, James McBride, doesn't even like Brown.