The Statue of Liberty Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg by Marvin Trachtenberg
Check out the Wikipedia.org article on The Statue of Liberty. The name Édouard René Lefèvre de Laboulaye is not mentioned in the article (as of today). The word sequence “Civil War” does not appear in the article. The word “slavery” does not appear in the article as well. This means that any young person learning about The Statue of Liberty from Wikipedia.org will not even be able to think about what truly inspired the monument. This young person’s imagination is, by definition, limited.
In the rasx() context, the Wikipedia.org authors of the article have lost the ability to whine something like, “All white people in the 1800s were not unconcerned about slavery. You can’t paint whites in such broad strokes.” They lost the opportunity to prove their point when they overlooked a leading French abolitionist Édouard René Lefèvre de Laboulaye. It was this anti-slavery activist that envisioned this monument to celebrate the “end of slavery” after the Civil War.
Of course, at least one of these Wikipedia.org authors may dare to explore the possibility that rasx(), me, should join them and embrace the openness of the commons and add my voice to the conversation about The Statue of Liberty. Most of you people, especially you contemporary North American readers who stumble upon this Blog post, often make this kind of suggestion in an idealized vacuum. You create this universe where there is only me, Wikipedia.org, The Statue of Liberty and the fathomless void of time. Such ideal universes were traveled by me when I lived at home with my mother and father. So my suggestion to those who still live at home with their parents is to seriously take up this cause and enter the Wikipedia.org fray. Seriously. Don’t think Encyclopedia Britannica will come to the rescue on this one.
For those of us on the go, in the cubicle with headphones plugged into the machine, check out “LIBRadio Sampler: Doctoral Warriors for the African Mind.” Zoom in the on audio track “Leonard Jeffries: The Statue of Liberty.” Dr. Jeffries cites The Statue of Liberty by Marvin Trachtenberg.
Comments
AG, 2006-04-23 14:07:37
I have no idea why you wouldn't share your viewpoint on the wiki? It's sort of like not voting.. If you remain silent, you're condoning the behavior.
rasx(), 2006-04-24 17:32:58
I see something from your point of view: as long as computerized voting is out there my vote can be overwritten, deleted. However, I vote out of respect for the African ancestors and freedom fighters that literally died for the right for me to vote. I have no such respect for Wikipedia.org.
We need to learn from the battles our elders have had in the past in this context and be effective with this military history instead of making the same confrontational mistakes.