[Xmca-l] Re: NYT Op-Ed: Class Prejudice Resurgent

Tue Dec 9 18:05:35 PST 2014

As Horton says, in the end the Communist Party decided they didn't want 
him as a member, rather than the other way around.
He was such an independent and uncompromising spirit.
Andy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Andy Blunden*
http://home.pacific.net.au/~andy/


Greg Thompson wrote:
> Annalisa,
> I think I circulated this to the list before you, but this is a great video
> on Myles Horton if you have some time (I listened to it on my commute). it
> is an interview conducted by Bill Moyers:
> http://vimeo.com/30650519
>
> The earlier work of the Highlander School was focused on workers and the
> early labor movement in the U.S. Very much about class. It changed focus a
> bit during the late 40's and 50's and 60's and became much more associated
> with civil rights movement. Myles explains it well in his interview with
> Bill Moyers. But communist associations with the school probably weren't
> too far off the mark, esp. in the early days.
>
> Great stuff indeed!
> -greg
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 10:50 AM, Annalisa Aguilar <annalisa@unm.edu> wrote:
>
>   
>> Greg!
>>
>> Just reading the wikipage on Myles Horton and I am very inspired! Thanks
>> for turning me on to him! Though how the school could be called communist
>> floors me. Segregation does strange things to brains.
>>
>> I found the most important thought in the page was:
>>
>> "Horton was influenced early on by his work with poor mountain people in
>> Ozone, Tennessee. From them, he learned that a free discussion of problems,
>> without indoctrination to any preconceived ideas, generated vitality and
>> brought out ideas from within the group."
>>
>> What this means to me is a picture of the ways in which people, with their
>> own common sense, when free to speak together in a community, each from
>> one's own vantage point, can, when speaking in the present moment for what
>> is at hand in the present moment, manifest ideas and solutions together. I
>> assume that what can come out of this kind of speaking are movements for
>> action, such as sitting at the front of a bus! :)
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>> Annalisa
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu>
>> on behalf of Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>
>> Sent: Monday, December 8, 2014 11:12 PM
>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: NYT Op-Ed: Class Prejudice Resurgent
>>
>> Andy,
>> That quote was from the Brooks piece that Annalisa had mentioned.
>>
>> Annalisa,
>>
>> My sense was that what Brooks was talking about was cross-class
>> friendships. I kinda doubt that there is much of that here on XMCA.
>> Friends, surely. But cross-class, maybe less so.
>>
>> If you look at cities across the U.S. across time, you'll find an
>> increasing polarization of neighborhood by class. These are seen in our
>> common sense notions of "the rich part of town" and the "poor parts of
>> town" (yes, there are always more of the latter than the former!). Many
>> different structural forces are aligned to make these even worse (e.g., the
>> way schools are funded). With that in mind, I think Brooks' idea of
>> friendship across class lines is a lovely one. But my question is: what can
>> we do to make these kinds of arrangements happen?
>>
>> And, more cynically, can these arrangements amount to anything more than a
>> Sisyphean hill of beans (there's an evocative string of words!) if the
>> structural basis of class-based segregation is not addressed?
>>
>> And speaking of the 30's, Myles Horton's Highlander School seems exemplary
>> to all that we are discussing here. Certainly more than a hill of beans
>> that was made by that radical hillbilly...
>>
>> -greg
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 10:54 PM, Annalisa Aguilar <annalisa@unm.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> Hi Greg!
>>>
>>> WRT to your favorite line: I am waiting for the ATers to pick up and run
>>> with that!  :)
>>>
>>> Maybe we are building friendships here by interacting on this list? Now !
>>> :)
>>>
>>> But then, even though we are "speaking" we are not talking about "our
>>> friendship," but then maybe we are. I'm not sure. Perhaps I disagree here
>>> with Brooks. Perhaps reminding ourselves of the meaning of friendship
>>>       
>> (our
>>     
>>> friendship) can be a method for disentanglement. It is just a thought.
>>>
>>> It is certainly not easy to have meta-conversations. But this might be a
>>> way to catch the moments of inflammation and to untangle V's
>>>       
>> word-meanings
>>     
>>> and even perezhivanie. I don't think it's just about the language of
>>> poverties, but also the language of wealths, and then discovering, or
>>> rather uncovering, what is there and how these relate, if they do at all.
>>>
>>> But Greg, perhaps my last post was my best pitch on "the how" as a first
>>> step. I'm just thinking out loud here.
>>>
>>> As I consider it, the first step also seems to be understanding (and
>>> agreement) that there is a problem. Am I wrong?
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>>
>>> Annalisa
>>>
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu>
>>> on behalf of Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>
>>> Sent: Monday, December 8, 2014 10:23 PM
>>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>>> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: NYT Op-Ed: Class Prejudice Resurgent
>>>
>>> Annalisa,
>>>
>>> My favorite line was:
>>>
>>> "In a friendship, people don’t sit around talking about their friendship.
>>> They do things together. Through common endeavor people overcome
>>>       
>> difference
>>     
>>> to become friends."
>>>
>>> But how to build friendships across the grand canyon known as (or,
>>>       
>> perhaps,
>>     
>>> not known as) social class in the U.S.?
>>>
>>> -greg
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>> --
>> Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
>> Assistant Professor
>> Department of Anthropology
>> 880 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
>> Brigham Young University
>> Provo, UT 84602
>> http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson
>>
>>
>>     
>
>
>