Mr. Bearden,
The story of Jim indicate the good heart and compassion of Varina, who I
understand was a good hearted woman. It is indeed possible that the story of
using his wife's cloak is the basis of the story of his dress as a woman
when captured. My sense, tho, is that it would have taken more than a cloak
to start the story, but I have no evidence. The story seems to be widely
included in the literature about the period.
No, saying that Jesse Jackson, etc. said so would not have been an effective
argument. My con's pointed out that the flag was a non-issue until the
1950's when it surfaced as a symbol of racism and hate. The heritage groups
did not object to the use of "their" symbol. The cons pointed out that had
those groups, using that symbol, had continued to have their way, life as we
know it in schools now would be very different. Students with good friends
and favorite teachers of the other race, would have been deprived of those
valuable relationships. The cons said that the flag was used to intimidate
blacks in the local community, but they did not share specific events.
I think what disappointed me most was that the cons did not rebut the pros
argument that slaves had more "rights" under slavery than after they were
freed. When I read the comments of the "audience" after the debate, I noted
that a few students cited this falsehood as a persuasive argument.
If nothing else. the cons learned they need more than heightened emotions to
make their case. That is the purpose of including the debates in class - to
help students learn that public issues should be decided on facts not on who
can shout the loudest (or, in the extreme, who carries the biggest weapon).
This class, my first of the day, seems to choose the most controversial
issues for their debates. The other two blocks choose tamer issues. I can't
wait to see what they choose tomorrow for their topic this week!
Anne
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