Been thinking about this. I hate it. I absolutely hate it. There are no winners here. But it makes for a helluva cautionary tale about the dangers of doing public history. For a public historian, this is pretty damn close to a worst-case scenario. Some pretty significant bricks got dropped here. Its probably too late to cancel the project. Can they recover? Yeah, I think so ... I hope so. Theyll have to bring some partners into the project who have direct personal experience and solid academic credentials, and theyll probably have to eat some serious humble pie. I have to say, I watched their pitch movie, and I totally get what Walidah Imarisha is saying about the portrayal of African Americans as passive victims. Sometimes theres a thin line between a thoughtful expose and a dogmatic indictment, and their trailer struck me as a good deal over that line. Maybe this controversy will inspire them to seek out some solid academic partners and step up their game and produce a product that we can all learn from and be proud of ... maybe.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 22:14:04 +0000
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