NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/soc/motss/58306

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-25 | 5.4 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!olivea!decwrl!pa.dec.com!NMSU.Edu!awerling
From: [e-mail] (WERLING)
Newsgroups: soc.motss
Subject: warning about *Heartlands* (fwd)
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Date: 25 Jan 93 05:35:27 GMT
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=0A=0AAndrew Werling   [e-mail]   [e-mail]=0A"Books are b=
urning/ I hope somehow, this will allow/ A phoenix up from the =0A=09=09=09=
flames"=0A=09=09=09=09=09---XTC=0A=0A---------- Forwarded message ---------=
-=0ADate: Sun, 24 Jan 93 14:14:05 MST=0AFrom: Gabriel Lampert <G9348712@NMS=
UVM1.NMSU.EDU>=0ATo: Andrew <[e-mail]>=0ASubject: warning about *H=
eartlands*=0A=0AI am one of the people who was interviewed in the compilati=
on of Darrell=0AYates Rist's new book, *Heartlands*.  This post is to warn =
people about=0Asome defamatory inaccuracies that appear in the description =
of my hometown.=0AI want to make clear that I am not objecting to how I mys=
elf was portrayed,=0Abecause (1) it wasn't so bad, and (2) I had known from=
 the start that an=0Ainterviewer's assessment of his/her interviewee is alw=
ays subjective.=0A=0AIn the book, I have the name Iosh Levy, and the sectio=
n in which I appear=0Astarts on page 201 at the bottom.  There are two part=
icular errors I want=0Ato correct.  First, on page 202, the book reads:=0A=
=0A        A recent bishop in this Roman Catholic diocese had often=0A     =
   preached against the Jews as *asesinos*, Christ killers.=0A=0AIn actuali=
ty, the Bishop never did anything like this.  In fact, he visited=0Aour syn=
agogue to preach a sermon on reconciliation between Christians and=0AJews, =
in the course of which he was willing to accept that perhaps=0AChristianity=
's past anti-Jewish preachments may have been partly responsible=0Afor the =
Holocaust, a position few Christians have been willing to take.  It=0Awas a=
fter his sermon that *I*, Gabriel Lampert, mentioned to him that the=0Aword=
 *asesino* was still in the Spanish vocabulary.  Apparently, Darrell's=0Ano=
tes were quite sketchy, and he never got back to me to verify how he=0Areco=
nstructed them.=0A=0AImmediately after this passage, the book reads:=0A=0A =
       Not long ago the local university where Iosh taught math=0A        h=
ad placed an ancient Navajo symbol on the front of its=0A        yearbook. =
 It resembled a swastika, though for Indians it=0A        evoked brotherhoo=
d, not nazism.  A Jewish student had=0A        protested, bringing separate=
 painful histories into conflict.=0A        A barricade of police vans had =
had to be stationed at the=0A        synagogue.=0A=0AHere is what really ha=
ppened:  The New Mexico State University yearbook=0Ahad been called The Swa=
stika since 1907, and it is true that the symbol=0Awas taken from a Native =
American symbol (though the word Swastika is=0ASouth-Asian Indian).  The Na=
tive American tribes in New Mexico had dropped=0Athe symbol around 1940 bec=
ause of the Nazis, but the school kept it.  In=0A1983, the Hillel organizat=
ion here asked that the school change the title=0Aand symbol of the yearboo=
k.  The Native American organization on campus=0A(as well as representative=
s from elsewhere in New Mexico) actually sided=0AWITH the Jews, so it was n=
ot a Jew-vs.-Native American fight.  The opponents=0Awere Anglos who simply=
 wanted to keep an old tradition going.  It turned out=0Athat the African-A=
merican students at the University of Mississippi were=0Aalso protesting th=
at year, asking that the Rebel flag be dropped as Old Miss'=0Aschool flag, =
so both issues made the national news.=0A=0AThe result was that the Governo=
r ordered the NMSU Regents to change the=0Aname and symbol, which they did.=
  It is true that there was some police=0Asecurity around the synagogue tha=
t night, but it was intentionally not=0Avery visible.  It certainly was not=
 a barricade of vans -- I don't know=0Aif the Las Cruces Police Department =
had enough vans to make up any kind of=0Abarricade.=0A=0AThese inaccuracies=
 are quite painful to me.  They not only rake up old wounds=0Abut portray t=
hem as being far more evil than they were, and totally distort=0Aand ignore=
 some of the fine ways that people here have taken great steps=0Atoward get=
ting along.  I was sufficiently upset by reading this section that=0AI have=
 read very little else from the book.  Darrell Yates Rist is known for=0Ahi=
s adversarial depiction of people and organizations, in *The Nation*,=0A*Ch=
ristopher Street*, and elsewhere.  If he wanted to show how much at each=0A=
other's necks we are, then he should have written a novel.  Correction:  He=
=0Adid write a novel, but is calling it non-fiction.=0A=0A=0AGabriel Lamper=
t=0ABox 4455=0ALas Cruces NM 88003=0A=[e-mail]    <----i=
nternet=0Ag9348712@nmsuvm1             <----bitnet=0A=0A=0ATHE READER IS AU=
THORIZED TO TRANSMIT THIS POST TO ANY OTHER BULLETIN BOARD=0AOR LIST, BUT P=
LEASE TRANSMIT IT AS IS.  THANK YOU.=0A=A7Gabriel Lampert     GAYNET@gallif=
rey.ke  1/24/93 warning about *Heartlands*=0A