Ms. Sauer wrote:
>someone who has been brought up in the United States with darker skin
>has felt the prejudice inflicted upon him/her which has developed
>over the past centuries.  Someone who hears stories from their
>grandparents about the horrors inflicted on their ancestors will have
>a different view point than those of us who haven't.  This is not
>just a matter of skin colour, it is a matter of conditioning and
>social standards which are ingrained into the American psychie
>whether anyone wants to admit to it or not.
I agree that slavery was a darker moment in American history, and I agree
that the "oral" history passed down within families can often give one a
flavor for what went on in the past.  I do not agree, however, that this is
a sound basis for understanding history (or archeology).  If it were, then
I would be qualified to make statements about American rural history in the
1920s and 30s because my grandparents were poor dirt-farmers in Missouri.
Perhaps had I studied American rural history, my grandmother's handwritten
life story would be of value as an historical document for that period.
But without that background, her writing remains, for me, an invaluable
tale of her life.
 
William M. Reger IV
(217)352-6930
[log in to unmask]
 
Department of History           Voc. & Tech. Ed.
309 Gregory Hall, UIUC          345 Education Bldg., UIUC
(217) 333-1155                  (217) 333-0807