Building Blocks of a Unifying Mythology
Elements of a new mythology are out there, like notes on a piano waiting to be played.
Elements of a new mythology are out there, like notes on a piano waiting to be played.
In a post-racial America, what are the values that should define “us?” What symbols, rituals, memorials, songs and other cultural artifacts would best cement those values into place? Who are the heroes to emulate and the villains to reject?
In the end, we can help cement into place a new unifying mythology by making villains of those who fought for the old.
These kinds of transformations seldom have a long tail. They usually appear pyrrhic until they suddenly prevail. We may have far less time than we think to imagine what will replace white supremacy as our unifying mythology. And People sharing a space without a shared definition of “us” rarely share that space politely.
We’re on our way to Austin. Closed on our Chicago area home last Friday. Sticking around the area this week to tie up loose ends. It’s been a wild, tumultuous process that’s left little room to sit and think, much less write. Might still be a couple more weeks before …
As in some backwater Islamic Caliphate, mass artistic content in the US had to pass the wary eye America’s religious mullahs until just a few years ago and Republicans loved it.
We have relative progress on racial equity because that progress benefits powerful people. Recognize this pattern of interests and it can become a lever toward real progress.
Over the past few weeks I’ve stepped back from posting to hash through this question at length. The research has been fascinating and surprising.