Booker T & Them: A Blues

After Words

( 245 ) It will be difficult for me not to “make sport for the Philistines” by pulling down a house or two; since, when I once take pen in hand, I must say what comes uppermost, or fling it away. —Lord Byron (1788–1824), English poet, letter to publisher John Murray, 6 June 1822 (published in Byron’s Letters and Journals, vol. 9, ed. Leslie A. Marchand, 1979) Quote: “lit a lantern in the bright morning hours.” Has he got lost? asks one. Did he lose his way like a child? asks another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? —Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900), “Parable of the Madman” (1882, 1887) “Tut, tut, child! Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it.” —The Duchess, in Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll (1865) After Words 01 Harris text.indd 245 12/13/11 11:26 AM ( 246 ) One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. We must not remember that Daniel Webster got drunk but only remember that he was a splendid constitutional lawyer. We must forget that George Washington was a slave owner . . . and simply remember the things we regard as creditable and inspiring. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example; it paints perfect men and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth. —W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963), “Black Reconstruction in America, 1860–1880” (1935) 01 Harris text.indd 246 12/13/11 11:26 AM General Editors Michael Delp, Interlochen Center for the Arts M. L. Liebler, Wayne State University Advisory Editors Melba Joyce Boyd Wayne State University Stuart Dybek Western Michigan University Kathleen Glynn Jerry Herron Wayne State University Laura Kasischke University of Michigan Frank Rashid Marygrove College Doug Stanton A complete listing of the books in this series can be found online at wsupress.wayne.edu Made in Michigan Writers Series 01 Harris text.indd 247 12/13/11 11:26 AM 01 Harris text.indd 248 12/13/11 11:26 AM ...