Reading through it, I realized that there's already a name for the woke version of American history - it's the Black Legend of America. It's a shame that the term sounds like it's discounting the beliefs and views of black people :P But really, if you read through the defining characteristics of a "black legend" you'll find elements like:
-Accidentality of merit. Black legends tend to minimize the merits they cannot fully erase or hide, by either portraying them as "mere luck", opportunism or, at best, as isolated qualities.
-Obligatory moral actions. When a noble action by the subject cannot be denied, it is somehow presented as done out of self-interest or out of necessity.
-Natural moral inferiority and irredeemable character. The black legend has a final tone in which no hope of improvement is given, for the defects have been there from the beginning and cannot be overcome due to, usually, moral weakness.
And according to the description:
Narrations of black legends tend to include strong pathos, combined with a narrative that is easy to follow and emotionally loaded, created by:
-Detailed, gruesome and morbid descriptions of torture and violence, which in many cases does not seem to serve any practical purpose.
-Sexual elements, either extreme sexual depravity or repression or more often a combination of both.
-Ignorance. Lack of intellectual refinement or independence.
-Greed, materialism, accusations of disrespect for sacred, or very important institutions or moral rules.
-A theme, usually greed, cruelty, sadism or bigotry, that constructs a consistent character and remains stable through the legend, even if the specific "proofs" to support it may change or even become opposite to the initial ones.
-Simplicity of elements, often repetition of the same anecdotes or scenarios with different variations. Motivations for actions are often offered, but they are either one single motivation or two, negative, clear cut, and constant.
Sound familiar? This seems to be exactly what Professor Loury is pointing to when he talks about the "America red in tooth and claw" that some progressives seem to believe in. I guess it's comforting in a way that this is a universal phenomenon, although usually it's applied to a foreign enemy, not generated within the discourse of a nation itself.
Late to the party on this, but I was reading random stuff on Wikipedia (don't judge me) and came across this concept:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_legend
Reading through it, I realized that there's already a name for the woke version of American history - it's the Black Legend of America. It's a shame that the term sounds like it's discounting the beliefs and views of black people :P But really, if you read through the defining characteristics of a "black legend" you'll find elements like:
-Accidentality of merit. Black legends tend to minimize the merits they cannot fully erase or hide, by either portraying them as "mere luck", opportunism or, at best, as isolated qualities.
-Obligatory moral actions. When a noble action by the subject cannot be denied, it is somehow presented as done out of self-interest or out of necessity.
-Natural moral inferiority and irredeemable character. The black legend has a final tone in which no hope of improvement is given, for the defects have been there from the beginning and cannot be overcome due to, usually, moral weakness.
And according to the description:
Narrations of black legends tend to include strong pathos, combined with a narrative that is easy to follow and emotionally loaded, created by:
-Detailed, gruesome and morbid descriptions of torture and violence, which in many cases does not seem to serve any practical purpose.
-Sexual elements, either extreme sexual depravity or repression or more often a combination of both.
-Ignorance. Lack of intellectual refinement or independence.
-Greed, materialism, accusations of disrespect for sacred, or very important institutions or moral rules.
-A theme, usually greed, cruelty, sadism or bigotry, that constructs a consistent character and remains stable through the legend, even if the specific "proofs" to support it may change or even become opposite to the initial ones.
-Simplicity of elements, often repetition of the same anecdotes or scenarios with different variations. Motivations for actions are often offered, but they are either one single motivation or two, negative, clear cut, and constant.
Sound familiar? This seems to be exactly what Professor Loury is pointing to when he talks about the "America red in tooth and claw" that some progressives seem to believe in. I guess it's comforting in a way that this is a universal phenomenon, although usually it's applied to a foreign enemy, not generated within the discourse of a nation itself.