POST ONE: The Most Hated Family in America
After watching the documentary, "The Most Hated Family in America" (Theroux, BBC2 2007, <http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-most-hated-family-in-america/>, I realized how dependent the Phelps' family views were on being ostracized. Theroux's documentary focuses on the Phelps family of the Westboro Baptist Church, an extremist American Christian group that ardently feels that America is headed down the wrong path. They spread their message by holding rallies proximal to soldiers' funerals, arguing that their death is caused by America turning to the Devil in terms of homosexuality in this country. The Phelps family has a small matriarchal thread running through it, and also has many lawyers which defend their actions in courts of law by citing the freedom of speech.
Culturally, the Phelps family practices modesty socially. They do not interact with the public on more than a basic level. They live in Topeka, Kansas, where industry is not booming and the feel is more rural than urban. They are educated and outspoken with the beliefs. Because of this, many of the family members, especially the children, are ostracized. As the documentary shows the public reaction during a picket, Theroux notices a "100% negative reaction". Due to this ostracizing from the local and global community, the children can be seen to cling tighter to what they know (their family and their family's beliefs). As seen in the documentary, few of the young women interact outside the family socially, and none have friends that are more than "nice acquaintances". Because there is no other social outlet other than family, the Phelps family holds together and spreads their beliefs more effectively as a group.
Shirley Phelps, Phelps Family Matriarch
This documentary focused on the women of the family more than the men. It seemed that the family was made up of mostly women, who shunned today's sexy pop culture and seemed disgusted at the "whorish" attitude of the youth. This rebellion from the mainstream resulted in their gravitation towards modesty and celibacy. A majority of women in the group, a largely female demographic, could easily promote these qualities because so much of mainstream media and pop culture is demeaning to women. Most rap songs reduce women to sex objects, and with the rise of female singers such as Rihanna and Nicki Minaj, who promote these views with billboard hit songs like "S & M" and "Stupid Hoe", disrespect of women via lyric seems unlikely to end. It made sense that the Phelps women were preaching modesty, to stand against these masochistic, disrespectful trends.
Nicki Minaj's Latest Single 2012
Demographically, the leaders of the pickets seemed to be women. Shirley Phelps herself had many leadership qualities, including confidence, patience, and quick wit. It was surprising to see a woman in the position of Westboro leader, but she did the job, and had her followers in her daughters, family and fellow church members. I expected that such a conservative Christian movement would shun the leadership roles of women. It's clear that the legal power of the Phelps family (with their plethora of well-versed lawyers, including Shirley and her father) is enough to perhaps keep away more physical attacks for fears of a lawsuit.
Topeka, Kansas is an area of little industry. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Topeka has an unemployment rate of 7.1%, which is higher than the unemployment rate of Kansas (6.5%). Topeka's biggest employer is the State of Kansas, and there are few high-tech companies in the area. Geographically, Topeka is an area where youth can easily fall into alcoholism and drugs, since there isn't that much to do. Wal-Mart is a big attraction of the area, as are bowling alleys and skating rinks. The only 'clubs' in the area are strip clubs, as a Google search of "Topeka Clubs" shows only adult clubs marked on the map. The Phelps family prevents their children from boredom and perhaps, eventually, a downward spiral into not-so-savory activities by keeping them involved with the protests. As seen in the documentary, children help making signs, attend the pickets, are present at every family gathering, and are heavily involved in the church. Geographically, there really isn't much else the kids could be doing, especially as they grow up into adulthood. This keeps alive the youth of the Westboro Baptist Church, and their next generation.
Downtown Topeka, Kansas
City Data
"The Most Hated Family in America" was an interesting documentary. But I believe watching it gives more credit to the Phelps family than is their due. Watching a bunch of crazy people, who have a hard time following logical questions as seen in 'Gramps' Phelps spiral into foul humor after one question by Theroux, gives them more exposure than necessary. Theroux's analysis of the family as "welcoming" at times was too ridiculous to take seriously, because the entire time they told Theroux he was going to hell with smiles on their faces. It is enough to know that the Westboro Baptist Church exists, just as it is enough to know that skinheads and neo-Nazis exist, but to give them air-time and legitimate thought is useless. It is useless because this family is irrational, and trying to follow their intentions without prejudice cannot be done. It is clear in the emotional reactions of Shirley and Gramps to personal questions, that they have either been hurt by a world that could not hear them, spent too much time alone in the woods of Kansas, or broke with sanity at some point in their trying legal careers. Actually wanting to understand the Phelps family's point of view is pointless, because it cannot be understood. It stems from an anger at the "other" (the "fag" or "soldier" or "failure of America" or "sinner" or something else) that cannot be quenched because there is no forgiveness along with it. And so the beliefs of the Phelps family will forever be confusing and illogical, because there is no Christian compassion to accompany their fundamentalism. Trying to understand their beliefs cannot be done. In my opinion, this is a family that should be shunned by the public eye, and shipped to fight America's wars, alongside those they love to look upon with scorn.
Works Cited
Theroux, Louis. "The Most Hated Family in America". 2007: BBC2. <http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-most-hated-family-in-america/>.
"Topeka, Kansas Unemployment". November 2011. US Bureau of Statistics: <http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/kansas/topeka/>.
POST TWO: Reconstruction
Watching Bill Moyer's interview with Douglas Blackmon of The Washington Post, reminded me of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle more than anything else. During the time of rapid city growth (Blackmon used Atlanta, GA as an example, with Sinclair it's Chicago, IL), manual labor was required and often got via immoral methods. Bill Moyer's interview with Douglas Blackmon explored reconstruction, and how long it actually took the United States to shake off the bonds of slavery. Blacks continued to be kept in low, poor positions via racist legislature in the south.
Freedman's Bureau Officer Standing Between blacks and whites in the
Reconstruction South
Blackmon argued that Slavery By Another Name (the name of his book) took place in the South after the Civil War and up to the 1940s. The "former slave owner and Southern businessman reinvented slavery" legally via harsh legal codes against former slaves (Blackmon). Black life was "criminalized" by the institution of slave codes or black codes (Blackmon). Men could be punished for vagrancy, and since many former slaves worked as farmers and couldn't establish their employ, they were sent to labor farms to work off fees.
This draws many parallels with the life of the European immigrant in Chicago after the Civil War. In Sinclair's novel, immigrants worked grueling jobs in hazardous conditions for low pay. Often they were roped into signing confusing contracts riddled with clauses and unfair legal binding terms if they wanted a decent place to live. The main character, Jurgis, sees his wife turn to a prostitute in order to make ends meet, and attempts to educate the younger children fall flat as they must also work so the family doesn't go broke (as young black children also seemed to have to do to avoid prosecution, according to the Helfrich). It really seemed to me that Blackmon was describing wage slavery, which is not something limited to ex-slaves in American history.
Furthermore, the attitude towards these industries was not one of shame, or regret. Georgian authorities let journalists come and document the harsh, unfair conditions. The bitterness sprung by many ex-Confederates, as they saw their former plantations shrink and turn to wilderness, was passed on eagerly from generation to generation. The passed on racism and xenophobia is the major contrast for wage slavery's social acceptance between Reconstruction and Industrial Revolution. Authorities in Chicago also supported the wage slavery situation as Sinclair showed, writing about how American tour groups would pay to walk around meat factories at the time. America is a capitalist country and business should and will continue, no matter what. Our history has shown this and continues to show this, because that is the basis of this country.
The state constitution formed in Georgia in 1865 was run by Governor James Johnson, who upheld all of the old laws and added prohibition of inter-racial marriage. Johnson had remained in Georgia during the Civil War, and was not going to let go of the "old South" easily. The damage done to the state of Georgia was painfully obvious, with 107,000 voters in existence in the 1860 election, and only 50,000 in 1865 (University of Georgia Press). According to the University of Georgia Press, "voters elected to office many ex-Confederates". Supposed legislature spouted by Union forces terrified many ex-Confederate families, who looked forward to getting their land back after years of war. William T. Sherman's Special Field Order Number 15, issued at Savannah, promised "forty acres and a mule" to every freed black in 1865. While Union forces up north probably thought this an excellent way to re-populate and develop the South, Southerners wondered whose acres the blacks would receive. Such words did not prompt friendliness between whites and blacks.
Devastation of Downtown Atlanta, GA 1865
Image by George Barnard, All Rights Reserved
Economics at the time also did not promote friendliness to blacks. Cash crops such as corn and cotton were reduced in numbers, and this affected local economies. For example, "cotton plummeted in 1865 to around 50,000 bales from a high in 1860 of more than 700,000 bales". So cotton farmers were probably not making enough to feed themselves or their families. The hard economic times were not helped by the fact that blacks were flocking to towns to escape rural racism. However, there "they encountered overcrowding and a shortage of food" and thus "fell prey to epidemic diseases" (University of Georgia Press).
The Freedmen's Bureau eventually became more active in 1865, giving blacks access to schools and administering a land program throughout Georgia (University of Georgia Press). Without their old farmhands, however, the ex-Confederates could only watch bitterly as their untilled land went to waste.
Freedmen's Bureau 1866
Sketch by Jas E. Taylor
Reconstruction saw the expansion of federal government power over the South (Helfrich, 19) as Northern authorities were not agreeing with the way the South was handling freed slaves. I thought the textbook took an overly harsh role against President Andrew Johnson by saying "Johnson appointed governors to the Southern states who were hostile to African Americans" (Helfrich, 13). Anyone Johnson appointed that had been a citizen of any of those states would've been hostile to African Americans at the time. The South sympathy to ex-slaves was not large at all, and certainly the men wealthy enough to be influential and involved in politics would not be happy about having ex-slaves owning and tilling land. Of course the authorities in the South were going to try to uphold slavery--it was a way of economy that they knew and relied upon and the federal government was not one that they were happy to be under after the Civil War.
Reconstruction wasn't about former slaves being re-enslaved, I think. I think this because any time of extreme economic growth puts manual workers in tough conditions, so that cities can be built. Slave labor happens today on the Asian continent, in mines and clothing sweat shops owned by American companies. Slave labor isn't going to go away because it is cheap and effective and big business loves it as long as its customers can't see it. So I think American Reconstruction can be considered something more political instead of economic.
I agree with W. E. B. Du Bois' sentiment about Reconstruction, based on his book Black Reconstruction. Du Bois argues that an overthrow of the Southern aristocrat during Reconstruction couldn't happen due to racial divides between the poor black and the poor white. I think this is true. A Confederate soldier returning from war would have a hard time seeing eye to eye with an ex-slave farmer, and I am sure the voices of hate were spoken to these men's children and their children. Because of this divide that couldn't be overcome, a reversion of the ex-slave to his or her pre-Civil War conditions was imminent. And so I think Reconstruction saw an expansion of government, with the gaining of power by the Freedmen's Bureau in 1866, and the attitude Northerners took towards Southern politicians, so much as reducing their respect in the Congress (Helfrich, 15-19).
Works Cited
Du Bois, W.E.B. Black Reconstruction in America. New York: Scribner, 1935.
Helfrich, Ron. "US History Civil War to the Present: A Thematic History". 2012.
"Reconstruction in Georgia". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. University of Georgia Press: September 15, 2008. <http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2533>.
Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. See Sharp Press, 2003.
Moyers, Bill and Blackmon, Douglas. "Slavery by Another Name". Bill Moyers Journal. <http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06202008/watch2.html>. PBS, 2008
POST THREE: The Gilded Age: Albany Businesswomen
Susan Lewis' speech on businesswomen in Albany, NY was very entertaining and informative. With her overview of Albany businesswomen during the Victorian era, I was surprised by a few of her findings and not surprised by others.
Lewis found that most of the businesswomen in Albany were dressmakers, white, foreign-born, widowed and middle-aged. The reports made for them by creditors from R.G. Dunn Credit Registers often used words such as "honest", "industrious" and "shrewd" to describe these businesswomen. Many of the stories seemed to show that women had a better time at business when they had their husbands out of the way, whether they were widows or unmarried.
"The New Womans Barber"
Little Gallery, Sage College of Albany
The Times Union
During this period, from 1830-1885, I believe women began to see more of each other in high powered positions. Queen Victoria, for example, reigning England without her husband Prince Albert, was a prime example of a powerful female. Women seemed to be expressing interest in the ways of the trade and becoming skilled themselves, most frequently in Albany as dressmakers or milliners, as Lewis reports.
The ability for Albany to be a port city on the Hudson River, as well as a central location for railroads, caused a boom in Albany residences and population (Helfrich, 30). This industrial excitement required women to take on more domesticated tasks, as men fulfilled the manual labor required of laying railroad track and constructing buildings.
Albany Steamer, 1900s
One of the female businesswomen types that Lewis defines was the "worthy widow". A woman forced to enter business by the loss of a husband, typically thought of as a person with "good character", and "good reputation". I believe pity for a woman of this type probably had something to do with these thoughts. In parallel, the new character Jane in the PBS melodrama Downton Abbey is also a "worthy widow". This new maid asks for work at the house of the Granthams, and causes quite a stir because she has a child and is married, unlike her unmarried, single compatriots downstairs. The ideology of a hard working widow clearly persisted until World War I, as Downton Abbey shows by the characters' appreciation and welcome of such a woman after life has dealt her a hard turn.
I thought it was interesting that Lewis recorded that 41% of businesses that women controlled were food/drink establishments. Most of the small businesses in Albany today seem to be also of the food/drink variety, and so its popularity among Albanians has remained unhindered. Their popularity is clear by four of the establishments their being recipients of Small Business Excellence Awards given to New York businesses in 2010 (Barnes).
Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce
Supporting Small Businesses
I was not surprised by the prevalence of non-Victorian businesses ("bawdy houses") being in Albany. Victorians identified prostitution and brothels as "the social evil" and yet they abounded during the era. Albany seems to have quite the history of prostitutes, Troy, NY in particular being called the town of "collars, churches and call-girls" in the 19th and 20th centuries (http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/old_site/index.php). Even some of the buildings (Mason Labs, People's Avenue Complex) on RPI's campus were used as children's homes for prostitute offspring as late as 1946, when they were bought by the institute.
Works Cited
Barnes, Steve. "Food, drink businesses nab awards". The Times Union Online. <http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/15553/food-drink-businesses-nab-awards/>. 2010.
Helfrich, Ron. "US History Civil War to the Present: A Thematic History". 2012.
Helfrich, Ron. "US History Civil War to the Present: A Thematic History". 2012.
Lewis, Susan. "Businesswomen in Albany, NY". <http://www.albany.edu/talkinghistory/arch2003jan-june.html>. 2003.
"Mame Fay and the Red Light District". Rensselaer Model Railroad Society. <http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/old_site/article.php?article=1466&q=prostitute>. 2009.
