Race and Reason, A Yankee View, Carleton Putnam, 1961

I just finished reading a pamphlet or mini-book written in response to the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education, and the impact of integration of school systems in the south.

Brown was a case brought in Kansas; Mr. Putnam's issue with regard to integration was a matter of numbers: He cites the 1950 African American (called Negro at that time) population in the southern states to be anywhere from 31% (Georgia) to 49% (Mississippi). The significance of the Brown decision on the Southern States was lost on him, a northerner; that is why his activity regarding this cause did not begin until 1958, with his magnum opus, Race and Reason, A Yankee View, on the matter being published in 1961.

His argument is for the sustaining of the original Supreme Court decision, Plessy v. Ferguson, from 1896, that held that if facilities were separate but equal, there was no violation of the 14th amendment.

In his paper, Mr. Putnam makes the argument that the "Negro Race" is inferior in Mind and Character. Specifically, he states, "In other qualities of mind and character, qualities specially involved in our Western civilization, the full-blooded Negro is congenitally only partially adaptable." (Putman, 15)

His argument is laced with pseudo-science, his position more ipso facto, based on the lack of development demonstrated by the inhabitants of Africa (Northern Africa, for Mr. Putnam's argument, is considered to be part of the Caucasian Race, following the anthropological work of Coon and others).

He says that Haiti is the perfect example of what the Negro Race, moved to the western hemisphere, is capable of (which he implies is a failure). "The moment the support of other races is withdrawn, they retrogress, as in Haiti." (Putnam, 18)

He first wrote a letter to the editor of Life magazine in response to a "debate" in the magazine regarding school integration. This letter was published in many southern newspapers, according to Mr. Putnam's account.

He then wrote to the president (Eisenhower) and finally to the Attorney General. His position with regard to the attorney general was that there was a failure to uphold his duty to the American People, citing a lack of any argument made by the Attorney General during the Brown case. (Putnam, 8).

My interest in this document came about while I was considering the issue of birthers and President Obama. Things can be spun based on the framing.

I also was interested in this framing of the negro race as a failure, or at the very least behind 3 of the other 4 races. Mr. Putnam held up the English, and pre-1880 White American population as the penultimate civilization, even arguing that the white "inter-breeding" going on in America (English with the Germans, Irish and Scandinavians) as mimicking what had taken place, in essentially the same ratios, in the development of the non-welsh Englishman. (Putnam, 19).

I recently have been reading a book called How Breakthroughs Happen. The theme of the book is the synthesis of innovation across industries. Such an argument certainly would apply in contrast to Mr. Putnam's position; the English were the beneficiaries of being invaded by the Romans, whose civilization was built on the backs of the Greeks, Persians, and Babylonians, all, along with the German and Scandinavian influences, created a confluence of ideas and technologies that allowed the English, then we Americans, to flourish.

One thing I have discussed with some of my friends is history, especially the rise and fall of civilizations. Although the Chinese Economy is 1/3 the American economy, they have 1/5 of the world's population, and an awful lot of US Treasury securities. Someday, they are going to be looking to collect.

Putnam's book can be found online at http://www.jrbooksonline.com/PDFs/Race_and_Reason.pdf

Birther arguments

Hawaii's privacy Laws prevent them from releasing Obama's birth certificate, which he produced during the 2008 campaign.

There is a bill currently before the Hawaii State Representatives that would allow anyone willing to pay $100 to get a copy of the certificate for themselves.

I think it is crazy. Similar to the crazy coverage of Palin by MSNBC and the rebuttals offered by FoxNEWS. 2008 is over, people. We have serious troubles. The conversation needs to shift.

Abyss Wed, Sep 8, 2010 at 11:20 AM

Sinking deeper
In a free fall now
Blackness darker
Bottomless abysmality


Sent from Joe's BlackBerry Storm

How does a cuckoo clock cuckoo?

The "cuc-koo" sound is created by two tiny gedackt (pipes) in the clock, with bellows attached to their tops. The clock's movement activates the bellows to send a puff of air into each pipe alternately when the clock strikes.

Gedackt (also spelled gedeckt) is the name of a family of stops in pipe organ building. They are one of the most common types of organ flue pipe. The name is a German word, meaning "capped" or "covered".






Both from en.wikipedia.com under Cuckoo Clock and Gedackt, respectively, accessed 1/26/2011.

Picture also from wikipedia, posted by Leeawiki on March 20, 2007.