Through the Looking Glass....
Apr. 9th, 2008 07:33 amSometimes I understand how some of Lewis Carrol's characters felt. As someone with both a good memory and a love of history, I'm always disconcerted when I run into Revisionism. I know it's popular in some circles as a way of building Self-Esteem but IMO Truth is better.
One that triggered this Vent was an article lauding the hiv "hero" Arthur Ashe. 'Course, the writer wasn't even born at the time but she could have at least read articles of the time.
For those that don't know, Ashe was a Black Tennis star that caught hiv. HE WAS NOT a ROle Model. He was a priggish, Homophobic man who didn't wish to associate with those that "deserved" Infection, as opposed to folks like him that didn't. He fought and sued folks that reported his condition and it wasn't until he was near death that he admitted it.
It's not surprising. As someone who was there from the beginning of the hiv epidemic in the States, I find fluffing of folks like him(the "best" excuse I heard for the behavior was that Hets and esp Black Hets needed role models. OK. So denying your Infected, denigrating other who were....that's a role model?) or crap like Rev Wright's BS(ignoring that it was Africans in Africa that got sick 1st, then Gays in the States. If the US gov't created hiv to get rid of Black Americans, they sure took the roundabout way to do it;>!).
'Course, it's not just hiv. Alt religions are spawning grounds for revisionism. Heck, some of our Ways have them as founding myths(anyone Initiated by Naked Grannies lately;>?). Just because a Way has a historical basis apearrantly doesn't free you from such. I personally like the Vegitarian Pacifist Nordic Folk. The whole bloodthirsty Vikings was just a Christian myth. I Knew it! Tofu-blots are the authentic form....not that killing innocent fur-brothers!
Cheers,
Pat
One that triggered this Vent was an article lauding the hiv "hero" Arthur Ashe. 'Course, the writer wasn't even born at the time but she could have at least read articles of the time.
For those that don't know, Ashe was a Black Tennis star that caught hiv. HE WAS NOT a ROle Model. He was a priggish, Homophobic man who didn't wish to associate with those that "deserved" Infection, as opposed to folks like him that didn't. He fought and sued folks that reported his condition and it wasn't until he was near death that he admitted it.
It's not surprising. As someone who was there from the beginning of the hiv epidemic in the States, I find fluffing of folks like him(the "best" excuse I heard for the behavior was that Hets and esp Black Hets needed role models. OK. So denying your Infected, denigrating other who were....that's a role model?) or crap like Rev Wright's BS(ignoring that it was Africans in Africa that got sick 1st, then Gays in the States. If the US gov't created hiv to get rid of Black Americans, they sure took the roundabout way to do it;>!).
'Course, it's not just hiv. Alt religions are spawning grounds for revisionism. Heck, some of our Ways have them as founding myths(anyone Initiated by Naked Grannies lately;>?). Just because a Way has a historical basis apearrantly doesn't free you from such. I personally like the Vegitarian Pacifist Nordic Folk. The whole bloodthirsty Vikings was just a Christian myth. I Knew it! Tofu-blots are the authentic form....not that killing innocent fur-brothers!
Cheers,
Pat