The Propaganda of History - W. E. B. Du Bois Takes on the 'Lost Cause'
The Propaganda of History - W. E. B. Du Bois Takes on the 'Lost Cause' Online
Du Bois came of age as a scholar in the years when the Lost Cause myth was being most aggressively propagated in the South and indeed nationally. This myth sought to revise the history of the Civil War to paint an honorable and admirable picture of the Confederacy, write the experiences of slaves and free black people out of the story of the war and Reconstruction, and to help ensure that a culture and policy of white supremacy endured in the old Confederacy. The Lost Cause expressed itself in popular writings, monuments to Confederate 'heroes' like Robert E. Lee, and on screen in films like 'The Birth of a Nation' (1915). Du Bois took on the Lost Cause in works that spanned nearly his whole life. This workshop will examine where the Lost Cause came from, how it was expressed, what Du Bois did to resist it, and what remains of the Lost Cause in our own time.
Online
- Date:
- Wednesday, October 21, 2020
- Time:
- 4:00pm - 5:00pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Online:
- This is an online event. Event URL will be sent via registration email.
- Audience:
- Faculty Graduate Students Staff Undergraduates
- Categories:
- W. E. B. Du Bois Center Workshops
