Here is Herbert, second from left, posing in front of African American children, when he was 21 years old, on a visit to a farm near Greenwood, South Carolina. The white folk with the token blacks to show the folks at home how superior the whites were to the "darkies."
Any further background on that trip? I’m assuming this photo op would have been years prior to Loma meeting Mrs. Runcorn, so Herb’s visit to South Carolina would likely have had some business purpose. This is also pre-Dorothy. Difficult to know what might have been going through his heart at that time. Did he have good intentions towards his fellow humans at this point in his life? How did he regard these children? Compassionately? Optimistically? Condescendingly? Was he thinking the “N” word? We only knew his character later in his life.
ReplyDeleteBB
He did not stop talking about his character early in his life.
ReplyDeleteIf this picture was taken at age 21 we are talking those optimistic pre WWI years.
With the US not yet tainted by their first adventure abroad. (besides taking tejas and california from the Germans (habsburg mexicans), installing the chilling fear throughout America of the habsburg taking back those areas at the start of WWI.
Those kids look really smart. (kids as in 21 year old) Bursting with arrogance of youth, their status as "coming men". It looks like the person in the middle is also preparing for taking a picture. (Not unlike the taking of brainless selfies by kids today in far away countries with the locals or at holy places that are off limits.)
One has to look up when hwa started working at the Chicago Trade journals of the Chamber of Commerce. Chigaco of course being the market place for commodities and agricultural products.
It would have been disturbing to see such a picture with adult people of color. Since they are little children it raises interesting questions of the times. If it is a "token picture", it would be interesting to have an exhibition in a museum with a couple of hundred of these pictures to illuminate the past and show how times have changed.
Yes, this picture. Taken only a couple of years after L. Frank Baum wrote his allegorical novel to admonish america to follow the gold standard (after unrest in the agricultural arena represented by the scarecrow)......."follow the yellow brick road" to the city of Oz (ounces), and DOROTHY following through on "SILVER slippers" (in the book) representing the Silverite Sixteen to one Siver ratio, dancing down the road......Dorothy, young naive and simple representing the American people. folowing the road to EMERALD city, representing the Greenback (paper only pretending to have real value as compared to gold)
And to top it off, if one found this of interest, re read the first paragraph on New Mexico, Texas, California (Zorro land) and think about the Wicked Witch of the West, representing the evil Wild West, the undercurrent of not belonging to the US fully.
AND the indigineous peoples represented by the "winged monkeys"
The King of the Winged Monkeys tells Dorothy, "Once we were a free people, living happily in the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. ... This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule over this land."
Then Oz was taken abroad and the rest is history......................
nck
Is Armstrong wearing a fezz? A fezz is a crime against fashion.
ReplyDeleteBB poses some thoughtful questions, which make me think of my thoughts when reading of HWA's Autobiography the first time, and later, in post-"apostasy" research.
ReplyDeleteI remember his account of one job where he said he was required to round up the black workers, who he said were gambling away their wages, and claimed some were injuring themselves to get a day off. I'm not sure if he also claimed to have proposed paying the workers in food rather than cash...
Having lived in Greenville, SC where HWA mentioned being when younger and in Greenwood any number of times and now in Portland with an invitation this week to go down to Eugene, I feel like I am stalking his ghost
ReplyDeleteNCK, I admit to the struggle of following your comments all over creation 😇
ReplyDeleteWe are all chasing "cyber ghosts" Dennis. Did I tell the story, when in a plane, I startled a Peace Corps volunteer from Oregon, who had served in South Africa. She mentioned she was from Oregon and got upset when I named ALL places along the Willamette (where revival tent meetings were held). She was intimidated by my vast knowledge of geography. (Of course the data in the sacred autobiography oracle had implanted this esoteric knowledge in my brain.)
ReplyDeleteYes the hat. Is it a deformed ordinary hat to protect from the sun? Did his mates playfully wreck it having noticed his vanity? Is it a farmers hat? Interesting combination with the gloves and three piece.
Nck
Dennis
ReplyDeleteI was just framing the picture within a 1913 context.
This was the happy period before the fear of Germans invading California set into the public consciousness and all was well with US isolationanism and perfect inward focusw.
The boring people may google.
The wizard of Oz and the Gold Standard
or
The Zimmermann Telegram and American public opinion.
My style is warped since it puts Armstrongism into context. I consider my writing art before content. ;-) L'art pour l'art.
nck
Why do the Blacks look normal and all the White guys look dorky?
ReplyDeletewith no background information on this photo its rarther meaningless. Although Herbert's body language is interesting. he seems to be leaning forward, giving the impression he may have spoken to the children.
ReplyDeleteDo we have proof that these are NOT HWAs children??? Inquiring minds need to know!
ReplyDeleteIn Hitler's army Blacks and Germans fought side by side. In the American army in that same war Blacks and Whites were put in separate units. The Americans were more racist than the Germans. Americans also put Japanese in concentration camps even though, unlike some others in other places, the Japanese were not trying to overthrow the government. When the end of the war came people in camps died of typhus because the allies bombed all the infrastructure and food and medicine could not be transported effectively.
ReplyDeleteSome people are reading a lot into one simple picture. It just exposes their own biases and motives.
ReplyDeleteHWA's "racism" has been exaggerated by a factor of at least 50 by his biased detractors.
ReplyDeleteJesus, Peter, and Paul were a lot more "racist" than HWA. Go read the race-based statements in the NT.
There is a difference between racial, racist, and supremacist. The media intentionally and deceitfully use these terms interchangeably in order to stir up hate and defame people they want us to hate. Anyone not 100% clear on the difference in these terms is strongly advised to look them up. That alone should convince you who the real liars and haters are.
ReplyDeleteIIRC the Autobiography correctly, HWA said he did not have much contact with African-Americans until his "Idea Man" tour took him South. Seems likely that the photo may be from part of that assignment.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that in the WCG, and even in the stupid PCG, blacks and whites got along very well even though they were separate, but separate ONLY in terms of dancing, dating and marriage. It seemed to me, that they were treated as separate but equals. I can't recall off-hand either a single black person or single white person who was antagonistic towards the other race. Frankly, it was exemplary, from what I saw. One of my best friends was black!
ReplyDelete-- Evil Diabolical Satan-Worshiping Hideous Nazi Troll.
I don't know what time period exactly that your observations come from, but I did note in the 80s that there was what I'll call a dichotomy at work sometimes with the white members. For those who still held onto racist views, sometimes that could be blunted with "at least they're a fellow (cult) member".
DeleteAnd for we "black brethren, the caution with which some of us viewed white people with was sometimes subordinated for the same reason.
It did not produce a harmonious family, don't get me wrong. That dichotomy did not always occur, or wasn't effective in every scenario. I cannot give you an accurate total of how many potential issues it did or didn't defuse. But I noticed it in play at times.
Why does HWA have a bucket on his head?
ReplyDeleteGood question, K! Maybe HWA was cool before his time, and one of the things on his bucket list was interacting to a greater extent with African Americans. The old beatnik paradigm, in which the negro was the center of the universe! Perhaps he even aspired to be a spiritual negro rather than a spiritual Jew! One thing for sure! He was buried in a cemetery which is located in the middle of the hood! Watching his resurrection, and his reaction to his surroundings is going to be just priceless! Jesus will probably be slapping his thigh and laughing uproariously like Eddie Murphy!
DeleteBB
Well, in 1975 the Church did establish a "self help school" to reduce illiteracy for black people.
ReplyDeletenck
1975? Interesting date, nck. Judging by the universal expectations amongst the church members around the world, the literacy program should have included all members, not just black members! In any event, we can now laugh at their literacy program as an attempt to close the barn door shortly after everyone realized there had been no horse in the first place!
ReplyDeleteBB
BB speaks of " an attempt to close the barn door shortly after everyone realized there had been no horse in the first place!" Wow! Nice.
ReplyDeleteI have got a poet friend who advises writers and speakers, "When you see something good, don't borrow it. STEAL it!" I am definitely stealing that phrase and storing it in my repertory for use in writings and public performances. It's a lot more valuable than the crowns everybody complains Dennis keeps trying to steal.
Don't think of what I'm doing as plagiarism. Think of it as preserving tradition. If you didn't pass this along from your stylistic forebears but originated it yourself, then you just started a tradition. Congratulations.
Hi BB,
ReplyDeleteIt was not for members. It was a joined cooperation with Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya.
Likewise in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Jordan and elsewhere. School for non members and children whithout a religious angle.
It's a jewish take on life. You practice religion first without having to establish or convine others about the theoretics.
Nck