Your white-washing (no pun intended) of Foote is not the first time you've prettified a controversial (to be polite) character. He was the apologist for the Confederate cause and uttered reprehensible comments on Ken Burns' "Civil War." Here's a quote from an online critique: Foote's outspoken praise of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the documentary ensured "Lost Causers raised their beer mugs in salute while historians hurled their lagers at their televisions."[53] Foote has been further criticized for repeating "plainly wrong" Lost Cause tropes in his commentary, particularly over the issue of apparently "overwhelming" Northern industrial advantage and his downplaying of the role of slavery in causing the Civil War.[33]
Foote remained adamant that slavery was not the only cause of the Civil War, stating in 2001 that "no soldier on either side gave a damn about the slaves—they were fighting for other reasons entirely in their minds."[24]
The Civil War historian Harold Holzer was a further critic of Foote's presentation of Forrest. "The most amazing thing he said was that the two great geniuses of the war were Lincoln and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Foote somehow compared the great emancipator with a man who owned slaves, murdered blacks and joined the Ku Klux Klan."[8] The historians of slavery and the Civil War era Eric Foner and Leon Litwack added to these criticisms, suggesting that Foote consistently underplayed the extent of Southern white racism, in effect treating "white southerners" as synonymous with all "southerners."[54]
The extent of Foote's apparent apologia for white Southern racism and Lost Cause mythologizing was satirized in the character of Sherman Hoyle in the 2004 mockumentary C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America, a character defined by his "consistent lamenting of and apologies for the good ole days.
Thank You Garrison Keillor for this overall excellent daily review including your brief words on Mr. Foote, born in the Greenville Mississippi of 1916, which forgives little and explains much.
Your white-washing (no pun intended) of Foote is not the first time you've prettified a controversial (to be polite) character. He was the apologist for the Confederate cause and uttered reprehensible comments on Ken Burns' "Civil War." Here's a quote from an online critique: Foote's outspoken praise of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the documentary ensured "Lost Causers raised their beer mugs in salute while historians hurled their lagers at their televisions."[53] Foote has been further criticized for repeating "plainly wrong" Lost Cause tropes in his commentary, particularly over the issue of apparently "overwhelming" Northern industrial advantage and his downplaying of the role of slavery in causing the Civil War.[33]
Foote remained adamant that slavery was not the only cause of the Civil War, stating in 2001 that "no soldier on either side gave a damn about the slaves—they were fighting for other reasons entirely in their minds."[24]
The Civil War historian Harold Holzer was a further critic of Foote's presentation of Forrest. "The most amazing thing he said was that the two great geniuses of the war were Lincoln and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Foote somehow compared the great emancipator with a man who owned slaves, murdered blacks and joined the Ku Klux Klan."[8] The historians of slavery and the Civil War era Eric Foner and Leon Litwack added to these criticisms, suggesting that Foote consistently underplayed the extent of Southern white racism, in effect treating "white southerners" as synonymous with all "southerners."[54]
The extent of Foote's apparent apologia for white Southern racism and Lost Cause mythologizing was satirized in the character of Sherman Hoyle in the 2004 mockumentary C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America, a character defined by his "consistent lamenting of and apologies for the good ole days.
In addition to the above, just to say that your tasteless inclusion of Foote's comment about having "killed Lincolon"--he most likely enjoyed it.
Thank You Garrison Keillor for this overall excellent daily review including your brief words on Mr. Foote, born in the Greenville Mississippi of 1916, which forgives little and explains much.