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10 - The Irony of Southern History and the Problem of Innocence in American Life

from Part IV - Understanding History and Irony

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2024

Lacy K. Ford
Affiliation:
University of South Carolina
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Summary

This chapter returns to the question: What can we learn from history? Drawing not only on C. Vann Woodward but also on insights of Reinhold Niebuhr, Garry Wills, and Abraham Lincoln, among others, suggests that the irony of history alerts us to the folly of ignoring inconvenient history. History, at its best, should give us a keen awareness of the irony embedded in the human experience, and, as it does, it should temper our pride even when showing mercy and our zeal even when seeking justice.

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Understanding the American South
Slavery, Race, Identity, and the American Century
, pp. 255 - 268
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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