Lillian Smith (1897–1966)
Autor von Strange Fruit
Über den Autor
Bildnachweis: New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Divison, Reproduction Number LC-USZ62-109699
Werke von Lillian Smith
Gli assassini del sogno 3 Exemplare
Those Knee-Shaking Home Visits 1 Exemplar
Freedom Ride 1 Exemplar
Zugehörige Werke
Getagged
Wissenswertes
- Rechtmäßiger Name
- Smith, Lillian Eugenia
- Geburtstag
- 1897-12-12
- Todestag
- 1966-09-28
- Geschlecht
- female
- Nationalität
- USA
- Wohnorte
- Jasper, Florida, USA
Clayton, Georgia, USA
Huzhou, China - Preise und Auszeichnungen
- Georgia Women of Achievement (1999)
Georgia Writers Hall of Fame - Kurzbiographie
- Early voice in the civil rights movement
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- Rezensionen
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- ISBNs
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Tracy Deen has just returned from World War I to his home in Maxwell, Georgia, where he begins a sexual relationship with a college educated mulatto girl, Nonnie Anderson, whom he has known most of his life. Tracy is obsessed with Nonnie and wavers between feeling he is in love and knowing he must back away from this folly. Nonnie, on the other hand, loves Tracy, heart and soul, and never wavers at all. This is a formula for disaster and the danger of the situation hangs over the story from the outset.
This might be one of the bravest books ever written. It should certainly be more widely read. I cannot even imagine the reaction Lillian Smith must have encountered writing this in 1944, because she does not shy away from any of the difficult race issues that plagued this country, even into the 1940s. The world of 1920s Maxwell, Georgia, is not easy for anyone; because while the races are meant to be living apart and segregated, they are in fact so closely tied and dependent upon one another that the division is in fact an illusion that both sides must work hard to maintain. What struck me was that even those white people who had genuine affection for the black people in their lives treated them as if they were children.
This guy was always saying things about a new world where everybody would have food, and a job, where one man would be as good as another, and there’d be no more wars. That sounds good, you said, but you don’t know the South, you don’t understand us. We’d never let the Negro into that world and I’m not so sure you up in Newark would either. We’d never let the Jews in, a Swede from Chicago said, not in my town. We’d never let the Japs and Chinks in somebody from California yelled…
There are parts of this book that made me literally cringe, and moments that made me want to cry. That there is an ironic religious thread that runs parallel to the other events going on in the town is very effective. The same people who attend the revival and profess salvation are involved in some of the most unChristian behavior imaginable. In fact, one girl is told, almost jokingly,
”What they want you to do, my dear, is sponsor religion, not practice it. Don’t let your conscience mix you up. If you practiced the teachings of that man Jesus here in Maxwell, we’d think you were crazy--or communist.
And yet, this is a population that would have identified almost exclusively as Christian and who would have even used that belief as a justification for their abominable behavior.
One of the black characters makes an amazingly poignant statement while in conversation with a good and responsible white man:
Respectable white folks don’t like to get mixed up in things like this. No. And respectable colored folks don’t either. So we shut our eyes, you shut your eyes, I shut my eyes and--
And, therein lies the truth. These are two of the good people, but they feel unable to stand together, even though they know they should. In the words of Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” But the saddest thought is that there are so few good men who even want to change this corrupt system.
The title of the book is no doubt taken from a song that was released in 1939 by Billie Holiday.
If you are not familiar with it, and you are feeling strong enough to do so, listen to Nina Simone’s recording of the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnuEMdUUrZQ&start_radio=1&list=RDBnuEMdU...
A very special thank you to my GR friend, Candi, who made this read possible for me.… (mehr)