And so that I don't spend all Friday looking like the shallowest man on Earth (given the quiz below), here's another one. This week's post on Political Animal about Adm. James Stockdale (perhaps the epitome of a brave patriot) got me thinking - what other 20th century Americans do you think haven't gotten the respect they are due? Or who else do you think society has really benefited from that's been largely forgotten - but shouldn't be?
Posted by armand at December 30, 2005 01:16 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Quiz-o-ramaSince I posted this, I'll start, just to give you a sense of the sort of names I'd be interested in.
Who brought laughter and joy to millions?
To my mind Madeleine Kahn was perhaps the greatest comedienne of her generation. Her death was a tragic thing, and I hope that people remember her work in things like Blazing Saddles and What's Up Doc? and on stage for years to come. But she never was a giant star, so I fear not.
Who helped people deal with pain and mortality?
The Roman Catholic Church catches a lot of heat from me on this blog (at steaming, roasting pits of Hell levels, often), and I suppose he was involved in some things that I'd probably rather not know about, but to me one of the bravest periods of dying that I've ever seen came from Joseph Cardinal Bernadin. The public, witty, accepting and kindly way in which he died was remarkable - and a testament to both some of the best things the Church stands for and to the fact that we, as a culture, might be taking our fear of death to unhealthy levels.
Who's taught us about race and how to deal with it?
It's not fashionable to discuss or highlight, but I think anyone who doesn't see racial divisions in this country as very real (if less obvious than they used to be) is hopelessly naive and out of touch. So I'd throw Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X on the list b/c even though both are widely known today, I doubt they will be in decades to come. People, like me, who were born after their deaths learn shockingly little about the fight for equal rights in this country. I'd also put Emmett Till on the list - as a sad reminder of how we forget even things that horrible, how even atrocities that move a nation fade from view.
My final suggestion will likely be my most controversial - George Soros. As best as I can tell Republicans don't like him because he dares to give Democrats money (and, in some cases, because he has an accent and is Jewish). But only a handful of Americans (if that) worked as hard to promote American values in Central and Eastern Europe in the wake of the Cold War. People can debate the successes of the various programs he's funded abroad - but he stepped in to fight for liberty when a lot of people who now say doing such things are vital steadfastly refused to do the same.
Posted by: Armand at December 30, 2005 01:34 PM | PERMALINK