race issues at his Arizona Humanities Council book signing in the Ellis-Shackelford House. (Carolyn Corcoran/DD)
The Arizona Humanities Council hosted a book signing at the Ellis-Shackelford House on Tuesday for ASU professor Matthew C. Whitaker’s new book “Peace Be Still: Modern Black America from World War II to Barack Obama.”
Whitaker is a professor of history at the School of Letters and Science and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the university.
“We’ve worked with Matthew Whitaker for quite some time and he’s always a great person to bring in,” said Julie Gavin, assistant director for the Arizona Humanities Council. “He has great substance to lend to the community.”
Brenda Thomson, executive director of the Arizona Humanities Council, introduced Whitaker before his lecture. She said Whitaker has passion and enthusiasm for people and his work.
“Suffice it to say, he’s actually a sought-after speaker both here in the United States and abroad,” Thomson said. “I still remember when he addressed the graduating class at ASU. He was a speaker that students from all different backgrounds, races, genders and ages selected to be the graduation speaker.”
Whitaker spoke like he was in his own classroom during his lecture, touching briefly on aspects of African-American history, pieces of the book and his own influences.
“Mark Twain once said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes,” Whitaker said. “What we are witnessing today, what we witnessed yesterday (with the ASU fraternity’s MLK party), is one of those unfortunate rhymes that happen when we get in the habit of singing the same old tune. We may sing it in a lower octave, but it’s still the same song.”
Whitaker addressed his upbringing and said his Mother was a major influence in his interest. She would make sure that success was not only associated with white people, but with all people, he said. Whitaker’s curiosity about people, specifically African-Americans, was embraced and encouraged to grow in this supportive environment.
“I think African-American history is at a critical juncture,” Whitaker said. “It needs a certain amount of energy, passion and perspective to be able to get the most out of it.”
While pursuing this passion, Whitaker gained many influences. He said he finds inspiration in men such as Richard E. Harris, one of the first people to write about the history of Arizona African-Americans; George Washington Williams, a historian and American Civil War veteran; and John Hope Franklin, author of “From Slavery to Freedom.” But he mostly spoke about Darlene Clark Hine, who specializes in African-American history and black women’s history.
“She blew me away with helping me understand the power of history, the power of narrative and the power of interpretation,” Whitaker said. “What it can do for people and for communities, particularly if you don’t limit your message to the 25 Ph.D’s that reign supreme in your field, but rather what it can do for people in communities.”
Whitaker also spoke about some parts of his novel. He said a lot of previous historical explorations of African-American history were based on political pursuits. As a social historian, Whitaker focused on the people themselves.
“I wanted to learn about how people use culture to survive in very difficult situations,” Whitaker said. “When you don’t control the course … how do you stay upbeat? What I learned is that African-Americans and other groups of people did it by relying on their culture, whether it’s through art, music, dance or theatre– turning to them and using them as instruments of insurgency in ways that the dominant population doesn’t recognize.”
During the question and answer session, the audience touched on topics including the recent ASU fraternity party on MLK Day, as well as a recent Arizona Republic article on the dwindling number of African-Americans in Arizona office. Whitaker said the ASU incident is unfortunate, but he said it was not overwhelmingly surprising. He also said “Arizona is not Chicago.” It’s a different place.
“This is history that people need to know, and I hope that (people who read the book) will see these tidbits, this narrative insight, to help get a sense of where black people have come, where we are, what we have used to get where we are, and how we might rethink what we might need moving forward from here,” Whitaker said. “As Franklin and Hine said, ‘Every generation writes their own history.’”
Contact the reporter at rbrisley@asu.edu
