tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post3862998810513260684..comments2024-02-24T05:19:10.949-05:00Comments on Durham-in-Wonderland: Ken Burns' "History" Lessonkcjohnson9http://www.blogger.com/profile/09625813296986996867noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-67259107520309246602013-04-16T23:21:00.978-04:002013-04-16T23:21:00.978-04:00I just saw the film in question, and it is powerfu...I just saw the film in question, and it is powerful and insightful. Burns' ill-chosen words about the DL case are like fingers on a chalkboard in comparison: annoying but tolerable. Saul Kassin's discussion of false confessions alone make it worth one's time to see it. The unwillingness of most of the people n authority to admit their mistake is the other central theme to emerge, and it is a thread running through many false convictions.Chris Halkideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14933976220776524122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-59562828900599900292013-01-01T12:04:14.241-05:002013-01-01T12:04:14.241-05:00I know just the subject for Burns' next film. ...I know just the subject for Burns' next film. The torture-murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom in Knoxville, Tennessee are a compelling story with numerous twists and turns. In a few days, it will be six years since the murders occured.<br /><br />Because of the crooked judge originally on the case, the story is still ongoing. People of Burns' ilk have been somewhat reluctant to pay attention to the Christian-Newsom case. Anybody care to guess why?<br /><br />David In TNAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-6212952923652646412012-12-21T17:23:14.521-05:002012-12-21T17:23:14.521-05:00I've always given a side eye to Burns. Somethi...I've always given a side eye to Burns. Something just didn't smell right. Now I know why. What an intellectually dishonest hack. No wonder the media loves him- he's one their own! <br /><br />"Inconvenience?" Like another poster suggested, I'd like to see him falsely accused of rape and then pictured on the cover of Time magazine. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-49212013879250338172012-12-19T21:58:18.321-05:002012-12-19T21:58:18.321-05:00For those commenting to the effect that they have ...For those commenting to the effect that they have until now appreciated Ken Burns' "thoughtful" or "well-researched" documentaries, I recommend an exposition of Mr. Burns' modus operandi by Nat Hentoff in <br /><br />Jewish World Review,<br />March 27, 2000,<br />titled <br />The censoring of feminist history <br /><br />http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff032700.asp<br /><br />This piece revealed how even when Mr. Burns does know the truth, he will ignore it with the flimsiest of excuses if it does not suit his goals as a propagandist who markets himself as an educator.<br /><br />Kindest regards,<br />Tom WiswellUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11569466221882563989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-83544494971278392992012-12-18T09:18:30.597-05:002012-12-18T09:18:30.597-05:00Inconvenienced? wow, when a Duke faculty member t...Inconvenienced? wow, when a Duke faculty member tells a LAX mother she has given birth to a farm animal and GETS AWAY WITH IT....an inconvenience? accused of kidnap, rape, assault, and god knows what else....a piddling little annoyance? Forever linked to the hoax on internet search engines....no more troublesome than swatting away a bug? Losing a coaching job....ah, no big deal. Well, as the Dukies would say, "It's not about the truth".....that's for damn sure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-55600362580050833952012-12-17T22:59:52.562-05:002012-12-17T22:59:52.562-05:00Is Gregory a Communist?Is Gregory a Communist?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-61362808332377794582012-12-17T07:17:46.188-05:002012-12-17T07:17:46.188-05:00Huffingtonpost's Janell Ross commented on the ...Huffingtonpost's Janell Ross commented on the fact that NYC has <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/central-park-five-documentary-justice-breakdown_n_2308107.html" rel="nofollow">sued</a> to obtain outtakes from Burns's film Ross goes on to say, "Earlier this month, city lawyers filed additional documents claiming that Ken Burns and his colleagues are not journalists and therefore aren’t entitled to invoke legal privileges to protect their work product."Chris Halkideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14933976220776524122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-43952521988967555352012-12-14T22:15:36.007-05:002012-12-14T22:15:36.007-05:00In his review in SFGate of Burns' film, Mick L...In his review <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/The-Central-Park-Five-review-insightful-4116377.php#ixzz2F5RfR8kn" rel="nofollow">in SFGate</a> of Burns' film, Mick LaSalle wrote, "The investment in their guilt became emotional, and citywide. If these were middle- or upper-middle-class kids, any one of them might have stepped up to the microphones and said, "OK, we didn't do this, and I'll tell you why." But these were poor kids, tongue-tied, sullen and persecuted, and so they walked past reporters in stone silence, looking like the guiltiest people in America." Mr. LaSalle may be referencing David Evans' address on the steps of the courthouse. However, it is a continual problem for defendants everywhere that no matter how one acts, some will always interpret it as guiltChris Halkideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14933976220776524122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-43741459100589866212012-12-13T20:26:47.210-05:002012-12-13T20:26:47.210-05:00Ken Burns is a Prat. His histories, though popular...Ken Burns is a Prat. His histories, though popular, are full of questionable assertions supported by little more than Burns' prejudices. He combines the biases of Wholly-Odd and Academia, and it is frankly astonishing that he can express coherent thoughts at all.C. S. P. Schofieldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-14050891687691442872012-12-13T11:35:12.804-05:002012-12-13T11:35:12.804-05:00Wow, not Ken Burns, too.
I have greatly enjoyed...Wow, not Ken Burns, too. <br /><br />I have greatly enjoyed his deep, well-researched, creatively presented histories.<br /><br />At least, I thought they were deep, well-researched, and created from historical facts. Now I have to go back and take another look.<br /><br />Just goes to show you can pass a lifetime of increasing skepticism and never become skeptical enough.<br /><br />(Question to KC: Did you email Mr. Burns a copy of this blog article? Has he responded?) <br /><br />Jim PetersonJim In San Diegohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959286127760699852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-86561300623971319122012-12-12T21:45:17.023-05:002012-12-12T21:45:17.023-05:00Rich is the key word in Burn's comments. Rich...Rich is the key word in Burn's comments. Rich. White. Boys. Dog whistles all to the PC racists who think that justice should never be color blind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-26231845767307945452012-12-12T19:48:56.949-05:002012-12-12T19:48:56.949-05:00per Dr. Anderson (12/12/12 at 3:43):
My guess is ...per Dr. Anderson (12/12/12 at 3:43):<br /><br />My guess is that his personal research habits are either sloppy or non-existent. He has a team of researchers who have helped him with his various productions. Perhaps he should have used his team before opining on the Duke Case - or at the very least, perused DIW or Liestoppers.<br />cksAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-34684784681112062132012-12-12T19:23:01.754-05:002012-12-12T19:23:01.754-05:00It is also a shame that Mr. Burns did not draw att...It is also a shame that Mr. Burns did not draw attention to other similarities in the two cases. The narrative of the Duke lacrosse case was that privileged, white, thuggish athletes had raped an underprivileged single black mother. Mr. Burns implied that the narrative in the Central Park Jogger case was that a black wolfpack went wilding and raped a woman. Why do we buy into narratives that have little or no truth? Why do these narratives linger on, even when the prosecution’s cases have been reduced to smoldering rubble? I wish Mr. Burns had asked and attempted to answer those questions.<br /><br />Mr. Burns also said, “The real wilding was the press. They’re the ones that acted as a wolf pack.” I agree that the press should have been more skeptical, but there was at least some reason to think that the Central Park Five were guilty at first. On the other hand Newsweek ran a cover story on the Duke lacrosse case, and the New York Times ran over one hundred stories. The initial DNA reports came out roughly four weeks after the party, and yet the stories kept getting written.<br /><br />Finally, suppose that the Central Park Five sat down with the Duke Three. My guess is that they would have at least as intelligent and productive a conversation as either group would have with Mr. Burns.<br />Chris Halkideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14933976220776524122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-18614069056202259632012-12-12T15:43:27.134-05:002012-12-12T15:43:27.134-05:00There is something else that needs to be mentioned...There is something else that needs to be mentioned, and that is the lack of even decent fact-gathering on the part of Ken Burns. Since he spoke about the issue twice, and since he is known for his documentaries, then he also should know that when he makes a statement, people expect that he has done research.<br /><br />It is clear in this case that he did NO research at all. I only can wonder if that applies to everything else he does.William L. Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01802990642236807359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-17205215380968154722012-12-12T15:31:35.733-05:002012-12-12T15:31:35.733-05:00Comments for the 92Y video can be left here: http...Comments for the 92Y video can be left here: http://92yamericanconversation.org/ken-burns-on-race-and-the-central-park-five-a-kind-of-collective-tragedy/<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-65679724691690082172012-12-12T12:52:37.781-05:002012-12-12T12:52:37.781-05:00I wonder if Ken Burns is one of those celebrities ...I wonder if Ken Burns is one of those celebrities who thought convicted child rapist Roman Polanski deserved a pass rather than accountability for his crime.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-90455063974728157082012-12-12T12:48:24.020-05:002012-12-12T12:48:24.020-05:00If he is homing in on race, then Mr. Burns is misg...If he is homing in on race, then Mr. Burns is misguided in this instance. There are two bigger differences between the Central Park case and the Duke lacrosse case than race, but there is also at least one similarity. One is that the falsely accused men of the former gave confessions whereas the falsely accused men of the latter did not. Confessions are huge; people sometimes believe them even when DNA evidence suggests that they are gibberish, as in the Billy Wayne Cope case in South Carolina.<br /><br />Two is that mounting a good defense against a serious charge costs lots of money. I know almost nothing about the competency of the defense in the Central Park case, but it does not sound as if it were a robust effort. I can think of several instances where poor defendants obtained incompetent (or worse) defenses. On the other hand the three defendants in the Duke lacrosse case paid large sums for what is generally agreed to be a highly competent and motivated defense effort. On rare occasions a rich firm will provide far more in legal service than a poor or middle class family can afford, as happened in the Frank Esposito arson case.<br /><br />There appears to have been serious police wrongdoing on both cases. I read one account in which it was alleged that the police attempted to get Kharey Wise to deposit <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nick-malinowski/central-park-five-film_b_2248799.html" rel="nofollow">DNA</a><br /> at the crime scene after the fact. The misconduct of Officer Gottlieb is well known to readers here. Had Mr. Burns focused on the surprising frequency of false confessions, the troubling lack of outrage at police misconduct, and on the problems of defending the indigent, he would have been on firmer ground IMO.Chris Halkideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14933976220776524122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-6864612999248783552012-12-12T12:11:45.963-05:002012-12-12T12:11:45.963-05:00I'm reminded when my father-in-law lambasted B...I'm reminded when my father-in-law lambasted Burn's presentation of the Civil War. It turns out many of the photos aligned with the stories are misrepresented - the wrong battlefield for the relevant storyline. Those with a relatively minor interest in the war would notice the misrepresentations.<br /><br />At the time, I discounted the grievances and made the case that the series would get more, younger people interested in our history.<br />My father-in-law and his contemporaries were splitting hairs.<br /><br />Through Burn's messed-up understanding about the Duke lacrosse hoax I now better understand my father-in-laws position. Minor, intentional misrepresentations, coming from an "authority" have a stickiness that will distort history in ways unknown. <br /><br />His error in understanding the facts, either intentional or unintentional are egregious for one who puts himself forth as a professional who documents our history. It's dangerous.<br /><br />He must be trying to raise money for his next project. Smart people don't make unforced errors like this one.No Justice, No Peacenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-28409235406953132602012-12-12T09:38:20.890-05:002012-12-12T09:38:20.890-05:00If Ken Burns were falsely accused of rape, had his...If Ken Burns were falsely accused of rape, had his mug on Newsweek, and was facing death threats on a daily basis, I doubt seriously that he would claim to being merely "inconvenienced."<br /><br />I will be writing on this, as this screams for a response. Thanks, K.C., for once again exposing the PC intellectuals for what they are. I am glad to see that there is at least one honest man in academe!! <br /><br />And I also will add that no one -- No One! -- can successfully challenge K.C. Johnson's integrity, and I mean every word of what I have written. An honest person stands out, especially in the sewer that has become modern academics.William L. Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01802990642236807359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-4942652432891409192012-12-12T00:04:25.299-05:002012-12-12T00:04:25.299-05:00Thank you. Thank you. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-46464666307011401302012-12-11T21:52:59.510-05:002012-12-11T21:52:59.510-05:00This nonsense from Ken Burns reminds me of what ap...This nonsense from Ken Burns reminds me of what appears to be a simple fact-- so many who are steeped in political correctness still view the Duke Lacrosse hoax as a real rape of a poor black woman by rich, privileged white guys who got away with it. Or some fuzzy-minded variation of "something bad happened."<br /><br />Additionally, most everyone of our due process trashers (a few exceptions like Nifong and Cline) are still in place and have been rewarded for the efforts to castigate and railroad the "boys."<br /><br />As amazing as this may sound, and in spite of the excellent work by KC and others exposing the facts, this leads some of us who live in Durham to conclude that this will happen again. And why not? All the basic ingredients are still in place. Give it time...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-16243497655604359302012-12-11T16:50:22.535-05:002012-12-11T16:50:22.535-05:00I used to have respect for this guy. Now? I'm ...I used to have respect for this guy. Now? I'm not so sure. I didnt realize he approves of false rape.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-11573811517592278102012-12-11T14:58:28.689-05:002012-12-11T14:58:28.689-05:00By branding the wrongly accused ex-Duke lacrosse p...By branding the wrongly accused ex-Duke lacrosse players "three rich white boys," Burns trivializes their victimization and ham-handedly implies that they did not suffer because of their gender, race, and class. Ironically, Burns is buying into the gender-class-race meme that was at the heart of the rush to judgment in the lacrosse case and that Prof. Johnson has so ably exposed. Sadly, Ken Burns -- who makes a nice living chronicling history -- has learned nothing from this sad chapter of our history. Actually, it's worse than that: he's got it exactly backwards. I will be watching Burns' films more critically from now on.Puddlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08907637847970486165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-32115884965471192132012-12-11T14:17:27.052-05:002012-12-11T14:17:27.052-05:00This is only one of several topics Burns has bizar...This is only one of several topics Burns has bizarrely commented on recently. The more he talks, the more bizarre it gets. Which probably means he'll get a talk show soon on PBS. In other words, I'll be helping pay his salary. Another affront to anyone opposed to ill-researched propaganda. At least I have your blog for when I want opinions backed to the hilt with well-researched and written facts. It is still a gem even after these few years! Thanks KCskwillihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17216150339054413310noreply@blogger.com