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Ferguson and the Mythology of Racism
One of the ways that myth is created is that a story is found to express a necessary solution to the problem of the day. The late mythologist Joseph Campbell wrote that a function of myth is to "support the current social order, to integrate the individual organically with his group". (Footnote: Campbell, Joseph (1991). Occidental Mythology. Arkana. p. 520. ISBN 0-14-019441-X.) When we settle the remembered details of Ferguson with a bent toward supporting the narrative of racial injustice, we are participating in euhemerism, the process of distorting the account of a real event so that a certain viewpoint is expressed. While such myth creation can happen intentionally, it more likely develops slowly and organically as little details change over time to better illustrate whatever point is at hand. And because it has happened organically in almost every culture since the beginning of time, it is probably safe to assume that is is necessary and effective. What is necessary now, and what will happen whether we mean to do it or not, is to shape the mythology that moves society toward racial harmony.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-brown/ferguson-and-the-mytholog_b_6228756.html
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Ferguson and the Mythology of Racism
One of the ways that myth is created is that a story is found to express a necessary solution to the problem of the day. The late mythologist Joseph Campbell wrote that a function of myth is to "support the current social order, to integrate the individual organically with his group". (Footnote: Campbell, Joseph (1991). Occidental Mythology. Arkana. p. 520. ISBN 0-14-019441-X.) When we settle the remembered details of Ferguson with a bent toward supporting the narrative of racial injustice, we are participating in euhemerism, the process of distorting the account of a real event so that a certain viewpoint is expressed. While such myth creation can happen intentionally, it more likely develops slowly and organically as little details change over time to better illustrate whatever point is at hand. And because it has happened organically in almost every culture since the beginning of time, it is probably safe to assume that is is necessary and effective. What is necessary now, and what will happen whether we mean to do it or not, is to shape the mythology that moves society toward racial harmony.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-brown/ferguson-and-the-mytholog_b_6228756.html
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