This course will view and discuss Raoul Peck’s video series, “Exterminate All the Brutes.” This series has been called a “revisionist” history of Western Civilization. Peck was interviewed on “Democracy Now” when the series was first released. He is also the director of “I Am Not Your Negro,” a documentary on James Baldwin. Participants will be expected to watch each episode in class, followed by guided, civil discussion. No prior knowledge or outside reading is required. The content to be discussed is primarily the question of the origin, history, and continuity of genocidal practices in the West, and the suppression of those practices in official historical narratives. At the present time “revisionist” histories have come under attack. It is hoped that in this class students will come to see why such “revisionist” histories are an essential part of our education. As James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
NOTE: This course covers controversial material that some may find disturbing.