>
> Such criticisms are necessary & sometimes very helpful, but
> we should also keep in mind that haggling over facts &
> figures can have an effect of obscuring big pictures. The
> main purpose & effect of David Stoll's criticism of Menchu
> have been to deny the truth of the US-backed Guatemalan
> military repression of the leftist guerrilla insurgency:
Yes, I understand and agree that this is what happens. That is why I think leftists should be scrupulous with respect to the facts, otherwise we become easy targets.
> >"White people have been writing our history for 500 years. No white
> >anthropologist is going to tell me what I experienced in my own flesh."
> >-Rigoberta Menchu, 1995.
This is a most unfortunate quote. Whether or not one's brother died at a particular time and place is not really open to discussion. These are objective facts of the most basic kind and are not open for interpretation based on who is doing the reporting. I agree that Stoll has his own problems and his own unpleasant agenda. That does not change the fact that Menchu is a less than ideal spokesperson for her people.
Facts are not stupid things.
--
Joseph Noonan Houston, TX jfn1 at msc.com