A quote that struck me when reading was, “whenever we encounter repetition .. let us remember we are not viewing the same thing, but its transformation That quote stuck out to me the most because it reminded me of the quote we discussed during class, “transformation is culture’s response to its own apprehension of repetition” The way I was able to interpret that quote was, cultures respond through the fear of history repeating itself.
In other words, people attempt to use history as a lesson to make our future better. I believe that this specific quote is connected to what we went over in class because it is saying, although history does seem to repeat itself, what we are witnessing is not only repetition, but a transformation and change we created based on our past. I agree with this because there has been many instances in the past where this has been seen to be true. Whether it is a form of progression, and we are witnessing positive change, or regression. For example, although it was seen as progression when white and black students were able to attend the same schools and have integrated classrooms, there were still laws that prevented students from using the same bathroom spaces. I used this example because, although this was seen as a step forward to achieving equal rights, those in office still saw a way to enforce white superiority by creating laws to make sure they were not completely integrated. For example enforcing different bathroom spaces, ect. Although there is still some progression, history continues to repeat itself because African Americans are still seen and treated as inferior. Therefore, we the repetition that we see is only the changes we have made, based on our fears of the past.
There’s some very productive thought here about contested spaces, such as bathrooms, whether that’s on the grounds of race or gender presentation. In one sense, you’re seeing a clear repetition there, even if some important elements and contexts differ.
At the same time, it’s important to note that Snead is wary of the ways repetition gets transformed into progression – not because he doesn’t accept it happens, but because he sees ways that “progress” gets valued above “repetition”; as you note, this can lead us to view progress as an inherent good, rather than examining what is happening via progress (has school segregation really ended? Not in practice).
Stick with the concrete examples, rather than the abstract ideas about history repeating itself, and you’ll be able to get even deeper into some interesting ideas.