ABSTRACT
In this chapter I examine when and how respondents learned about 1898 using the political generations delineated in Chapter Three and outlined below in Table 6.1. The interviews with informants from each political generation provide information about the following research questions: Do the gaps and silences identified in the baseline public dominant narrative correspond with contemporary informants’ narratives? What generational experiences, that is, experiences grounded in historical periods influence the narratives of contemporary informants? I wanted to know specifically, if and when informants in each political generation learned about 1898; if informants are familiar with the 1998 Commemoration activities, and whether or not they support the ‘new narrative.’ I also wanted to know if whites differ from blacks in how and when they learned about 1898.
