| Interview: Mr. Downing (history teacher) |
| 1.) What is your outlook on McCarthyism? He sees it as a "ligitimate fear of communism." 2.)Do you think the outcome of the Salem witch trials was true? (were there really witches in Salem?) He awnswered with,"It depends on what a witch was...since the puritans saw these people as witches, they probably were." 3.) Do you think the accused people in Salem were judged fairly? (with such little evidence provided?) "No...they had no lawyers...the whole thing was like a mass hysteria situation." 4.) Do you believe in witchcraft? " I'm openend-minded to it, but I don't really believe in it." 5.) Do you think the witch trials were a type of racisim towards certain people? "No...it was just a matter of cultural religious bias." 6.) Do you think the suspicion of something is enuogh to condemn a person to death? 7.) Did you read "The Crucible"? "Yes I did." 8.) Do you think Arthur Miller did a good job st rewriting the events that occured in Salem? "Yes." 9.) Do you think the witch trials were a form of McCarthyism? "In a way... it was a scapegoat for people to accuse unpopular minorities." 10.) If somethin similar happend today,who would you accuse (or think would be accused) of witchcraft? "Probably unpopular minorities." 11.) Do you think if something similar happend today,would the accused people be judged differently? "Legally, yes... but by people. no." 12.) If you were there during the trials, would you have believed that there were really witches? "Probably not...then again, laws reflect the value of society, so I wouldn't admit I didn't believe it." |