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Wholeheartedly agree here. Too much energy is being spent on denying our shared history. Whether one's family 'came over on the Mayflower' or one just arrived here yesterday, we are all American. That is, if we want to be.
Too much energy is wasted on resisting history, what one resists, persists. Think of a cork in water: forcing that cork underwater takes too much energy & is unproductive, let it 'float to the top' & keep on sailing.
Stevie knows ...
Red Hot Chili Peppers using Stevie Wonder's song. Didn't know they did that.
I'm seeing alot of time being wasted on denial. Denial only opens up more wounds and brings about more divides.
Some people are using that neo-Confederate crap to sink a cork. The cork is telllng the truth. Some people want to sink the cork.
The confederacy was defeated. Why the hoopla? Southerners need to get over this symbol of hatred. We are all one country. ACT LIKE IT....
We're suppose to be one nation. Something like the Confederate cause tore it apart. All the more reason NOT to venerate Confederate generals or fly the Confederate flag.
We're suppose to be one nation. Something like the Confederate cause tore it apart. All the more reason NOT to venerate Confederate generals or fly the Confederate flag.
Confederates, Neo-Confederates, & present day alt-right & libertarians have resisted 'assimilation' into the United States of America from day 1. & yet ... they feel entitled to every & any privelege American citizenship provides. Again, it's baffling. At the time preceding the American Civil War, they would've jumped at the chance to be embraced by their Mother Country of Great Britain even with all of their bleetings about King Cotton. It's ridiculous.
Quote:
Cotton's central place in the national economy and its international importance led Senator James Henry Hammond of South Carolina to make a famous boast in 1858:
Quote:
Without firing a gun, without drawing a sword, should they make war on us, we could bring the whole world to our feet ... What would happen if no cotton was furnished for three years? ... England would topple headlong and carry the whole civilized world with her save the South. No, you dare not to make war on cotton. No power on the earth dares to make war upon it. Cotton is king.[4]
Confederate leaders had made little effort to ascertain the views of European industrialists or diplomats until the Confederacy sent diplomats James Mason and John Slidell in November 1861. That led to a diplomatic blowup in the Trent Affair.[5]
Red Hot Chili Peppers using Stevie Wonder's song. Didn't know they did that.
I'm seeing alot of time being wasted on denial. Denial only opens up more wounds and brings about more divides.
Some people are using that neo-Confederate crap to sink a cork. The cork is telllng the truth. Some people want to sink the cork.
It took a lot of energy to architect the 'lost cause' mythologies, & more energy to litter public parks, city halls, & state houses throughout the Slaver States with monuments to the Confederacy.
For what purpose? Again, it's as baffling as it is ridiculous.
Confederates, Neo-Confederates, & present day alt-right & libertarians have resisted 'assimilation' into the United States of America from day 1. & yet ... they feel entitled to every & any privelege American citizenship provides. Again, it's baffling. At the time preceding the American Civil War, they would've jumped at the chance to be embraced by their Mother Country of Great Britain even with all of their bleetings about King Cotton. It's ridiculous.
The states' rights argument is particularly specious considering our shared history. It's all about, as you've asserted, 'saving face'.
In reality, it's also about 'cutting off the nose to spite the face'.
No so much baffling as it is just plain sad. This kind of thinking is not all that much different from how a rebellious teenager thinks. This issue should have been nipped in the bud during the early days of the USA.
It's no coincidence that the cotton producing states seceded first. Cotton economy of 1860 = slave economy. Speaking of cotton, there were several kids in my high school who wore Dixie Outiftter shirts. One kid wore a shirt that said "Land of Cotton". It featured some people picking cotton.
I haven't Dixie Outfitter t-shirts around in a long time. That is for the best. However, I still occasionally some individuals flying the Confederate flag. And I think you should read this: https://www.salon.com/2013/09/11/dix...the_civil_war/
States' rights might be plausible on the surface. However, if you chip away, it isn't nearly that plausible. The South was in favor of states' rights, as it applied to them and them only. If states like Ohio or Michigan decided "these "runaways" aren't runaways anymore, they're free men in our states", the South would have a problem. This is why the Fugitive Slave Act was heavily supported by the South. The South wanted its slave economy protected. Its calls for "states rights" rang hollow when it came to free states protected those slaves who ran away. Yes, states' rights was part of it, but as it applied to the protection of the slave economy.
The lying and use of the Lost Cause is like saving face because of the feeling of "no non-southerners will besmirch us". And I can see where there is an element of "cutting off the nose to spite the face". The fear of being besmirched has allowed many people to lie to themselves. Those Confederate statues and Confederate flags should go into museums as a teachable moment. "The lesson should be this: This is where we went wrong. Those are the mistakes that we made back then. We have since learned better and we're doing better". Being honest with one's self and teaching others.
It took a lot of energy to architect the 'lost cause' mythologies, & more energy to litter public parks, city halls, & state houses throughout the Slaver States with monuments to the Confederacy.
For what purpose? Again, it's as baffling as it is ridiculous.
Oh & I thought everyone loves Stevie Wonder?
It certainly did take alot of effort and energy. In my opinion, it would take much less effort to tell the truth than to fabricate lies, and then build things upon those lies. During that time, the purpose was to re-affirm "white supremacy lives on in the South". Today, many people keep saying "we need to keep those statues and names up. It's part of history". Truth is, those represent when the South went wrong. Certain people do not deserve to be honored.
Alot of people love Stevie Wonder. I'm just pointing out those said version of the song is by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They got it from him.
Confederates, Neo-Confederates, & present day alt-right & libertarians have resisted 'assimilation' into the United States of America from day 1. & yet ... they feel entitled to every & any privelege American citizenship provides. Again, it's baffling. At the time preceding the American Civil War, they would've jumped at the chance to be embraced by their Mother Country of Great Britain even with all of their bleetings about King Cotton. It's ridiculous.
The states' rights argument is particularly specious considering our shared history. It's all about, as you've asserted, 'saving face'.
In reality, it's also about 'cutting off the nose to spite the face'.
2nd reply to this post.
This video from Vox started out with an old textbook. I'm glad they did that. The first part of that textbook starts out with a textbook about the History of Georgia. It was printed in 1964. The textbook framed slavery in a very dishonest way. It framed it from the perspective of "slaves were happy" or "slavery wasn't a bad thing".
The video goes on to say that the Lost Cause had these tenets.
1) The Confederate cause was a heroic one.
2) Slavery was a benevolent institution
3) Slavery wasn't the root cause of the war.
One of the most disgusting ways the Lost Cause lie was perpetuated was through school textbooks. All the more fitting that the Vox video showed a textbook from 1964.
Many years ago I went to Kennesaw State University. Judge Glenda Hatchett (from the show Judge Hatchett) came to KSU as a guest speaker. She was born and raised in Atlanta. She mentioned that as a little girl, her school got the hand-me-down books from White schools. Basically, she got alot of old, often out of date textbooks. This made me wonder what Black kids in those days were exposed to in terms of education. I do notice that a majority of Black people don't buy into the Lost Cause myth. If the idea was to get Blacks to buy into it, it didn't work. I most certainly don't think that was the idea.
This video from Vox started out with an old textbook. I'm glad they did that. The first part of that textbook starts out with a textbook about the History of Georgia. It was printed in 1964. The textbook framed slavery in a very dishonest way. It framed it from the perspective of "slaves were happy" or "slavery wasn't a bad thing".
The video goes on to say that the Lost Cause had these tenets.
1) The Confederate cause was a heroic one.
2) Slavery was a benevolent institution
3) Slavery wasn't the root cause of the war.
One of the most disgusting ways the Lost Cause lie was perpetuated was through school textbooks. All the more fitting that the Vox video showed a textbook from 1964.
Many years ago I went to Kennesaw State University. Judge Glenda Hatchett (from the show Judge Hatchett) came to KSU as a guest speaker. She was born and raised in Atlanta. She mentioned that as a little girl, her school got the hand-me-down books from White schools. Basically, she got alot of old, often out of date textbooks. This made me wonder what Black kids in those days were exposed to in terms of education. I do notice that a majority of Black people don't buy into the Lost Cause myth. If the idea was to get Blacks to buy into it, it didn't work. I most certainly don't think that was the idea.
Wonder about how blacks were exposed? The same way poor whites were exposed. But you don't care about whitey because whites are all the same right?
Pensions for African Americans who Served or Fought for the Confederate States of America
"The American Civil War and slavery are not cut-and-dry issues that can be summarized simply by referring to the demarcation line known as the Mason and Dixon. On both sides of the map there were exceptions to the rule, with thousands of Southerners serving in Federal units while Copperhead sympathizers and even native-born Northerners aided, abetted, or served with Confederate armed forces. Thus, why should millions of free or enslaved African Americans be any different than their white counterparts? They too were individuals who were moved by ideas and emotions of their time." (my emphasis)
Beyond politics are people with every day lives; they deserve being remembered.
And far more Blacks fought for the Union than the Confederacy. The few Blacks who were loyal to their masters and to their state of slavery do not negate the fact that far more Blacks fought for the Union. It does not negate that most Blacks today do not buy into the Lost Cause lie. It does not negate that the majority of Black Americans do not identify with the Confederate flag or the Confederacy.
No so much baffling as it is just plain sad. This kind of thinking is not all that much different from how a rebellious teenager thinks. This issue should have been nipped in the bud during the early days of the USA.
It's no coincidence that the cotton producing states seceded first. Cotton economy of 1860 = slave economy. Speaking of cotton, there were several kids in my high school who wore Dixie Outiftter shirts. One kid wore a shirt that said "Land of Cotton". It featured some people picking cotton.
I haven't Dixie Outfitter t-shirts around in a long time. That is for the best. However, I still occasionally some individuals flying the Confederate flag. And I think you should read this: https://www.salon.com/2013/09/11/dix...the_civil_war/ ...
Thanks for recommending an interesting piece. I can definitely relate to the author's desire to understand; the subtitle reads: A Yankee tries very hard to understand the South's lingering fixation with the Confederacy. I felt that way too when I lived in a former Confederate state.
After reading, can also relate to its title: Dixie Outfitters is still fighting the Civil War. I had never been to one of their stores, or been aware of their online web presence.
This is the part I find most challenging to understand. When the author is discussing a South Carolina case Hardwick v. Heyward with the founder & CEO of Dixie Outfitters, Dewey Barber. The case was about school bans on Confederate flag apparel, & had been decided by the Fourth Circuit court in favor of the South Carolina high school. Mr. Barber was fuming about the court's decision:
Quote:
“This is one of the greatest injustices ever,” he says.
Quote:
To tell a child that is proud of his ancestors, that your ancestors and the life they gave and the beliefs they had are so horrendous you can’t even wear a shirt that depicts their heritage? It destroys their self-worth. If you wear a Confederate flag, if a minority person says I’m offended, you have to go change your shirt and hang your head.
This is the part this Yankee relates to the most when it comes to attempting to understand, it's what the author explains about this exchange:
Quote:
Barber claims he was unaware that the school in question had also banned Malcolm X shirts, and it is at this point in our conversation that his view of history starts to look Orwellian. Missing are any facts that would complicate the gloriousness of Southern heritage and the barbarity of its critics. Rather than admitting and denouncing racist aspects of Southern history, Barber has instead elected to believe they don’t exist.
It's the cognitive dissonance that Mr. Barber attempts to reconcile with his denial-ism & his apparent insistence on the 'holiness of the Confederate martyrs'. It presents as a dis-ease where the person doesn't want to get better.
I agree with you that the whole thing is just plain sad.
The other thing about the "I hunt black and tans" bumper stickers was just plain bizarre.
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