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Consider for a moment that there was no mechanization to pick cotton until the 1920’s...the South would’ve maintained slavery until AT LEAST then! Now of course, you don’t give a damn and you’re affording yourself this cavalier attitude towards the topic because it wouldn’t have affected YOU!
My ancestors however would’ve been deeply affected, and they’re all natives of the Deep South where slavery was super cruel. I can’t afford your insouciance. Sorry. I carry grudges, as I should.
Hood knew damn well what he was fighting for, and ALL SOUTHERNERS knew that the institution was evil, immoral, nihilistic, and cruel. None of them thought that what they were participating in was okay or justifiable on any grounds. They even twisted their Bibles in order to salve their consciences.
Enlightened men wrote a beautiful constitution in the 1700’s, so educated Generals knew damn well that slavery was wrong in the 1860’s, and chose to fight and kill thousands of Americans to preserve it. So the “men of their time” excuse doesn’t hold up. They were the opposite...cowards. Afraid to face the future without the cruel massive subjugation of human beings. And the rampant rapes, beatings, selling away of children or their parents was SURELY realized as an evil even THEN by the participants.
So their names need to be removed from our federal installations and other infrastructure and put in museums and books. But they should not be honored. And no black American should pay a single dime towards the maintenance of any monument or edifice named after these evildoers.
BTW...these men were NOT my ancestors; they were the dedicated tormentors of my ancestors.
As a Black man who is also the descendant of slaves, I agree with this. The Confederate states wanted to keep slavery, and were willing to wage war against the USA in order to do so. If the Confederate states got what they wanted, slavery would have indeed lasted into the 1920s.
And it's not just cotton that depended on slave labor. Sugar cane also depended on slave labor. In Louisiana and Florida, sugar cane was a major crop that depended on slave labor. Louisiana produced 1/4 of the world's sugar at one point. The sugarcane harvester was developed in the 1920s. Slavery might have even continued into the 1930s.
There is another thing to consider. Slavery was not just an economic system. It was a social system. Slavery was a way of life in the South. It was more than just having slaves to pick the cotton, to chop the sugar cane. It was a status symbol to have slaves. It was about having slaves to do the domestic work while the slave masters could have their easy-going way of life. It was about a racial hierarchy. Blacks were considered inferior, and slavery was considered "the natural state of Black people". Many people who were pro-slavery feared abolition because they believed that Blacks would ravage the South if freed. Considering that the South was willing to fight to the death to keep slavery, who knows who long it would have continued.
The founding fathers, as flawed as they were, understood that slavery would end eventually. They also knew that slavery was be a major wedge issue. Missouri Compromise, Wilmot Proviso, Bleeding Kansas, these were events that would lead to the Civil War.
And this is what John Bell Hood, the man whom Fort Hood is named for, wrote to General Sherman:
"You came into our country with your Army, avowedly for the purpose of subjugating free white men, women, and children, and not only intend to rule over them, but you make negroes your allies, and desire to place over us an inferior race, which we have raised from barbarism to its present position, which is the highest ever attained by that race, in any country in all time."
Hood indeed knew what he was fighting for. That letter to Sherman proves it. And some people knew what they were doing. Many supported the institution of slavery and wanted to see it last. The sense of right and wrong was warped. The people who supported slavery only believed it was right to enslave Black people. No one else.
Knowing what the Confederate cause is about, there should have been know statues honoring Confederate generals in the first place. General Hood should have been punished for treason. Every Confederate general should have met the fate that traitors usually meet. Instead, military bases get named after them, statues are erected in their honor. The Confederate cause was about slavery.
Those Confederates were dedicated to making sure Blacks would stay enslaved. This is why it's a good thing that Fort Hood gets renamed Fort Benavidez. Benavidez fought FOR America. Hood turned his back on his oath to fight for the Confederacy, the enemy combatant. I am happy when Confederate statues get taken down.
It’s hard to go 3 or so miles anywhere in the US without coming across a place name (city, county, state, lake) that isn’t Native American. A bit painfully ironic for some. I don’t know of any bases with such names.
I am not keen on US bases named for Confederates and I wholly support revisions. I absolutely think it matters. Confederate names - why? That makes no sense and it hurts people. Imagine. Many/most confederate statues and monuments were far removed from the civil war, erected much later for certain reasons. I wonder if some of these bases were named in the same era or with similar sentiment - fear of the growth of non-white processes for equality.
Off topic: the new Mississippi state flag is a vast improvement. I don’t know what the yellow bars signify, but I think its a good redesign.
I can't think of a reason to name something for a Confederate general, other than honoring the cause they stood for. I think along the same lines as you. I want all bases named for Confederate generals to be renamed. There are people more deserving of such an honor. Confederate generals do not deserve such honor. That is, of course,
Those Confederate statues represent something: The Confederate cause. It pays homage to those who fought for that cause. And that cause was about making sure slavery would be preserved. Slavery was over. However, the slavery-derived racial hierarchy remained. Blacks were still seen as inferior. And with the South losing the war, there were many who were very angry about this. The Jim Crow laws were basically part of the way of restoring the old racial hierarchy.
Mississippi did good by changing its flag. It was long overdue.
There is a military base that has a Native-American derived named. Fort Huachuca, 70 miles southeast of Tucson. Tombstone is located nearby. So is Sierra Vista and Douglas. Fort Huachuca was one of the military postst that the Buffalo Soldiers were based at.
They did not see themselves as traitors, more like patriots of freedom from government tyranny. Kind of like Trump followers today.
Those Confederate generals were delusional. Those generals should have faced severe punishment for being traitors. They shouldn't honored, they should have been imprisoned or given the death penalty.
The reason these forts were named as they were was very clear. The Civil War was viewed as a war between brothers. In many cases that was true. Mary Todd Lincoln (President Lincoln's wife for those who don't know) had 5 brothers/brother-in-laws fighting for the Union and 5 fighting for the Confederacy. When one of the Confederate brother-in-laws was killed, Lincoln invited the widow to stay in the White House and mourned with her.
The forts were named in pairs, one for a Union general and one for a Confederate general. It was to bring the country back together. Even after all the bitterness and loss of life, they realized we were all Americans. People today aren't as wise as people back then.
One those rare times we agree except that his name is Roy Benavidez.
It would be a phenomenal name for one of our forts.
This is true. Name our military bases after people who served this country honorably, not after Confederates. Roy Benavidez deserves to have a military base named after him. Other people who deserve to have military bases named in their honor:
1) John McCain
2) Benjamin O. Davis
3) Dwight D. Eisenhower
4) Audie Murphy
The reason these forts were named as they were was very clear. The Civil War was viewed as a war between brothers. In many cases that was true. Mary Todd Lincoln (President Lincoln's wife for those who don't know) had 5 brothers/brother-in-laws fighting for the Union and 5 fighting for the Confederacy. When one of the Confederate brother-in-laws was killed, Lincoln invited the widow to stay in the White House and mourned with her.
The forts were named in pairs, one for a Union general and one for a Confederate general. It was to bring the country back together. Even after all the bitterness and loss of life, they realized we were all Americans. People today aren't as wise as people back then.
Nah...that’s extremely pollyannaish. 600 thousand lives can’t just be washed away that easily. Confederates are at fault for those lives.
So their generals don’t deserve a place of honor in the nation they tried to destroy. It’s really that simple.
I don't think anyone is arguing in favor of slavery. I'm just stating my opinion regarding this black and white judgement of historical figures in modern terms is very short-sighted. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin all owned slaves. They also committed "man's highest crime", should they therefore be condemned? Genocide used to be the old #1 if we are now rethinking the crime rankings.
Should everything named Washington or Jefferson be renamed? Washington certainly took an oath to serve his country (Great Britain) and broke it as well in order to fight with rebels. A traitor is one of the founders of our country.
Again, I have no issue with the renaming of Ft. Hood, I don't care one way or the other. I don't think anyone even thinks of John Bell Hood when you say Ft. Hood, and I certainly don't think anyone is admiring the man or being inspired by him. Renaming it doesn't do a single thing to advance us into a more equitable future.
I say if you are going to move forward with renaming Ft. Hood, stop putting the focus on a critique of John Bell Hood, and focus on Benavidez instead.
I can read about historical figures and put myself into their time period and take away the judgements. You almost have to do this otherwise you will be disgusted by everything you read in history. Our modern morality is not the same as 100, 200, or 300 years ago. To think that you would be any different if you were transported 160 years into the past is just plain ignorance.
Are you going to ask the Jews to put themselves in the shoes of Nazi figures and have an “understanding” that they were men of their time? If not, then you’re being unreasonable to ask a black man such as myself to excuse the perpetrators of cruel Antebellum Slavery. I can’t. I refuse to give in to the notion that they were simply men of their time. Not doing it.
There are at least a few hundred thousand dead Union troops who would be appalled at the notion that their enemies are being honored in ANY way. We have a responsibility to them to make sure that traitors and seditionists are treated as such.
The Washington and Jefferson analogy just doesn’t hold up. They’re a part of this nation’s establishment...an inescapable fact.
People like Hood or Braxton Bragg are not essential historical figures. They’re no more than rebels who tried to destroy the nation of their origin because they were infatuated by slavery.
Nah...that’s extremely pollyannaish. 600 thousand lives can’t just be washed away that easily. Confederates are at fault for those lives.
So their generals don’t deserve a place of honor in the nation they tried to destroy. It’s really that simple.
Everything I said was true. Your comment is a non-sequitir.
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