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The 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War is in 2011, and what better way to commemorate the culmination of inter-state fighting and the subjugation of an entire race of people than a series of spectacular events spread across the Deep South.According to the Sons of Confederate Veterans:
"We in the South, who have been kicked around for an awfully long time and are accused of being racist, we would just like the truth to be known," said Michael Givens, commander-in-chief of the Sons." Our people were only fighting to protect themselves from an invasion and for their independence."
This sentiment is intensifying as the momentous milestone in American history approaches. From Alabama to Atlanta and Charleston to Virginia, these protectors of the 14th amendment are defiantly spewing their white-washed propaganda in television ads scheduled to air next year.
"All we wanted was to be left alone to govern ourselves," says one ad from the group's Georgia Division.
There may be those ignorant or naive enough to swallow that lie without noticing the bitter taste; however, the NAACP, among other organizations, plans to protest some of the festivities.
The events include a "secession ball" in the former slave port of Charleston ("a joyous night of music, dancing, food and drink," says the invitation), which will be replicated on a smaller scale in other cities. A parade is being planned in Montgomery, Ala., along with a mock swearing in of Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederacy.
"I can only imagine what kind of celebration they would have if they had won," said Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina NAACP.
Randolph said he was dumbfounded by "all of this glamorization and sanitization of what really happened." When Southerners refer to states' rights, he said, "they are really talking about their idea of one right: to buy and sell human beings."
It is extremely ironic that the 50th anniversary of the Civil War coincided with the Civil Rights Movement, while the sesquicentennial occurs during the Tea Party's rise to influence.
The comparisons between the two movements have been both inevitable and misleading. While the Civil Rights Movement's sole motivation was to ensure - through passive resistance - the equality and true freedom of African Americans, the Tea Party has advocated for the repeal of the 14th amendment.
Though slave owners were forced to end slavery by the 13th amendment, Dixiecrats passed Black Codes, which required freed slaves to be "apprenticed" to "employers" and punished any brave souls who attempted escape.
It has become glaringly obvious that "states rights," then and now, is code for ensuring that prejudicial and racist attitudes are allowed to inform policy that cannot be modified by the federal government. Any celebration of the bloodiest battle fought on American soil is only an admission of that fact, albeit cloaked in taffeta and mint julips.
Jeff Antley, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Confederate Heritage Trust, is organizing the secession ball in Charleston and a 10-day re-enactment of the Confederate encampment at Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the war were fired on April 12, 1861. He is vocal in his support of the Confederacy:
"Many people in the South still believe that [secession] is a just and honorable cause. Do I believe they were right in what they did? Absolutely," he said, noting that he spoke for himself and not any organization. "There's no shame or regret over the action those men took."
No shame or regret?
No shame in whipping grown men in front of their children ... and then beating them as well?
No shame in raping black slaves and keeping the "bastards" born from the unholy unions as property?
No regret that "mammies" often had to breastfeed their white slaveowners children while their own went hungry?
No regret that the ramifications of slavery can be seen in the racial, educational and occupational disparities infesting the South to this very day?
In its secession papers, Mississippi called slavery "the greatest material interest of the world" and said that attempts to stop it would undermine "commerce and civilization."
What these papers left out is that it only undermined these things for slave owners, because they would be forced to pay for labor that by their calculations should be free.
I was born in Jefferson Davis Hospital in Natchez, Miss., one of the most influential and wealthiest slave-trading posts in the South.
I remember passing by the street sign dedicated to Isaac Franklin, one of the most notorious slave traders in history, and driving by the Forks-in-the Road, hearing the stories about the slaves who were sold and bartered there.
I also remember being a small girl peering at the gorgeous antebellum homes, immaculate lawns and swaying magnolia trees - mere seconds away from the abject poverty many black citizens in Natchez find themselves in. I wanted to be Scarlet O'Hara and longed for the gowns, beaus, dancing and the sheer luxury that was the old South.
Until my dreams were interrupted by the harsh reality that I would have been a slave in the field or in the kitchen - a grand lifestyle unattainable for the daughter of a field Negro. My story better reflected in "The Wind Done Gone" than "Gone With the Wind."
That ingrained, tangible evidence of the historical inferiority of black citizens can be seen every day in our southern cities. The Civil War is commemorated with tours of plantations, and the Ole Miss Rebels, with subpar schools for predominately minority districts and harsher prison sentences for African-American men. It is celebrated each time affirmative action is treated as a handout and just the thought of reparations considered a joke.
"We don't know what to commemorate because we've never faced up to the implications of what the thing was really about," said Andrew Young, a veteran of the civil rights movement and former mayor of Atlanta.
It was about power, pride, greed and frantically holding on to a lifestyle maintained by the sweat and tears of slaves. There were many African Americans who died fighting for the Confederacy because they felt they had no choice, no voice.
If there is to ever be an accepted acknowledgement of the Civil War, it must be solemn, respectful and honestly recount the entire sordid story. We cannot allow it to become a revisionist occasion, scrubbed clean of the slaves blood dripping from each battle.
Comments: (8)
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By: piqued on 12/01/2010 1:41PM
I understand wanting to be outraged at the thought of Confederates wanting to celebrate and honor practices and mores that treated other human beings as less than human. However, I think that the peaceful presence and acknowledgement of those of us whose heritage came out of that time and era is greater than the meaning of the oppression. It was a dark and sordid time, but as a race of people we made it through. In a time and place where the only help that we could possibly rely on could only come from above. As the song says," He might not come when we want him to, but He is always on time." They can celebrate their racism while I'll celebrate my Savior who won the battle. The blood, sweat, and tears of my ancestors was not wasted on me. While I'm glad I did not have to live it, I appreciate the fact that someone did so that we can enjoy the Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness that we have today.
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By: Amcgee on 12/02/2010 12:10PM
piqued,
Remember it was the blood, sweat and tears of all Americans, coupled with faith - even the faithless- in the Almighty, that cause the liberation of Black Americans.
In reading a bio. on US Grant, I was struck by his belief that our Civil War was God's punishment on us for our waging war on the Mexicans in the Mexican War.
That war was about the annexation of Texas, but more importantly the extension of slavery into the Southwest.
Grant makes clear the issue was always - Slavery.
So let the would be "confederates" celebrate their loss and our freedom. Though, we should show-up in all stripes, to remind them we have not forgot and their antics remain as repulsive now as then.
And as we approach 2014-15, there will be much less for them to revel, and more to mourn - for all of us. Still, keep in mind the jubliee awaiting, because as you said, "He is always on time."
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By: DueGee on 12/02/2010 12:19PM
That which is crooked cannot be made straight
The inhumane, criminal acts of oppressing the entire African American Nation in this country cannot be justified, through the passage of time.
This was a period in which this nation was at war from within. The confederate Army fought to overthrow the Union Army and The Union Army fought to end human enslavement.
As the sons of Confederate Soldiers describe it, they fought to continue there way of life, when their way of life was funded and supported completely by the enslavement of the African American Nation.
The Confederate Army fought to overthrow the government of this country for the soul purpose of the continued legal ownership of human beings, to continue to legally buy and sell African Americans and use them for whatever purpose they saw fit.
African Americans were considered as property not people, yet the slaveowners had sexual intercourse with any and all of the female slaves they desired, some were taken into his home along with his wife.Whenever the slaveowner wanted a change in his sexual partnership he would get one of the female slaves.
The wives of the slave owners were too sorry to nurse their own children, thereby the female slaves were used to nurse the Caucusoid children of the slaveowner.
While the white Caucusoid children of the slaveowner sucked from the black breasts of the female slaves and the black female slaves were impregnated by the white slave owner bearing him children,they were still viewed as not being human but as property.
Now it really takes an ignorant, intentionaly blind, hypocritical person to portray these inhumane acts as something honorable.
The racist Confederate's attempt to over throw the government of this country as nothing honorable.
The Son's of Confederate Soldiers say this is heritage, heritage in fact is tradition handed down from anncestors.
That which was handed down from these racist Confederates was a hatred for African Americans and the governemt of this country, for ending the legal enslavement of human being.
For the Son's of the Confederate Soldiers to celebrate events in connection with the effort's put forth by the Confederate Army is to seek to glorify those who attempted to overthrow this country.
Celebrating the life style of their fore-fathers is to ignore that which was learned in history through the loss of life in the Civil War.
If one does not learn from the mistakes made in life he is doomed to repeat them.
To celebrate that which was wrong is to say that it was right, "that which is crooked cannot be made straight".
Celebrating the Confederacy is in fact saying that they desire that which the Confederacy was fighting for enslavemnet of African Americans considering them not as people but as property to be bought, sold and filed on income taxes.
The same spirit which divided the country during the Civil War era is being whipped up at this time by the Sons of Confederate Soldiers, the Tea Party Movement and political leaders.
A house divided against itself will not stand.
DueGee
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By: bob on 12/04/2010 10:02AM
duegee You sound like you were there! Why do you plagurize? Do you believe everything you read? The issue of Slavery is too complicated for you. It has nothing to do "white people" It has to do with rich and powerful people who just happened to be white. Your average "white person" did not have slaves and would not have slaves. The elites of today still have slaves all over the world black and white alike. Illegal immigration is slavery that is why it will not be stopped but most are too blind to see it. The government is the slave master and we are all slowly being enslaved. The media black voices and stormfront will keep blacks and whites divided because as one we would be able to overcome.
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By: CHESTER LOGAN on 1/15/2011 12:41AM
THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD BE MORE DETERMINED THAT EVER TO MAKE THE 19TH OF JUNE, JUNETEENTH (FREEDOM DAY) A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
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By: keith on 12/22/2010 4:42PM
Duegee sounds like a highly prejudiced and brain-washed person. Reading straight from the NAACP bible on this. While young black youths destroy themselves daily and other innocent children in the way of their street battles, Al Sharpton and the NAACP would rather organize and protest something this dull and boring and meaningless. It is history that these people are celebrating. Why not go up north and protest how The yankee nation committed genocide upon the Native Americans? Let's all rally and go to Africa and protest slavery and genocide where it all began? There's no media coverage in it. I would be the first member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans to volunteer to take down all the Confederate monuments all over the country, when somebody can stop black on black crime, 70% rate of fatherless children in the black communities and teach the youth of today and tomorrow that education is not acting white but the key and faith in Jesus is the only way to a better life in this world and the next.
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By: Frederic Beeson on 1/06/2011 8:44PM
I read with dismay a news item on the AOL Welcome page some days ago that reported the Civil War sesquicentennial celebrations began with a gala staged by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Charleston, South Carolina.
When objections were raised to this event by the NAACP, Mark Simpson, the commander of South Carolina's division of Sons of Confederate Veterans, responded by saying this about the causes and origins of the Civil War:
We recognize and stated in all the media interviews that slavery was an issue in the war. But this would be like taking a book that has 10 or 15 chapters and tearing all the chapters out except one. While slavery was an issue, it was by no means what brought about the war.
My view would place the proportions at about the opposite in weight. In regard to slavery, as Lincoln noted “All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war.”
It is of some interest to me that the Southern slavery apologists seem to be extraordinarily adept at ignoring historical truths. First, in Antebellum America they ignored the fact that it was clearly the intent of the Founding Fathers that slavery be place on the course of ultimate extinction. No one made a better case for this being a historical fact than did Lincoln in his Cooper Union Speech.
Moreover, even the greatest proponent and the chief formulator of the "states’ rights" doctrine, John C. Calhoun, knew as much. Calhoun supported states' rights and nullification, under which states could declare null and void federal laws which they deemed to be unconstitutional. He was an outspoken proponent of the institution of slavery, which he famously defended as a "positive good" rather than as a "necessary evil." His rallying point for states’ rights and against an expansive Federal power was the tariffs proposed in the late 1820s. Calhoun’s formulation of the Nullification doctrine is often cited by slavery apologists as proof that the Civil War was caused by economic issues and the appropriated defense by state governments against infringements by the Federal government and not the issue of slavery. Yet Calhoun himself understood that "states’ rights," when asserted to thwart the tariffs, were merely a pretext to keep slavery in existence against the tides of history. While addressing the tariff and taxation issue, and the implications of that debate for the relative political positions of state governments and the Federal government, in a private letter written in 1830 Calhoun stated that “I consider the Tariff, but as the occasion, rather that the real cause of the present unhappy state of things. … The truth can no longer be disguised, that the peculiar domestick [sic] institutions [slavery] of the Southern States … [have] placed them in regard to taxation and appropriation in opposite relation to the majority of the Union; against the danger of which, if there be no protective power in the reserved rights of states, they must in the end be forced to rebel, or submit to have … their domestick institutions exhausted by Colonization.” In other words, if Nullification and States Rights doctrine does not prevail, then “there [will] be no protective power” in the states sufficient to protect them from the abolition of slavery.
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By: Gizmo on 4/12/2011 10:17AM
CONFEDERATE PRIDE AND HERITAGE AND NAZI PRIDE AND HERITAGE ARE ONE AND THE SAME. German Nazis dragged the human family across the globe into a bloody “WORLD –WIDE CIVAL WAR” and were defeated. If they would have won, their flag would fly over the capitols of many cities around the world. But, they lost the war. Their values and ideals were immoral, and inconsistent with the values and morals of the rest of the world. Except for a few small groups around the world, everyone recognizes this even to this day. When Nazis try to raise their flag today in celebration of their Nazi “pride and heritage”, the world remembers who they really are and what they stand for and continues to denounce them, usually very aggressively. Just like the Nazis, the Confederates were defeated in war. We did not become the world that the Nazis envision nor the nation that the Confederates wanted us to become. We are THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! I’m an American veteran who fought to keep us the greatest country in the world. And wherever I see Confederates, celebrating with their mantra, “THE SOUTH SHALL RISE AGAIN”, I aggressively stand up to denounce them, and I implore all AMERICANS to do the same. GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA... not the divided Confederate states of America.
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