Posted on 03/01/2005 1:33:00 PM PST by sheltonmac
As a Louisiana native who is now living north of the Mason-Dixon Line, I am well aware of the concerted effort to erase Southern culture from the nation's collective consciousness. I have written numerous articles addressing this social cancer, and every time I do I inevitably hear from people who have the audacity to call me an extremist. "The Civil War is over," they say. "The South lost. Get over it!" Sure. Never mind that those of us who defend the South do so in response to the increasingly virulent attacks on our heritage. Forget that political correctness has blinded the eyes of so many Americans that historical facts can be obscured easily with half-truths and thinly veiled lies. It's amazing how quickly people forget. Secession was at one time viewed as an absolute right retained by the people of the various states, a fact undeniable since it was an act of secession that gave birth to our nation in the first place. Today, anyone who believes that states have a moral and constitutional right to secede is looked upon with the kind of disgust and contempt normally reserved for the criminally insane. Another example of hidden history is the contribution made by black Confederates in the fight against Abraham Lincoln's invasion of the South. Interesting how that always manages to escape notice during Black History Month. Thanks to historical revisionists, facts that once enjoyed mainstream acceptance by the public have been reduced to fictional beliefs espoused by the fringes of society. Most of the controversy today has to do with the display of Confederate symbols. You may recall the heated debate surrounding the Confederate flag that flew above the South Carolina statehouse. The flag sat undisturbed for nearly four decades until the NAACP decided to launch an economic boycott against the state. Legislators eventually crumbled under the political pressure and moved the flag to a nearby monument, but members of the NAACP were upset that the flag remained on Capitol grounds. So, as a sign of their appreciation, they kept the boycott in place. The Associated Press recently reported on Albert Burckhard, army veteran and retired high school teacher, who dressed as a Confederate soldier and buried a Confederate flag in front of the post office in Isle of Wight, Va. Why? Because "everybody knows" that the battle flag is offensive to blacks. Mr. Burckhard's idiotic protest is only the most recent example of self-destructive Southerners in action. All across the South, symbols of the past are disappearing. In Little Rock, Ark., Confederate Boulevard was renamed Springer Boulevard. The University of Mississippi dropped Colonel Reb as its on-field mascot. Georgia changed its state flag in an effort to distance itself from its Confederate history. "Heart of Dixie," Alabama's state slogan, is disappearing from car license plates. Vanderbilt University removed the word "Confederate" from a dormitory, despite the fact that funding assistance for the building was provided by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The sad thing about each of the preceding examples is that all of them occurred in the South. Worse, all of them were perpetrated by Southerners. Believe me when I say that I have heard every criticism and insult that has ever been leveled against the South. But if there's anything worse than a Damn Yankee trying to tell a Southerner how to live or what to think, it's a gutless, guilt-ridden, self-destructive Southerner who has been made to feel ashamed of his heritage to the point where he plays an active role in its destruction.
My grandmother referred it as "The Late Great Unpleasantness ">Her father lost a leg at the first Battle of Mannassas.He was in Lees Army of Northern Virginia.
Revisionist history has never affected me. The South fought in a Noble Cause for their freedom.
It was probably more about slavery to Southerners than to Northerners. But the North DID NOT go to war to end slavery. It went to war to preserve the union. Lincoln himself was willing to preserve slavery if it would preserve the union. Slavery was legal at the time and so stated in the Consititution.
Disney has approved a 2006 release date for a 60th anniversary "Song of the South" DVD.
Most people rightly believe that the confederacy really sucked ass.
How illuminating to see that you speak for most people.
Your comment is that of a moron.
You've just lost the "civility" war.
BUMP and BOOKMARKED.
Nice posting.
LOL!
Right On!
Thank you, onyx. Very good.
Stainlessbanner, this might be a good example of Southern culture at its best: Having the talent to gracefully receive a crude insult with aplomb, all the while telling the insultor to go to hell in a very polite manner.
"But if there's anything worse than a Damn Yankee trying to tell a Southerner how to live or what to think, it's a gutless, guilt-ridden, self-destructive Southerner who has been made to feel ashamed of his heritage to the point where he plays an active role in its destruction."
Bears repeating again.
Polite? No - they can just go to hell. Pretty simple.
Be Prepared Boys,We ain't done yet....The Blue-Bellies just think we are..(just between us and the walls,,that's what we want them to think,,,what a plan!)
CSA
Bless that poster's heart, huh?
Thank you for your kind words.
Much appreciated.
"But the North DID NOT go to war to end slavery. It went to war to preserve the union. Lincoln himself was willing to preserve slavery if it would preserve the union."
And by preserving the union the north could continue to rape the south financially.
Never ends
INCOMING !!!!!!!!!!!!!
You Got That Right
Here's today's fact, restorer.
The South is saving the union from the democrats.
Not one blue state.
At the cost of over 600,000 Americans? Slavery had already died off in most Northern states and other parts of the civilized world. It was also a dying institution in the South and most likely would have been dead within the next decade.
Slavery was legal in all 13 colonies when we fought for our independence from England. In fact, from the time the first European set foot on these shores until 1865, slavery existed in one form or another in America. Fortunately, people began to realize that slavery was incompatible with a nation founded on liberty, and the institution began to fade away.
Out of curiosity, are you familiar with what the New Testament says about how slaves were to be treated? Many Southern slaveowners followed those guidelines. It's difficult for us to imagine a culture in which slavery was accepted, but it was a social reality at the time. Were it deemed inherently evil back in biblical times, the Apostle Paul would have condemned Philemon for owning slaves. He didn't. In fact, he sent the runaway slave Onesimus back to his owner.
FYI, slavery existed for only 4 years under the Confederate flag; it existed for 89 years under the U.S. flag.
The honus to do so is not on me because I'm not the one urging other to preserve confederate or southern culture; the honus to define southern culture is on those who crusade to preserve all things confederate.
I do think that its fair to say there is a difference between Southern culture and confederate memorialization; the confederacy is centered on and revolves around a form of government; while Souther culture could be far more expansive.
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