Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has re-declared April as Confederate History Month in that state. The Republican gov is bringing back a tradition let go by the two Democrats who preceded him -- Mark Warner and Tim Kane.
This is a touchy one in Virginia, and McDonnell seems to know it. The official proclamation includes six "Whereas" statements -- you know, where they say "Whereas this group is so awesome" -- and four statements that "all" Virginians stand to gain from considering the sacrifices and honor of Confederate soldiers. That doesn't include the "all should unite" quote from Confederate General Robert E. Lee, or the "all our citizens" McDonnell calls on to join in the observance.
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This shouldn't surprise anyone who knows anything about the Deep South. After all, Save Your Money, Boys, The South Will Rise Again!
In our state, we can't pave or repair the roads; the schools are laying off teachers and we can't replace or repair the current ones and we can build any new ones; we have no money to provide any services to disabled people like Federal law requires us to; we have turned the blind out on the street with no rehabilitative training, BUT, BY GAWD, we can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to restore and preserve the CSS Hunley, the first operable? submarine, that sank in Charleston harbor on its maiden voyage because the entire crew had died of asphyxia do to the little oversight of planning for oxygen in the thing and it never sank a single ship except itself. You see the Republican President Pro Tem of our General Assembly Senate is a Confederate history buff and on the side a huge bigot, but he wants the Hunley preserved even though it started rotting as soon as it was brought up out of the water because it was made of wood and iron.
Top that, Virginia!
Now THAT comment was funny! Bravo Scarlet Pimpernel! I have no problem with NOT excluding Confederate history from a southern state's heritage month. It's history. Both blacks and whites need not forget our history, for better or for worse. It's what makes The United States who we are. It's there, it happened, let's study it, talk about it, and learn from it. But give it the same amount of funding as all the other "special months." Black History month, Women's History Month, etc. Don't add an extra 10 million dollars worth of funding to the Confederate Heritage Month because you have a relic to maintain. Let private funds and donations pay the bill. Maybe the state will throw in a new license plate at the DMV! Otherwise, use state funds to better your schools, roads and jobs, where apparently, they are actually really needed.
WHEREAS we all elect to conveniently forget that the Confederacy fought for the continued enslavement of black folk...
I think this guy and his minion AG are longing for the good ol' days when white folks ruled, queers were beaten and the labor was "free".
Scary...
How someone can even mention the Confederacy (let alone praise it) without mentioning slavery is beyond me.
And yet, many do all the time and insist contrary to fact that secession had nothing whatever to do with slavery. It was all about freedom, they say. But freedom to do what? And why couldn't that freedom be exercised in the same union with an anti-slavery president? Anyway, people who deny that the South seceded in order to preserve slavery should be directed to the clause in the Confederate constitution that explicitly guarantees slavery.
Unfortunately not hard to believe, given the current state of affairs in the Commonwealth of Virginia. But many of my black friends put the confederate flag just one notch below white hoods and burning crosses on the "despicable and frightening" scale.
I believe devoting an entire month to the history of the confederacy undeservedly burnishes its historical significance and expresses explicit state support of the confederacy which to me is a symbol of racism. If a month is devoted to confederate history, why not devote a month to the history of Nazism which also stood for racial superiority?
Should the good citizens of Virginia desire to commemorate confederate history, let them do it on their private property and with private funds, not with explicit state support.
The reason why Black people are not Republicans.
Exactly. Just like when you see a confederate flag, you see the face of SLAVERY. Sad.
I really really wish it had been ANOTHER VA Gov. deciding on this Confederate History Month. Maybe a Democrat. At least then it would feel like an actual attempt to provide a month of education and information. This just feels like a flag-waving, pep rally for de-reconstruction. It feels like a slap in the face, not a sensible heritage month. Especially following the loss of employment discrimination protection for gays in Virginia.
It should be embarrassing to educated Virginians that these two individuals are running the Commonwealth. If more people had read McDonnell's thesis with analysis by someone with credibility Before the election, maybe Creeds would have eeked out a win, I have examined the vote count and I think it is significant that McDonnell received fewer votes to win in the fall of 09 than McCain received to lose in the Fall of 08
I think confederate history month is a great idea. The south always gets thought of as the bad guys and if you don't think that your a klansman. It's BS! Plenty of native americans, jews, and even some free blacks fought for the south. I'm jewish and no where near a republican politically. I'm not a racist or sexist. But i fly a rebel flag in my yard. Because this is the land I live in and it is beautiful, with a rich history. In my opinion the civil war is one of the most important events in history, where americans actually got tired of eachothers @!$%# enough to fight about it. There's something to learn there so we don't do it again. It's hard to learn truth while demonizing your enemies, historically or presently. Without bias you are able to see there's no such thing as an "enemy". Shalom alechem. -Houston, Tx
Rachel, you have this all wrong.
There never were any slaves in Virginia or elsewhere in the South. How do I know this to be true?
Well, over the decades whenever I heard a Southerner discuss the Civil War, they uniformly state that THEIR ancestors never owned slaves. If all these people are telling the truth, then NOBODY ever owned any slaves. The blacks living here were probably a large African tour group just passing through.
I am sure this is the history that Gov. McDonnell wants to impart.
I am glad to have cleared this up for you.
As someone said on another thread, it would be entertaining to hear Michael Steele's reaction if he were to be asked on live TV what he thought about the candidate he supported declaring Confederate History month.
There's a wonderful rant from 2004. Here's a bit of it (censored by me to maintain a bit of decorum since I'm new to this site):
"But no, we had to kill half a million people so they'd stay part of our special Union. Fighting for the right to keep slaves - yeah, those are states we want to keep.
And now what do we get? We're the f***ing Arrogant Northeast Liberal Elite? How about this for arrogant: the South is the Real America? The Authentic America. Really?
Cause we f***ing founded this country, a**h****. Those Founding Fathers you keep going on and on about? All that bull**** about what you think they meant by the Second Amendment giving you the right to keep your assault weapons in the glove compartment because you didn't bother to read the first half of the f***ing sentence? Who do you think those wig-wearing lacy-shirt sporting revolutionaries were? They were f***ing blue-staters, d***head. Boston? Philadelphia? New York? Hello? Think there might be a reason all the f***ing monuments are up here in our backyard?"
There's a lot more to the rant and well worth a few minutes. It can be found at f***thesouth.com. Enjoy.
PS: I'd love to hear Rachel read the uncensored version on air. I think she could do it justice, but her mom might make her wash her mouth out with soap afterwards.
OMG. That's funny! Thanks for the interesting find!
I love the idea of confedrate history month. You northerners have a false sense of being the good guys in the civil war. but fact is the civil war was not fought for slavery, but for states rights to have slaves. Alot of blacks, jews and native americans fought for the south. Have to remember it was the union doing the lying and killing of indians. Not saying the south were the "good guys". I'm saying there's no such thing. It's made up so people will demonize there enemies. There is no such thing as an "enemy". I am jewish and live in Houston, i fly a rebel flag in my yard... you see alot of them around here. Not because we are klansmen but we love the land we live on. And alot of people from this land died for that flag. but the more children could be tought truth in schools about this subject the better. Considering it's one of the most important moments in US history because it's the time when we got so mad at each other we started fighting about it. You would think we would want to learn from the past so we don't repeat it. History is too important to just blame things on people dismissively. With that kind of thinking you come up with nazis were pure evil with a insane need to kill jews because they were all just crazy like that, and a befuddled look on your own face,thinking wow that doesn't make too much sense. No, no it doesn't.
I am just waiting for KKK Fridays ! ! !
It all fits in "Confederate History Month - Tea Bag Rally's - Gun Marches - Militias" Soon some Republican Senator will sponsor a bill to make Dixie the National Anthem south of the Mississippi
The Confederate battle flag has been misused and abused, as a symbol of hate. The Civil War was about States' Rights, and as we have witnessed during the Health Reform vote, that issue resurfaces now and again, even if the reasoning behind it is ridiculous. I'm a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (which is strictly for direct ancestors of Confederate soldiers) much like the DAR and the American Revolution. I'm also a Democrat. Even I view the Confederacy with a pragmatic eye, recognizing its purely historic and educational value. States' Rights may have included issues concerning slavery, among other things, but without looking at the Civil War as a product of its own time period, it's easy to try and push it towards one issue or another. Trust me, most Confederate soldiers never owned a slave, and the Northern Abolitionists were more of a fringe group than a mainstream movement. To fully understand that war, one must fully comprehend the time period, and also recognize that not all Southerners who value their heritage are filled with hate or racism. It's easy to distinguish a redneck racist waving a battle flag, from a respectful neighbor with a Bonnie Blue on their porch. I hate seeing Confederate flags as symbols of hate instead of symbols of sacrifice of an entire generation of young men and women, fighting for what they felt was worth sacrificing everything.
How many times will I have to hear that tiresome copout "the civil war wasn't about slavery." Yes, it's hard to admit that the greatest nation on earth was partly founded on wealth gained from the blood and sweat of innocent people that our citizens kidnapped, raped, tortured and, when ispired, killed. That is indeed hard to admit. But it is true all the same. The crime of slavery nearly tore this nation apart before it could even be created. What to do about slavery put the constitutional convention through hoops. Finally they got it papered over and we became a nation. And the crime of slavery festered and festered and festered. Then those who profited greatly from it decided that it was time to spread out and turn more of this growing country into a relic of European serfdom - the rich and powerful controling vast lands, holding untold numbers of helpless workers, and keeping everybody else in line with crumbs and rhetoric. The rest of the nation knew that there was no way that free people, people who actually paid their workers (however little) could compete with people who didn't. THAT's what the civil war was about. If you think it was some philosophical, political science idea like "state rights," you've been hearing too much of the rhetoric. Who fights and dies for "states rights," or "limited government?" The confederate soldiers, who indeed didn't usually own slaves, or not many, fought because they believed the glory-hype. "This is my land." (Yea, and whatever you can scratch out of it.) "We must protect our women." (Nobody was interested in your women; they just wanted your blood to protect their power!) You bet the civil war was about slavery. And the much vaunted Confederacy is the American equivalent of the 3rd Reich. Just like the 3rd Reich the Confederacy had some good things - order, style, healthy food - and it had some bad things - glorification of wealth, perpetual grinding poverty, and wide-spread ignorance. Oh, and one other thing. The Confederacy wanted everyone to call it just and honorable in human affairs, to kidnap people from their homes, take everything away from them - even their names; and then keep them and their children forever in chains. Shall we celebrate the beautiful homes this behavior built? Should be have parties and dress up like the charming ladies who trampled on the bodies of other women? I am sure that I have thieves, murderers, rapists, and even traitors among my ancestors. After all, I was born and raised in Virginia! But I don't look for their names; I don't brag about them. We certainly should not forget this peculiar history of ours. In fact we need to learn it, because most of us don't know it very well. But I wouldn't call it bragging rights.
Some people are just unteachable. Yes, of course the Civil War was about slavery. An anti-slavery (and eventually abolitionist) president was elected and immediately most of the South seceded. Then they wrote a constitution for their new country which guaranteed the right to own slaves. And then there's the Emancipation Proclamation, which essentially made the abolition of slavery the Union's war aim. Face the facts. And face the guilt.
I guess all you yankees love the fact there's no states right s anymore and the FBI can arrest doctors in california for doing some thing that californians say is legal. Or the federal government can force louisiana to raise their drinking age to 21 by threatening to cut off their highway funds. Also sorry but Abe Lincoln admitted himself that if he could perserve the union without freeing one slave he would. So no the civil war was not about slavery, yall just go on believing your idiot history books and what yalls mommies tell you. The industrial revolution would have ended slavery anyway. Tractors are faster than slaves at farming. Not to mention with the jim crow laws and rural prison farms, i would say that slavery continued for a while after. A long while. Not to mention almost no csa soldier owned slaves. They were just fighting for their country with their neighbors. I'd like to see your father and brothers go to war and than you join the enemy forces. Not likely. And don't forget yall yankees sold us alot of those slaves for cottopn and molasses. Then you say slavery is illegal but wheres our cotton and mollasses at? Fact is yall did the south like yall did the indians. Raw. Then lie about it enough so that future generationds think you were heroes instead of tyrannts. You face your guilt.
Rachel might want to consider the spirit of chattel property, where people are denied the rights of a citizen because of their orientation, race, sexual, ect., in this present national climate.
Michael A. Neel
States Rights is just the spoiled brat's philosophy of government--democracy is OK as long as I'm in the majority, but if I end up in the minority I'm taking my baseball and going home so no one can play.
My reading of history tells me we decided to be one people so built the Confederacy then replaced it with a stronger central government in 1788. The Founders gave us regularly scheduled elections and the amendment process, so we always have the legal mechanisms to implement change. There is no tyranny in that. Flirting with States Rights is flirting with treason.
You've hit on a very important point in your first paragraph. Southern, and Southern-style, 'conservatism' can fairly be described in those terms. There was a definite evolution of the right from anti-federalism to Calhoun, who's political philosophy was basically that democracy is fine unless it conflicts with the interests of the slave-owning class, in which case the slave-owning class holds a veto. Andy Jackson slapped nullification down, but the Southern right only went further off the rails and moved from nullification to secession, from wanting to overrule the federal government to smashing the country apart if things didn't go their way. Abe Lincoln slapped that down, but the lesson still hasn't been learned. Worse, the KKK metastasised in the 1920s and exported Southern-style 'conservatism' to the rest of the country. And so here we are, in the 21st century, recapitulating the drive to secession and nullification in the context of health insurance reform and everything else Democrats and leftists generally are trying to do. 'Do it my way or I'm going home' is no way to run a political party or ideology.