There are those who question why we could possibly think that there is a strong anti-Southern bias in America. After all, it is 2010, and the War ended in 1865 – almost 150 years ago. “We are all one country, right?”. Well, no, we are not. Even now, the cultural differences, the political differences, and the basic perceptions show that North and South are very different.
As an example, here is the entire contents of a thread posted yesterday on a forum for Michigan State University sports fans. In the entire thread, there is exactly one post that shows some small measure of understanding. The slanders continue until the thread is finally closed by the moderator. Anyone who does regular searches on the web on terms like “Confederate” or “Southern” will know that this is not the least bit uncommon.
June 1, 2010
Michigan State University forumhttp://www.spartantailgate.com/forums/msu-red-cedar-message-board/447217-what-does-confederate-flag-mean-you.html
What does the Confederate flag mean to you?
Spent Memorial Weekend on the Muskegon River by Hardy Dam – there’s a very nice RV resort on the water we stay at every year with another couple and their kids. We went out on their boat on Saturday and pulled up onto this beach/cove area to have a picnic lunch – lots of other boats there – I’m guessing locals. Three different house boats were flying the confederate flag – I just don’t get it. And I saw several beer coolers with confederate flag stickers all over as well.Nothing (not even rusted out cars in front of a trailer) says Redneck White Trash to me like the confederate flag.
And I’ve never seen a finer collection of tramp stamps in my life –
I would have sworn we pulled up to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert.
I’m getting old!
__________________It represents treason since they actively took up arms against their own nation. Now off to Wells this goes.
__________________Racists, inbreds that think blacks should still be slaves and that we should return to the “good ole days” when the south was king because they owned other people.
__________________It is a sign of treason, racism and the person being an ignorant moron.
__________________The flag of a country that lost a war and is no more.
__________________Confederates=losers
__________________It’s hard to know what people are thinking when they fly the Confederate flag but to me it symbolizes every bad stereotype about the south. Rednecks, slavery, racial prejudice, the KKK, isolationism, etc.
__________________rednecks, racists, mouth-breathers, knuckle-draggers, nazis, skinheads, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of right wing hate radio..
__________________I think to some it has come to represent general rebellion. To me it represents a link to part of our history, and part of this countries mindset that is not the most honorable.
Should the “South” and everything the “stars and bars” represents be remembered…yes, should it be honored…no.
__________________There is no way this thread can turn out well.
Closing it. Take it to Wells if you wish.
__________________
While I will have to agree that a beer cooler with Confederate flag stickers is hardly a respectful display of the symbols of our heritage, at least these folks were doing something. That is more than most Southerners ever do to promote the culture and heritage of The South.
This just goes to show, that the only way the UNITED STATES can exist is by the “threat of force” against anyone who dissents against the federal government’s propaganda. The brainwashed masses have no desire to learn the truth about the origin of the united States of America or how the South seceded from the united States of America because the federal government blatantly began usurping power that was never delegated to it by the states.
The federal government has successfully created a slave class that never questions its authority, never dissent unless it’s approved by the government; they allow the government to rob the people of over half their income in order to funnel it back to themselves, they have trained the people to believe that its perfectly alright to have the lawyers and politicians who do nothing more than act as parasites on those who create wealth.
The federal propaganda has demonized those who wish to be free of a centralized tyrant and continue to demonize the South and all of her heritage because the South still remains the last regional hold out against centralized power. That is why the South must always be belittled, ran down, and considered “backwards” least the people there decide that its time to ditch Washington D.C. no matter the cost.
I have enjoyed your website on several occasions especially the articles on being a gentleman which cut across many cultures. I do respect your opinions and desire to preserve many aspects of your history and culture but I don’t know why many here feel that if acknowledging some of the wrongs the south have committed or perpetrated would diminish the good the south has done.
I believe that by denying racists elements of your past and denying that the main cause of southern states secession from the union was slavery hurts rather than helps your cause.
I consider myself a student of history and when I moved to the south I heard many a counter argument to the slavery issue so I took it upon myself to study the various historical state documents of the time mainly the documents pertaining to secession of which overwhelmingly point to slavery as the leading issue, I’m sure many of you have access to the very same documents.
For me the most glaring document was the constitution of the confederacy itself:
ARTICLE I, Section 9, (4) No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in Negro slaves shall be passed.
ARTICLE IV, Section 2, (1) The citizens of each state . . . shall have the right of transit and sojourn in any state of this Confederacy with their slaves and other property; and the right of property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired.
ARTICLE IV, Section 2, (3) [A] slave or other person held to service or labor in any state or territory of the Confederate States under the laws thereof, escaping or lawfully carried into another, shall . . . be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such slave belongs.
ARTICLE IV, Section 3, (3) The Confederate States may acquire new territory. . . . In all such territory, the institution of Negro slavery as it now exists in the Confederate States shall be recognized and protected by Congress and by the Territorial government; and the inhabitants of the several Confederate States and Territories shall have the right to take to such Territory any slaves lawfully held by them in any of the States or Territories of the Confederate States
Also I find it curious that many folks speak of states’ rights but the confederate constitution did not honor states rights by allowing states to decide on their own if in some distant future they wish to end slavery.
Please understand that I’m not starting an argument but rather ask how can acknowledging the wrongs of the past hurt your cause of honoring your wonderful culture of which I am a fan? I say it doesn’t.
Respectfully and Godspeed,
Xavier Suarez
Alpharetta, GA
As a student of history, I am sure you are aware that much of what we understand of history is more a matter of perspective than of hard facts. If your understanding of history is based on what was written after the war, then you are getting the “Victor’s Version”, and the victor will always write history to suit his purpose. Click on the Resources link at the top of the page and read through the Quotes page to learn what people back then were thinking and saying. There are many contemporary books and publications and letters that give a very different version of history. Click on the “Slavery in the North” link on the Resources page.
Secondly, the position you propose is one that essentially says that the North was, compared to The South, a Utopian paradise for African slaves. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I doubt that you will find many Southerners who would say that slavery had nothing to do with the war. Our point is that The South would have left the union with or without slavery. Our point is that Blacks were NOT thought of more highly or treated better in the North than in The South. Our point is that our Southern ancestors were not “the bad guys” while Northerners were “the good guys”. While it is easier to “go along to get along”, it is not the right thing to do. We cannot and will not abandon the honor and memory of those who came before us in order to win the false approval of our contemporaries.
Thirdly, we understand that even if the assumption that North=Good and South=Bad were true and we were to prostrate ourselves and beg for forgiveness, it would only be used against us. We must never follow the example of B. Hussein Obama as he goes around the world apologizing for America being such an evil and wicked nation while praising Islam as “the religion of peace”.
I have written a post and will go ahead and publish it in the next day or so that gives my own family’s perspective on the slavery issue. My ancestors owned slaves, and I have some information on how they were thought of and were treated.
Please understand that I appreciate your approach. I understand your intention, and it is an honorable one. My intention here is to explain why it is not right, and thus, why we can never take that position. I hope that you take what I have written here as it was intended. There are few who honestly ask questions as you have, and I sincerely appreciate it. Thank you, sir.
Mr. McGehee,
Thank you for taking time to engage in me conversation, as it is greatly appreciated. What impresses me the most is that thought we may agree and/or disagree on various issues that we do so in an honorable fashion; as Gentlemen.
As I write this I cannot help but smile as in my ancestral culture as well as your own being Man of Honor (Hombre de Honor) and a Gentleman (Caballero) has always been and should always be a desired trait we instill in our sons.
I look forward to your future posts.
Sincerely,
Xavier Suarez
Thank you, sir. I too, look forward to hearing from you in the future.