Confederate Colonel

Southern Nationalism is the effort to create a new Southern Homeland by secession of the Southern states or by other political means.

Judging by the number of Southern Nationalist organizations that keep popping up, whose primary goal is the establishment of a Southern homeland by secession or by other political means, it appears that a growing number of Southerners are taking this seriously. I can certainly sympathize with the dream of a revived Confederacy, and I agree that the Confederate States of America never officially surrendered (only the armed forces surrendered, and they do not have the authority to surrender a nation), making the Southern states a dormant sovereign nation occupied by the U.S. federal government. That said, those who seriously advocate Southern secession at this point in history are demonstrating an incredible lack of understanding about politics, sociology, and demographics.

One of the key concepts that I have learned from years of involvement in politics and the study of what influences culture is this: Nothing changes until the culture changes. A classic example of what happens when major changes are made without first changing the dominant culture is the “Reagan Revolution”. While it had a major impact on American life at the time, it is now just a minor footnote in history. Why? Because the Reagan Revolution was essentially the work of a fairly small group of very dedicated and very talented people who pushed through their own agenda by sheer force of will. Their agenda was a noble one, but it was not built on a solid foundation. In fact, it was not built on any sort of foundation at all. The people simply went along for the ride until they were tired of it, and then promptly returned to the false comfort of the nanny state government. Without the support of a sympathetic culture, the Reagen Revolution faded into the mist of history.

Short of creating a tyrannical military dictatorship (something no Southerner could possibly support), Southern Nationalism is just a fantasy. Even worse than being a harmless fantasy, this movement drains strength from where it is really needed - working to make real changes in the culture so that one day, Southern values will once again be seen for the noble ideals that our ancestors worked and fought and died for.

Even with the best efforts to change the culture, the chance of any widespread shift in attitude about The South is probably close to non-existent. A far better approach is to concentrate on building small enclaves of Southern culture that exist within the rotting corpse of what now passes for American culture. We need to shift our focus away from the political realm that we cannot control and toward that which we can control - our families and our circle of friends and relatives.

Southern Nationalism is an idea that needs a major dose of reality stirred into the mix, and the reality is that it is a completely unworkable idea. Instead of working for something like that, we need to focus our attention much closer to home - our homes and our families. Our post in the government of the Confederate States of America is not that of Secretary of War or Secretary of State, but as an Ambassador of Southern culture.

This is from a junk email that I received recently. It reminds me of a “What’s wrong with this picture” puzzle:

Here’s the magazine that they were trying to get me to buy:

Frankly, I don’t see much of anything “Southern” about it at all. It brings to mind a very appropriate quote:

Every time I look at Atlanta I see what a quarter of a million Confederate soldiers died to prevent.
John Shelton Reed

Now, there is certainly nothing wrong with entertaining guests with your finest china and silverware - it shows a respect for your guests and graciousness in the finest Southern tradition. But, “The Cocktail Hour” in the Bible Belt? “Classic style in New York”? I have no problem with Northerners living and entertaining in Northern style; in fact I’m glad to see them do so - it serves to set them apart from Southerners. I have a real problem with taking Northern ways of doing things and trying to convince people that it is a better way for The South. This kind of “Pseudo-Southern” style is as repulsive as a Hollywood fake Southern accent. I love to hear a genuine sweet Southern accent. I wish I had one, but I certainly won’t try to fake it. Someone who is not from The South would probably insist that I have a Southern accent, but any true Southerner knows better. I simply have no accent to speak of - a sad side effect of spending my early years in South Florida.

Back to the topic at hand: Let’s make sure that we don’t fall for the “Pseudo-Southern” anything - including the Southern=Redneck mentality that has been beaten into much of The South. That is a loser mentality - something that is clearly NOT Southern.