Posted on 08/20/2017 5:16:19 AM PDT by EyesOfTX
When the news came out that a Civil War reenactment scheduled to take place at the Manassas battlefield in Virginia was being cancelled due to fears over possible violence from leftwing groups like Antifa and Black Lives Matter, I saw a tweet from some guy saying something to the effect that “The Civil War was 152 years ago – why can’t black people just get over it?”
Now, I’m a conservative and I’m pretty sure I had ancestors who fought for the South in the Civil War, since both sides of my family came into this country in the late 18th/early 19th centuries through North Carolina, but I found that tweet quite offensive, and can only imagine how offensive any descendant of slaves might find it. But we see that argument expressed quite often by those who, for whatever reason, feel the need to continue reenacting Civil War battles, flying the stars and bars out in front of their house, and defending the need to keep statues of Jefferson Davis on some university campus or on the grounds of some other public building.
I often wonder if these folks ever consider the other side of that same argument, which is this: “The Civil War ended 152 years ago – why can’t confederacy defenders just get over it?” Seriously, think about it: isn’t 152 years long enough to honor the leaders of what was in fact an armed rebellion against the United States of America? Does it really take more than the six or seven generations that have passed through your families since 1865 to get those resentments out of your blood?
Seriously, take a step back for just a minute and think: Does it really matter to your life if that statue of Jefferson Davis or Robert E. Lee keeps standing out in front of your local courthouse? Have you ever stopped to think about how it must feel to descendants of slaves who surely live in your community to walk by that statue knowing that their tax dollars help pay for its upkeep and public display?
And please, don’t give me that crap about the Civil War not being about preservation of slavery. If you’re one of the people who uses that line, I want to personally challenge you to take a few hours out of your day to read each state’s articles of confederation. If you do that, you will find that all 11 confederate states listed the preservation of slavery as a reason for their decision, and 9 of the 11 states listed it as the first reason. Save that argument for someone else.
Then there’s the argument about “we have to preserve our history!”, and with that one, I’m in full agreement. But keeping a statue of Stonewall Jackson out on the courthouse lawn for 120 years doesn’t really teach anyone anything about history, does it? Not without the provision of context.
Our biggest problem in the current hysteria from the political left over these monument is that we now have two full generations of young people who haven’t been given any real context about any of this in our schools and universities. The teaching of civics and American History was de-emphasized during the ’70s and ’80s, after the radicals of the ’60s came to dominate our education system, in favor of indoctrinating our children with all sorts of leftwing nonsense.
Unless they took American history or civics as an elective, the only thing anyone under 40 or so has ever been taught about Robert E. Lee or Stonewall Jackson is what they get from the news media, and the only message they get from the news media is that they were eeeeevil, which of course is not true. They were just men, products of their time and place, doing what they believed to be their civic duty. But the public lacks that context – all they have in their minds is that simplistic notion they’ve learned from the media.
And so, when they walk past these statues they have an emotional reaction, because they have no understanding whatsoever of who those men really were and the things they did with their lives outside of the few years of the War.
It seems to me that the biggest problem about this entire controversy is that both sides are reacting out of emotion and ignorance. How can we expect to be a unified nation if so many of our citizens know next-to-nothing about what this nation even is?
In all of this controversy, there is an opportunity here for President Trump to take initiative to prove he is a different kind of leader. A good approach to helping the nation heal would be for Republicans and Democrats to work together to remove all Civil War-related statues – Union and Confederacy alike – from taxpayer-funded public places in an organized, systematic way, and establish a series of Civil War museums around the country where they could reside.
Perhaps establish a bi-partisan commission to then develop a curriculum to be taught in guided tours through these museums that would actually educate attendees and provide context for the people depicted in the statues. Seems to me this could become a centerpiece of the President’s Infrastructure proposal.
I know that’s a pipe dream, since the Democrats seem to be hell-bent on continuing to divide this country along racial lines, but I keep hoping they might wake up sometime soon and realize this is a huge loser of an issue for them. Every poll taken on this question proves that to be the case.
Regardless, this would be a constructive approach for President Trump and his Education and Interior Departments to take to the matter. Take the initiative here, Mr. President, and demand the Democrats explain why they refuse to work towards a peaceful solution to such a divisive issue. Provide the public with some context here, both politically and historically.
Just another day in lack of context America.
That is all.
"In all of this controversy, there is an opportunity here for President Trump to take initiative to prove he is a different kind of leader. A good approach to helping the nation heal would be for Republicans and Democrats to work together to remove all Civil War-related statues – Union and Confederacy alike – from taxpayer-funded public places in an organized, systematic way, and establish a series of Civil War museums around the country where they could reside.
gfy.
The author needs to get bent!! Historical reenactments are part of history and help to instruct the public. The only thing worse than black racists who create non issues like this are white people who pander to them.
“And please, don’t give me that crap about the Civil War not being about preservation of slavery.”
Well, it’s not usually said that way. It’s usually, “Slavery was not the cause of The War Between the States.”
Of course there is some truth in both those statements even if imprecisely stated. Over the years I’ve tried to correct the fuzziness of such statements and put it into context that is part history lesson.
The War Between the States was not STARTED with the intent of freeing the slaves. It simply wasn’t. As Lincoln clearly stated before and during the war, the goal was to preserve the union. This is important because way too many people today believe the north took up some grand crusade to free slaves. They did not. Period. That was a final outcome, to be sure. But Lincoln nor Congress ever expressed a goal of making war with the Confederacy as being to free slaves. Not in the beginning.
If only all people would heed “do unto others...”, we wouldn’t be having these problems.
What’s going on now has absolutely nothing to do with the Civil War. It’s a topic that Community Organizer Obama has chosen to utilize as a tool to create chaos for Trump. He figured he could drop a few hot-button phrases out there, get the retards all riled up, and then sit back and fiddle while America implodes.
NOTHING to do with the Civil War.
We got over the first civil war in true American fashion. This second has nothing to do with the first. It is AMERICA under attack NOT some stage of her history.
5he Civil war was not just about slavery, far from it. I think the most important thing about the civil war was the forceful expansion of Federalism over States Rights. It is when we as a country discovered that the 7nited States were united in chains, not freedom and rights.
We need to look on those statues and that flag and remember that those dead were Americans too, killed by the over reach of power by the Federal government. It is that reason the symbols of the Civil war are being targeted at 5 his time, as the Leviathan of our Federal government feels threatened and wishes to put the sheeple asleep.
It is a lot easier to cut the throat of a sleeping sheep. 5he Federal government demonstrated they care little for their flock the last Civil War, let us not let them force another on us.
We need to get over the last 30 years of libtard insanity.
Confederate monuments began going up more than a century ago. During all of the decades in which they led marches, demonstrations and the like, I don’t recall civil rights leaders making one peep about such monuments. Liberal in Congress walked past statues of Confederates in the Capitol and never said a word of disapproval. Why did it take until 2017 for Confederate monuments to suddenly become offensive?
There’s a few posters on FR who haven’t gotten over the first Civil War.
Not “might”.
We have had enough of low IQ morons acting out 1984.
They should, and will, find out that actions have consequences.
Their chickens will come home too.
Author seems to have the depth of understanding of the war between the states as a car traveling past a field off the freeway.
Not only did the south lose all their wealth they had to go through a particularly pernicious period of “reconstruction”.
I read this crap, and the only thing I think is: “Why can’t black people get over the Civil War?”
What a tool.
The civil war is just an excuse. They hate this country and pretend to be still hurting from slavery so as to justify their priviliged victim status.
“Why did it take until 2017 for Confederate monuments to suddenly become offensive?”
Saul Alinsky; “Pick something and polarize it.” The reason community organizers, a communist appellation, have power is they can put a rabid crowd on target. The bigger the crowd the greater the power. Racism has been the Democratic theme for years. Now, it’s about the only arrow in their quiver. The problem they are going to have is, people, including their own unpaid protesters, will tire of it. The protests, paid and unpaid, have probably reached their zenith. All of this will end when the civic authorities come down hard with water cannons and arrests. But what the authorities need to do is go after the financing. These are acts of terror and there are a dozen good laws for prosecuting terror financing. All right, civic authorities, you’re up for bat. Hit a home run!
The Left WANTS a Civil War. They have only ever gained power when society decends into violence. The French revolution and its reign of terror and the Russian revolution and it bolshevik takeover are shining examples for the Left.
THE LEFT WANTS WAR. The Left wants to destroy America and Western Civilization so they can take over and usher in a new leftist theocracy.
The author laments about the lack of education about the Civil War and its participants but supports the idea of removing statues commemorating those in that war? He doesn’t see the disconnect there?
In other words he actually thinks it would be better for everyone’s education if the statues themselves were removed from their own historical context and placed in some out of the way museum somewhere? And people who hate the statues now are going to flock to these museums to learn their true history?
Here’s a newsflash for the author: this isn’t about the damn statues, it’s about seizing control and power and this is just another vehicle the ctrl-left is using to that end. They couldn’t care less about educating themselves.
Get a clue.
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