Adam Wilson is a senior math major. He can be reached at acwilson74@hotmail.com
Posted on 10/21/2003 8:51:05 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
On a recent trip to Georgia, I visited the majestic Stone Mountain. Carved into the face of this sheer cliff of granite are the images of three Southern heroes: Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. These men are among the most revered in that part of the country and are possibly even more popular than the "founding fathers" of America. Besides this towering monument, there are countless streets, schools and buildings named in their honor throughout the South. I finally had to ask myself: Why?
Given our current war against terrorism and our concerns about international Islamic fundamentalism, it is worth considering the similarities of the historical Confederacy and the existing al-Qaeda terrorist network. The Confederacy was founded to perpetuate a lifestyle that included the systematic terrorization of blacks. Slavery existed partly because whites used their own version of religious fundamentalism to justify and legitimize the dehumanization of blacks. The Civil War led to the deaths of more than 360,000 American soldiers, more than 100 times the number of Americans killed by Osama bin Laden and his followers. The terrorism against blacks because of slavery continued for hundreds of years, resulting in countless deaths and devastating suffering. Thus, al-Qaeda has a ways to go to meet the horrors of the Confederacy and the antebellum South.
Despite causing far more damage to the United States, Davis, Lee, Jackson and other enemies of our country are now revered as war heroes. Museums throughout the South commemorate their acts of courage. Am I too harsh on those who just want to remember their storied heritage and honor their ancestors who fought and died? The past is always worth remembering, but it's not always worth honoring and is sometimes a source of shame.
How many Germans are proud of what they accomplished in the 1930s? Adolf Hitler did a great job rescuing the German economy, which flourished under the Nazis. Why not celebrate that glorious heritage and ignore the terror of his regime? Instead, we see museums around the world reminding us of the terrible horrors Hitler's Germany inflicted. And why not hang Soviet flags to commemorate another historical enemy of the United States that no longer exists?
As a descendant of slaves, I take great personal offense that the Confederacy is celebrated and the "Stars and Bars" continue to fly in public places. For all the good it may represent to white Southerners, it will always be a symbol of oppression, humiliation and intolerance to blacks. We need to follow the lead of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which organized a boycott of South Carolina in 2000 when the state refused to remove the Confederate flag from its statehouse. Although the South Carolina legislature reached a compromise that resulted in the flag being moved from the Capitol lawn, the boycott has not been lifted because the flag still flies in a prominent public space.
This is not an issue confined just to Southern states. Maryland has shown its endorsement of Confederacy commemoration in at least two locations. Maryland donated a state flag to the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va., to honor those Marylanders who betrayed their country and fought for the South. Our flag hangs in symbolic unity with the flags of the Confederate states. At a monument to the Battle of South Mountain in western Maryland, near Boonsboro, the Confederate flag flies over a memorial to rebel soldiers who died there.
Should we, as students of Maryland's largest state-run institution and thus ambassadors of our state to the rest of the country, tolerate this kind of misrepresentation of our state's ideals? Shouldn't we be proud the leaders of Maryland kept us out of the Confederacy instead of celebrating those traitors that sided with the enemy? We need to rethink our nation's historical perception of the Confederacy.
Adam Wilson is a senior math major. He can be reached at acwilson74@hotmail.com
The article is unfounded, contains historical innacuracies, and wholly based on a misinformed opinion.
The article is unfounded, contains historical innacuracies, and wholly based on a misinformed opinion.
You may want to ask the Admin Moderator to add a Barf Alert in the title to avoid flaming arrows in your direction.
Isn't that the dude from the Subway commercials?
Why is it that I read this and think of Bull Connor, a member of the Democratic Party? And that the Republicans are the ones who pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through, despite a lot of opposition of the Democrats?
Were many blacks free in the South? And didn't blacks own slaves? Didn't blacks in Africa gather their own when the slave ships appeared on the horizon? Weren't there blacks who fought on the Confederate side? Were the Yankees all that accomodating of blacks before the Civil War?
Apparently math majors who are members of the Greivance Industry have selective memories too....
And you Sir, our permanently victimized "brother", need to pull your head out of your rectum.
Here's your shoehorn.
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