Here's a "huzzah!" for the boys in butternut!
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Posted on 05/24/2002 4:53:47 PM PDT by Pokey78
Americans clash over the heritage of the Civil War, reports Oliver Poole in Atlanta
Every Saturday evening at Stone Mountain, a granite monolith outside Atlanta carved with giant sculptures of the South's most cherished Civil War heroes, the spirit of old Dixie still beats strong.
Hundreds gather for a spectacular laser show celebrating the region's history and to sing old war songs, as the Stars and Bars and Confederacy Battle Flag flutter on flagpoles.
The last shot of the Civil War may have been fired almost 150 years ago but anyone visiting the South soon learns that "Yankee" is still a term of abuse for those from the North.
A new battle is now raging across the South over the ideological heritage of the Civil War. It pits those who claim it is their right to feel pride in their forebears' endeavours against those who do not want to celebrate a fight to preserve slavery.
It is a war with many fronts. Mississippi recently voted to defeat a measure to change the state's flag as it included a miniature version of the Confederate battle flag.
In New Orleans the owners of the Confederate Museum, which owns the nation's second largest collection of Civil War artefacts, had to launch a legal battle to prevent its closure after local black groups protested that its symbols were racist.
In Franklin, Tennessee, there was outrage when a Pizza Hut was built on the site where General Patrick Clebourne, one of the South's ablest generals, fell storming Union artillery.
Local Civil War remembrance bodies believe "insults" such as this have helped spur a boost in membership.
Whatever the reason the result has been that those who see themselves as the modern heirs of the men who donned grey uniforms are launching their own campaigns. Enthusiasts are also visiting schools and community centres to compete with what is seen as Union propaganda.
In North Carolina one pamphlet was issued stating it is a "popular myth that the war was fought to free slaves" and "an estimated 65,000 African Americans assisted the Confederacy cause".
It is here - on these historical assertions - that concern over what this longing to protect past memories is growing. Though few historians have difficulty with attempts to protect the past, many do oppose what they see as attempts to rewrite history.
William Davis, director of programmes at the Virginia Centre for Civil War Studies, said that although some southerners brought along their servants there was no evidence that more than a handful of blacks fought.
"[People] are clinging to the part of the history that never was," he said. "You see it's bad enough to be the only Americans to have lost a war; it's worse if you lost it for a bad cause."
It is a view rarely heard from Georgians at Stone Mountain. There "The Cause" is still talked about in semi-mystical terms.
If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
I hopped and skipped about with joy when a soldier said to me,
would you rather have Jeff Davis' beard or the sword of Bobbie Lee.
The General said "we'll set us down and we will rest a spell".
but for the first time we all heard that awful rebel yell.
We said we’ll run ’em to Atlanta and to Gal-ves-ton Bay,
but they ran us back to Washington and Phil-a-del-phi-a.
Cause you fought all the way Johnny Reb, Johnny Reb.
Cause you fought all the way Johnny Reb.
Bless their hearts!
Here's a "huzzah!" for the boys in butternut!
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Look away...look away...look away, Dixie land.
I'm gonna have to quit drinking this Mike's tea. It makes me want to sing and nobody else wants to sing.
States Rights is a good cause - one has only to compare our present federal government to the government our founders envisioned.
If those who would destroy Southern history b/c of slavery really must destroy all American history - the Union practiced legal slavery for hundreds of years. Let's get over it!
I am not for the destruction, denial, or distortion of history because of slavery. We can "get real" about slavery and appreciate the good about both the Union and the Confederacy.
"Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land"
One doesn't "destroy Southern history" by pointing out that the Confederacy was deeply flawed because it was dedicated to the evil institution of slavery. And there is a huge difference between the Union barely tolerating slavery for too long and the Confederacy making slaveholding its very foundation.
That "barely tolerating" creating many tran-atlantic slave ships and made many Yankee men rich off the slave trade. South is just as guilty of practicing slavery as the North. All you have to do is realize the wrongs of both sides - that's all. The Yankee "holier-than thou" attitude doesn't look so good when you look at the facts. Don't hold it over the South's head when the North had slavery in it's own backyard.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
