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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Posted on 01/18/2003 8:56:08 PM PST by stainlessbanner
The battle cry of the unreconstructed Rebel used to be "Forget, hell!"
Now it seems to be simply "Forget." And some promoters of black pride are shouting "Amen." Who wants to remember history that is painful?
George Santayana once wrote that those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. But what did George know about the American Civil War?
The former "forget, hell" people in the Mobile, Ala., area are frothing at the mouth over a proposal by Jim and Mary Anne Petty of Gulfport, Miss., to open "The Middle Passage," a museum of slavery in their city. And descendants of the slaves the museum would commemorate are echoing the sounds of forgetting. A lot of white folks don't want to be reminded that their ancestors once either practiced or condoned slavery. And a lot of black folks don't want to be reminded that their ancestors were slaves.
People who wouldn't be caught dead admitting that either the Confederate States of America or the Confederate Battle Flag had a thing to do with slavery are suddenly asserting that if they can't fly their flag, the Pettys shouldn't be allowed to have their museum.
That kind of logic has me persuaded. Let's erase all memories of the unpleasant past. It doesn't do any good to dredge them up and it causes problems for those who deny that the past has anything to do with the way things are today.
To begin with, let's abolish the Holocaust Museum in Washington. It's offensive to people of German ancestry. And if you're Jewish, why be reminded of the injustices done to your people? After all, the Jews in Israel are doing a pretty good job of taking up for themselves. Let's let bygones by bygones.
Forget about the USS Arizona resting on the floor of Pearl Harbor. It's offensive to Japanese. Most of the Japanese alive today had nothing to do with the attack of Dec. 7, 1941, and would rather vacation in Hawaii than bomb it. As for Americans, who wants to be reminded of the way the American government and military made it easy for an attacker to make mincemeat of the Pacific Fleet?
Let's disband the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. All they do is remind us of a time when the nation was divided, its sons engaged in a fratricidal war. Abolish the NAACP, too. It reminds blacks and whites that once upon a time not too long ago the two races were kept separate, as if one might contaminate the other.
And let's certainly don't bring up the subject of slavery in the context of the Confederacy. We all know (at least those taught the untarnished story of the South and the immaculate conception of our ancestors) that the Confederacy had nothing to do with slavery. It was a valiant effort to prevent Abe Lincoln from destroying Southern property rights.
While we're at it, the Alamo should be turned into a shopping mall. It's offensive to Mexicans, who don't want to be reminded of the way the United States deprived them of some of their most valuable territory. And Texans don't want to be reminded that, after all, they lost the battle.
Let's even abolish the Bible book of Exodus. It's offensive to Egyptians, who don't want to be reminded of the 10 plagues or the bath Pharaoh's troops took in the Red Sea.
If we reject the Middle Passage Museum with its collection of artifacts related to slavery, we can go back to our placid old ways without once being reminded of all those bad things people say about slavery. We won't be able to see the branding irons, whips, shackles and other reminders of the rough side of the South's "peculiar institution."
Maybe we can convince ourselves that the slaves were brought here by the evil Dutch, British and Yankees, and our Southern ancestors did their philanthropic duty by providing them with homes, food, clothing and instruction in Christianity.
We can believe that the slaves were happy under the benevolent hands of their masters, spending their days in wholesome and healthful labor and their evenings playing banjos, singing, and dancing under the chinaberries.
We can believe that the bad guys were the ones who wanted to free the slaves and the good guys were the ones who wanted to keep them.
And we can buy into the attitude that being a slave to white plantation owners was a disgrace, but being a slave to drugs or a dupe of gang leaders and pulpit-pounding charlatans is not.
Of course we could take George Santayana at his word and learn what we can about the past; about what slavery really was like; about the real reasons more than 600,000 Americans gave their lives fighting a war waged by one section against the other; about the connection between that war and the racial tensions that still are a major source of worry for Americans; about what we might do to prevent a repetition of the conditions that have plagued our society these past 142 years.
But for whites, that would be like acknowledging that their ancestors, well-intentioned though they might have been, practiced something that was wrong and fought a war to preserve the practice. And for blacks, that would be like acknowledging that for 245 years, their ancestors bore the yoke of slavery. Far better to leave our posterity in danger of repeating the mistakes of the past than to cast aspersions on the dead.
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Amen!
TXnMA
Let them have their museum, and we shall keep flying our flag! The 1st Amendment isn't race specific ... it pertains to all Americans. Don't forget the past, nor should we let them denigrate our ancestors.
like the 15,000+ rebel POWs, who were murdered in coldblood (drowned,bludgeoned,bayoneted & shot) by the damnyankees, at Point Lookout POW (DEATH) Camp in MD.
may i also suggest that you also read TO DIE IN CHICAGO & PORTALS TO HELL. NEITHER book is suitable reading for children at bedtime!
FRee dixie,sw
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