BELOW THIS MESSAGE IS A VERY CONTROVERSIAL COMIC.
I WARNED YOU....
TURN AWAY IF YOU WISH...
HERE IT IS. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.
OMG, did I just do that?
Man, that was so controversial.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
A Very Controversial Comic
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
BELOW THIS MESSAGE IS A VERY CONTROVERSIAL COMIC.
I WARNED YOU....
TURN AWAY IF YOU WISH...
HERE IT IS. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.
OMG, did I just do that?
Man, that was so controversial.
BELOW THIS MESSAGE IS A VERY CONTROVERSIAL COMIC.
I WARNED YOU....
TURN AWAY IF YOU WISH...
HERE IT IS. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.
OMG, did I just do that?
Man, that was so controversial.
Monday, April 12, 2010
On Memorializing the Largest Insurrection in the History of the United States
"As governor of Virginia, I declare April to be American Civil War History Month. The American Civil War is our nation's great tragedy, a terrible conflict that left our state and our nation in tatters. To understand the Commonwealth of Virginia you must understand the causes, events, and consequences of that brutal affair. "
That's all Governor McDonnell had to say to make his recent proclamation relevant, helpful, and non-controversial. Instead he chose to name the month Confederate History Month, which is most controversial. At best it was a horribly misguided attempt by a governor to score points with his political base. At worst it was the intentional perpetuation of the "The Lost Cause", a nod to the fact that he felt the wrong side one at Appomattox.
I'm not here as an "Enlightened" Yankee trying to show how much better than he is than those damn Southerners. The Union states weren't much better than Southern states in regards to racial equality, and many in the North certainly profited from the slave-based southern economy. For the reprehensible Jim Crow laws in the south, the north had plenty of their own shameful acts (Sunset Laws, Black Laws, etc...). One cannot forget some of the harshest racism this side of Mississippi during the Civil Rights era took place in Chicago and Boston. No part of this country is excused from the dark parts of our history.
Before I go any further, however, I must state that slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War. Sure, the conversation can be much more complicated, incorporating minute and archaic debates of state rights, tariffs, and the Industrial Revolution. The fact still remains all of those arguments are related to the fact that the South was built upon a land heavy, cash light economy that worked solely because of slave labor. Every one of the other issues exclusive of slavery would never have led to war.
While the U.S. Constitution never mentioned slavery by name, the Confederate constitution made sure it wasn't ambiguous on the subject, most explicitly in the following text:
"No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed [by Congress]"
Other than making the presidency a six year single term, and giving the president a line item veto, this was the largest difference between it and the U.S. Constitution. Slavery was essential to the the existence of the Confederacy, and to argue otherwise is wrong. Sure, some southerners such as Patrick Cleburne suggested enlisting slaves in exchange for their freedom. However, the policy didn't gain any steam in the Richmond until the desperate end of the war.
I don't doubt that there were plenty of people who fought in the South who didn't give a damn about the slaves. I am aware that people in those days viewed themselves as Virginians, Alabamans, or Georgians first, and Americans second. In their mind they weren't committing treason, and may have considered those (like George Thomas) who chose country over state to be the true traitors. That doesn't change the fact that secession has been determined to be illegal, and against the nature of this country. Its treason, through and through. Even if the difference between treason and fighting for freedom is which side won.
I also don't believe that those who fought in gray, even many of those who were generals, were not evil people, even if they had wrong beliefs. It cannot be denied that thousands of soldiers from Texas to Virginia were honorable soldiers who committed many acts of valor. To paraphrase General Grant they fought very well for a cause they believed in, even though that cause was certainly wrong. It was right to treat them honorably after their surrender at Appomattox, as they were, and still are, our countrymen.
Unfortunately, too many Southerners took the benevolence of Northerners to be an admission that the Confederacy was right, and that things could go back to the antebellum state of the region. Some, like James Longstreet took the right approach. Others, such as the founders of the Ku Klux Klan, clearly felt they hadn't lost. Some headway was made during Reconstruction, but it all unraveled as the troops moved out, and Jim Crow came into play. For the next eighty or ninety years, the bulk of American historians seemed to buy this view as well, at the expense of the freemen.
Thus the disgusting cockroach of a myth known as the Lost Cause became intertwined in the South. The myth that the North didn't win, it just smothered the Confederacy with carpetbags and Springfield rifles was perpetuated, and states in Dixie celebrated memorial days for the Confederacy. You can bet a fifth grade class in Huntsville, Alabama had a different "education" about the Civil War than one in Champaign, Illinois. Movies like Birth of a Nation (that nation isn't the reunified United States) and Gone with the Wind pined for the lost south of plantations and balls, and excoriated those awful "carpetbaggers" and "black Republicans" who ruined their fun.
Fortunately, with the Civil Rights movement came a more realistic approach to the history of the Civil War. Of course, with this shift in historical focus came a reaction that clung, and still clings, hard to the myths of the past. Organizations like the Confederate Sons of America have done their damn best to make sure their version of the history remains intact, and far too many Americans (including a disturbing amount of Northerners) fly the rebel battle flag proudly.
Let me be clear that I am saying the faults and atrocities of the Union should be ignored. The hell of Camp Douglas should be remembered as much as Andersonville. There is no problem remembering the tenacity of the troops in Pickett's Charge, or remembering how well your great great grandfather fought at Chickamauga. Want to show his rifle or pistol in your den in remembrance of him? Fine.
All I am saying is remember the entirety of the story. Remember the sacrifices and struggles of those who fought for the preservation of our union. Remember the valor of the men who made that charge at Marye's Heights, and the heroism of the Iron Brigade at Gettysburg. Remember the struggle of African Americans, both free and slave, who fought and struggled for their freedom from that most undemocratic institution. Most of all, remember the horrors of the Shiloh, Antietam, and the Spotsylvania, and make sure that tragedy doesn't repeat itself.
I have no doubt the right side won the Civil War. A strong and united country stretching from Maine to Florida, Massachusetts to California is much better than the alternative. Had the Confederacy won its freedom, whether in September 1862, July 1863, or August 1864, it wouldn't have been the last war between the two countries. What's worse, the French and the British would have been our enemies instead of our friends, and the world may very well have been a much meaner place. The thought that I wouldn't be able to visit the Smoky Mountains, or Mississippians wouldn't be able to go to Yellowstone, without a passport and/or visa is not a good thought.
I know the vast majority of Americans also believe in the strength of our union. Sure, a few whackjobs still believe that their state should secede (not all of them in the south), but they still remain on the fringe. Of course, the Teabaggers in some states have jumped up the rhetoric, with even some prominent Republicans (see Rick Perry) supporting secession in some hypothetical future. However, I believe that most Americans aren't willing to begin another Civil War. At least they would if they know the story of our first Civil War. Promoting the history of our nation's most traumatic event is a noble and laudable goal. However, limiting it to that one misguided side is neither noble nor laudable. Its beneath any American, whether they live in Richmond, VA, or Washington, DC.
That's all Governor McDonnell had to say to make his recent proclamation relevant, helpful, and non-controversial. Instead he chose to name the month Confederate History Month, which is most controversial. At best it was a horribly misguided attempt by a governor to score points with his political base. At worst it was the intentional perpetuation of the "The Lost Cause", a nod to the fact that he felt the wrong side one at Appomattox.
I'm not here as an "Enlightened" Yankee trying to show how much better than he is than those damn Southerners. The Union states weren't much better than Southern states in regards to racial equality, and many in the North certainly profited from the slave-based southern economy. For the reprehensible Jim Crow laws in the south, the north had plenty of their own shameful acts (Sunset Laws, Black Laws, etc...). One cannot forget some of the harshest racism this side of Mississippi during the Civil Rights era took place in Chicago and Boston. No part of this country is excused from the dark parts of our history.
Before I go any further, however, I must state that slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War. Sure, the conversation can be much more complicated, incorporating minute and archaic debates of state rights, tariffs, and the Industrial Revolution. The fact still remains all of those arguments are related to the fact that the South was built upon a land heavy, cash light economy that worked solely because of slave labor. Every one of the other issues exclusive of slavery would never have led to war.
While the U.S. Constitution never mentioned slavery by name, the Confederate constitution made sure it wasn't ambiguous on the subject, most explicitly in the following text:
"No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed [by Congress]"
Other than making the presidency a six year single term, and giving the president a line item veto, this was the largest difference between it and the U.S. Constitution. Slavery was essential to the the existence of the Confederacy, and to argue otherwise is wrong. Sure, some southerners such as Patrick Cleburne suggested enlisting slaves in exchange for their freedom. However, the policy didn't gain any steam in the Richmond until the desperate end of the war.
I don't doubt that there were plenty of people who fought in the South who didn't give a damn about the slaves. I am aware that people in those days viewed themselves as Virginians, Alabamans, or Georgians first, and Americans second. In their mind they weren't committing treason, and may have considered those (like George Thomas) who chose country over state to be the true traitors. That doesn't change the fact that secession has been determined to be illegal, and against the nature of this country. Its treason, through and through. Even if the difference between treason and fighting for freedom is which side won.
I also don't believe that those who fought in gray, even many of those who were generals, were not evil people, even if they had wrong beliefs. It cannot be denied that thousands of soldiers from Texas to Virginia were honorable soldiers who committed many acts of valor. To paraphrase General Grant they fought very well for a cause they believed in, even though that cause was certainly wrong. It was right to treat them honorably after their surrender at Appomattox, as they were, and still are, our countrymen.
Unfortunately, too many Southerners took the benevolence of Northerners to be an admission that the Confederacy was right, and that things could go back to the antebellum state of the region. Some, like James Longstreet took the right approach. Others, such as the founders of the Ku Klux Klan, clearly felt they hadn't lost. Some headway was made during Reconstruction, but it all unraveled as the troops moved out, and Jim Crow came into play. For the next eighty or ninety years, the bulk of American historians seemed to buy this view as well, at the expense of the freemen.
Thus the disgusting cockroach of a myth known as the Lost Cause became intertwined in the South. The myth that the North didn't win, it just smothered the Confederacy with carpetbags and Springfield rifles was perpetuated, and states in Dixie celebrated memorial days for the Confederacy. You can bet a fifth grade class in Huntsville, Alabama had a different "education" about the Civil War than one in Champaign, Illinois. Movies like Birth of a Nation (that nation isn't the reunified United States) and Gone with the Wind pined for the lost south of plantations and balls, and excoriated those awful "carpetbaggers" and "black Republicans" who ruined their fun.
Fortunately, with the Civil Rights movement came a more realistic approach to the history of the Civil War. Of course, with this shift in historical focus came a reaction that clung, and still clings, hard to the myths of the past. Organizations like the Confederate Sons of America have done their damn best to make sure their version of the history remains intact, and far too many Americans (including a disturbing amount of Northerners) fly the rebel battle flag proudly.
Let me be clear that I am saying the faults and atrocities of the Union should be ignored. The hell of Camp Douglas should be remembered as much as Andersonville. There is no problem remembering the tenacity of the troops in Pickett's Charge, or remembering how well your great great grandfather fought at Chickamauga. Want to show his rifle or pistol in your den in remembrance of him? Fine.
All I am saying is remember the entirety of the story. Remember the sacrifices and struggles of those who fought for the preservation of our union. Remember the valor of the men who made that charge at Marye's Heights, and the heroism of the Iron Brigade at Gettysburg. Remember the struggle of African Americans, both free and slave, who fought and struggled for their freedom from that most undemocratic institution. Most of all, remember the horrors of the Shiloh, Antietam, and the Spotsylvania, and make sure that tragedy doesn't repeat itself.
I have no doubt the right side won the Civil War. A strong and united country stretching from Maine to Florida, Massachusetts to California is much better than the alternative. Had the Confederacy won its freedom, whether in September 1862, July 1863, or August 1864, it wouldn't have been the last war between the two countries. What's worse, the French and the British would have been our enemies instead of our friends, and the world may very well have been a much meaner place. The thought that I wouldn't be able to visit the Smoky Mountains, or Mississippians wouldn't be able to go to Yellowstone, without a passport and/or visa is not a good thought.
I know the vast majority of Americans also believe in the strength of our union. Sure, a few whackjobs still believe that their state should secede (not all of them in the south), but they still remain on the fringe. Of course, the Teabaggers in some states have jumped up the rhetoric, with even some prominent Republicans (see Rick Perry) supporting secession in some hypothetical future. However, I believe that most Americans aren't willing to begin another Civil War. At least they would if they know the story of our first Civil War. Promoting the history of our nation's most traumatic event is a noble and laudable goal. However, limiting it to that one misguided side is neither noble nor laudable. Its beneath any American, whether they live in Richmond, VA, or Washington, DC.
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