Tag: Confederate States of America

bookmark_borderThe future of Confederate memorial parks…

Posted on by Marissa

A pretty cool AI (I assume) creation from Confederate Coffee Company:

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by A Proud Confederate Business. The Coffee of the South. (@confederatecoffeecompany)

I certainly hope so. And I particularly appreciate the hashtags #Inclusion and #TrueInclusivity. Indeed, contrary to popular belief, Confederate symbols are symbols of inclusion, because the Confederates were rebels who fought back against authority, and their symbols therefore signify rebellion, resistance, and nonconformity in all their forms. There cannot be true inclusivity without including the Confederates.

bookmark_borderRemembering the Lion of Atlanta

Posted on by Marissa

A monument vandalized and destroyed by people who only care about the perspectives, the rights, and the feelings of the majority; who only tolerate the existence of people like themselves; who deliberately inflict harm and pain on people who are different for no other purpose than to inflict harm and pain:

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Judy Smith (@judysmithphotography)

“The importance of preserving history and heritage, even in the face of controversy and loss.”

Amen to that. Every day, I strive to continue on in defiance of the people that I described above. On many days, this feels impossible. The pain reaches unbearable levels and my efforts feel pointless. Yet I keep trying to take meaningful steps to honor the historical figures that matter to me, and to find a meaningful path forward despite the horrific losses that they have inflicted. Because no matter what the people described above might think, preserving history and heritage are truly important.

bookmark_borderWise words about the Confederacy by Lyon Gardiner Tyler

Posted on by Marissa

The Virginia Flaggers made a great post, in honor of Confederate History and Heritage Month, quoting from the book “A Confederate Catechism” by Lyon Gardiner Tyler. In the book, Tyler answers commonly asked questions about Confederacy. Here’s an excerpt: 

6. Did the South fight for slavery or the extension of slavery?

No; for had Lincoln not sent armies to the South, that country would have done no fighting at all.

7. Did the South fight for the overthrow of the United States Government?

No; the South fought to establish its own government. Secession did not destroy the Union, but merely reduced its territorial extent. The United States existed when there were only thirteen States, and it would have existed when there were twenty States left. The charge brought by Lincoln that the aim of the Southerners was to overthrow the government was no more true than if King George III had said that the secession of the American colonies from Great Britain had in view the destruction of the British Government. The government of Great Britain was not destroyed by the success of the American States in 1783. Nor would the government of the United States have been destroyed if the Southern States had succeeded in repelling the attacks of the North in 1861- 1865. Had the North refrained from conquest, its example would have been felt by Germany and there would have been no World War costing millions of lives. A group of Northern States in 1861-65 assumed the imperialistic attitude of Great Britain in 1776 and Germany in 1914, and substituted the armed fist for the American principle of self-government. Universal peace will never ensue till the principle of self- government, which requires no armies to maintain it, is recognized throughout the world.

(emphasis mine)

Once more for the people in the back: Secession did not destroy the Union, but merely reduced its territorial extent.

This is an excellent rebuttal of the brainless, hackneyed, repeated-ad-nauseam lie that the Confederates tried to “tear the country apart” and “destroy the union.” The Confederates attempted to leave the United States. And there is literally absolutely nothing wrong with that, whatsoever. People have a fundamental right to leave something if they want to. Leaving something is not the same as destroying it. Just as it doesn’t destroy a team, or a friend group, or a get-together, or a party, or a class, or a club, or a company, or an organization, for one person to leave, it doesn’t destroy a country for states to secede from it; it merely makes it smaller. You don’t have a right to force other people to remain part of something against their will. It really is that simple.

View the full post here.

bookmark_border“Sunday in the South” – incredible new song and music video

Posted on by Marissa

If you haven’t listened to the new song “Sunday in the South,” or watched the music video, you really should! You can do so on YouTube here.

The song, by Shenandoah, Jason Aldean, and Luke Bryan, contains a verse about the Confederate flag, and the video features a Confederate statue. Since the horrifying events that took place beginning in late spring of 2020, I never thought a mainstream song would mention anything having to do with the Confederacy in a positive or even neutral light. But that is exactly what the three singers do in this song and video. 

“A ragged rebel flag flies high above it all, popping in the wind like an angry cannonball. Now the holes of history are cold and still; they still smell the powder burning and they probably always will.”

What is particularly notable is that in the video, the camera lingers on the dates “1861-1865” on the pedestal of the statue. Making it clear to the viewer that this is, indeed, a Confederate statue, and not just a random, generic statue. Making it clear that the makers of the video know that this is a Confederate statue and chose to feature it in the video with this knowledge.

This is remarkable and admirable. The song and video are beautiful, and I love the statement that they make. Listening to this song, and watching this video, makes me feel seen and included after nearly five years of the exact opposite of this. Salute to Shenandoah, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, and everyone involved in making this video, for both their talent and their courage. 

bookmark_border“Belongs in the dumpster of history”

Posted on by Marissa

“Belongs in the dumpster of history,” you wrote, under a picture of one of the few things in the world that is beautiful and meaningful.

Yup, the idea that people who are different from you might actually have the right to exist “belongs in the dumpster of history.” Sounds reasonable. Makes perfect sense. Not. 

How could you see something magical, one of the few sources of happiness and joy that actually exist, and think that it belongs in a metaphorical “dumpster”?

But then I realized. You’ve never had to deal with the pain, the shame, of not fitting in. Of not being able to make friends. Of having everything you say, everything you wear, everything you do, criticized. Of being told that if only you changed the way you talked, dressed, stood, sat, moved, felt, thought, spent your time, then you would be healthy, and people would like you. You were never bullied and had your parents respond by telling you that you should stop wearing dresses and stop wearing your hair in pigtails, because then people would be less likely to bully you.

You’re not different. You don’t think for yourself. You follow social norms. You have friends. You fit in. You’re a bland, mundane person who is just like everyone else. 

You’ve never suffered. You’ve never felt pain. 

In fact, you’re not really a person at all, because if you were, you would have a soul, and if you had a soul, then you too would be filled with awe and wonder at the statue that is being built, rather than claiming that it belongs in a metaphorical “dumpster.”

You’re a lump of flesh and blood with no soul, no mind, and no capacity for independent thought. 

God forbid that people who are different from you exist. 

God forbid that people who are different from you be honored with monuments. 

Can’t have that. Can’t have any diversity allowed to exist in the world. Can’t have anything that actually makes life worth living. 

Clearly, in your eyes, only people like you have the right to exist, and anyone who is different deserves to be put into a metaphorical “dumpster.”

Without the Confederacy, history is bland and mundane, just a long tale of mindless, conformist people who are all the same, who all think the same, and who all do the same things. And what is the point of that? What is the point of studying that, honoring that, being interested in that? What is the point of living at all?

There is none.

The Confederacy is my special interest. The Confederacy is what makes my life worth living. The Confederacy is magical to me. It is the most beautiful thing in the world, and nothing else can compare. How could you, how dare you, how could you possibly consider my special interest to be something that belongs in a dumpster? 

in conclusion, I hope that you die a slow and painful death, and that once you’re gone no one remembers you. That’s what you deserve for being a mindless bully. That’s what you deserve for having the cruelty, nastiness, and utter moral bankruptcy to claim that my special interest “belongs in the dumpster of history.” In reality, you are the one who belongs in the dumpster of history. You have no empathy, no character, no mind, no capacity for independent thought, and no soul.

bookmark_borderSociety’s appalling inconsistency regarding Ukraine and the Confederacy

Posted on by Marissa

“Fighting for freedom, fighting for the right to live peacefully and independently”

During the Olympics, one of the commentators used these words to characterize the efforts of Ukraine during their war with Russia.

And it struck me that this is exactly what the Confederate States of America was doing during the war with the United States from 1861 to 1865.

The Ukrainian people are deified and worshipped by our society, praised effusively at nearly every opportunity for their bravery, resilience, and strength. People fall all over themselves in their eagerness to express their solidarity. During sporting events like the Olympics, audiences are reminded, again and again, about how inspirational the Ukrainian athletes are, the difficult conditions they’ve had to overcome, the sacrifices they’ve made, and the fact that they are fighting for something larger than themselves.

Yet the Confederates, who were fighting for the exact same thing, receive the exact opposite treatment. They are unanimously condemned as racists, white supremacists, “traitors,” and “insurrectionists” (as if defying authority is somehow bad). It is accepted as self-evident that they do not deserve to be honored in any way. Their names erased from streets, buildings, and military bases, their commemorations canceled, their monuments sickeningly destroyed in a systematic and relentless campaign of obliteration.

In the eyes of society, fighting for freedom is noble and honorable when done by Ukrainians, but “treason” and “insurrection” when done by southern Americans.

The fact that two nations, fighting for the same thing, are treated so differently, demonstrates the utter hypocrisy and lack of logic of our society.

Freedom. The right to live peacefully and independently.

These are things that all people deserve. These are things that the people of the Confederate States of America deserved just as much as the people of Ukraine do.