Uproar over Virginia's Confederate History Month

The Washington Post: McDonnell's Confederate History Month proclamation irks civil rights leaders
Virginia Governor Revises "Confederate History Month" Proclamation

While sitting at Logan this morning, I caught part of Anderson Cooper's program on CNN; he was discussing Virginia Governor McDonnell's decision to declare April Confederate History Month for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and his apology for failing to mention slavery. (More from Anderson Cooper.)

Featured was a CNN analyst, who was also African-American, who equated Confederate soldiers with Nazi soldiers and domestic terrorists. There was also a representative of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who was trying to present the South's viewpoint: that it wasn't all about slavery. The nationalist account prevails among the MSM -- Jon Stewart repeats it on his own show. I am quite sure that it is a standard component of the analysis offered by those who oppose the proclamation, whether they are part of the MSM or not.

Didn't Ted Turner claim to be of the South? He did bankroll the production of Gods and Generals, after all. How did he react to Mr. Cooper's take on the Confederacy, offered on the cable news network that he created?

Why do people even bother to discuss this? For Southern conservatives there may not be much of a point, since it is unlikely that they'd be able to persuade adherents to the nationalist view. There are irreconcilable differences concerning the US Constitution, states' rights, regional conflicts before the War to Prevent Southern Independence, and the complexity of the causes of that war. One is left with assertions by both sides, with few opportunities for substantial proof. (Though I was impressed by the SCV gentleman's calm and politeness in debate with his opponent. I'm sure there were liberals waiting for him to show his real side, that is his racism.) The MSM, on the other hand, will take any opportunity to bash the South, make Southerners look racist, and to uphold the proposition nation and nationalist understanding of the Federal Government.

Now, a Southern conservative should ask the question of whether such proclamations poison to black-white relations in Virginia and elsewhere? But how much should be given up by Southern whites for the sake of fostering good relations? Having repudiated slavery as an institution, should a Southerner also give up his heritage and (political) tradition in order to placate the descendants of former slaves? Is there nothing good to the Southern tradition? Eugene D. Genovese offers a more balanced view of the Southern tradition. Can African-Americans be persuaded of the rightness of state sovereignty without the memory of the Confederacy? If not, and racial conflict is inevitable, then can whites be blamed for holding on to their own identity? (I note that the League of the South does not endorse racism, and welcomes all those who would agree with its goals. The LoS would be in a good position to assess whether its ties to Southern history and culture and the Confederacy is an obstacle to recruiting African-Americans to its cause.) Is it possible for whites and blacks to start anew, with a blank slate replacing history and culture? The liberals of the MSM and other states, along with the professional race-baiters should mind their own business and leave it to the whites and blacks of the South to work things out, instead of proclaiming distortions which only serve to increase the sense of injury and animosity among African Americans.


Related links:
Rebellion: Charles Johnson isn't happy and The Right Proclamation in Virginia
CHT: Governor McDonnell and Anti-Southern Bigotry by S.L. Toddard
PJB: The People You’re Allowed to Hate

Edit. From Rebellion, Friday, April 09:
The real danger in Va. governor's Confederate History Month
Remember Appomattox!


A different painting. (Warning, large file.)

The complete version of the painting, Louis Guillaume's "Surrender of General Lee to General Grant, April 9, 1865":



(alt)

Appomattox Court House