"confederate history month"? how about go racism month?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:... all that said, not sure why one would be depressed if 10 generations ago your ancestor was a (1) slave or (2) a slave owner. assuming your family was in america that long, strong odds that you are related to both.

I think 10 generations is a bit of an exaggeration. To put the time frame in perspective, I have a neighbor (in his 70's), whose father was quite old when he was born. That father was born a slave!

[Anonymous]

i actually think there is something wrong with confederate history month; giving something a month implies it is something to celebrate. if it is an "awareness"month, then the emphasis is on curing an ill, or preventing a problem. as a jewish person, i think i would take offense to "third reich history month" or "nazi history month," as opposed to "holocaust awareness month." "slavery awareness month" is ok. the confederacy was an abomination, along with slavery, which was its primary reason for existence.

it's fine to be interested in the civil war -- it was an important time in our nation's history. but let's not blur the lines here. the northerners were not totally innocent in the slave trade, but it's pretty clear the confederacy was based on a pretty bad news principle.

but i guess when we live in a region in which it's ok to name a team the "redskins," obviously celebrating a time in our nation's history when we committed genocide, no one really cares that much about the words we choose.

[Anonymous]

Can you tell me what the confederates and the nazis have in common? We are talking about different eras and different parts of the globe and different nations.
Nobody is lily white in times of war, and I doubt the story that the north were in a righteous crusade, and the southerners the shame of civilization. There just has to be more to the story than that. Southerners were poorer, still are, and most of the people who faught on its side did not own slaves. The wealthy aristrocrats were able to get their sons to dodge the conscript.
The northerners won, and got to write the history, but did they write it correctly? We are talking about the era when the native americans ceased to exist, and that is not the fault of the southeners. But the southeners lost so they will forever be remembered just for slaves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you tell me what the confederates and the nazis have in common? We are talking about different eras and different parts of the globe and different nations.
Nobody is lily white in times of war, and I doubt the story that the north were in a righteous crusade, and the southerners the shame of civilization. There just has to be more to the story than that. Southerners were poorer, still are, and most of the people who faught on its side did not own slaves. The wealthy aristrocrats were able to get their sons to dodge the conscript.
The northerners won, and got to write the history, but did they write it correctly? We are talking about the era when the native americans ceased to exist, and that is not the fault of the southeners. But the southeners lost so they will forever be remembered just for slaves.

Both Confederates and Nazis made use of slave labor. And the average soldier was not guilty of slavery in either case, but their governments and leaders were. So it sounds like there was at least something in common.

It is a total cop-out to say that the northerners won and got to write the history. It's an adage that is past its prime.

No, there is ample room for alternative points of view on this subject, in academia and among the general public. And clearly the government of the Commonwealth of Virginia holds a different opinion, based on their recent proclamation where they forgot to even mention slavery. Every amateur historian or blogger can put up whatever they want on the web.

So in short, it's no good to just moan and say the North wrote the story. You have the chance to tell your version. So let's hear it.

[Anonymous]

Northeners did get to write history. They did not have slaves, but still today Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is one of the most segregated cities.
and the native Americans were made to march to the north and disappeared.
History is a lot darker than many are willing to accept

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northeners did get to write history. They did not have slaves, but still today Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is one of the most segregated cities.
and the native Americans were made to march to the north and disappeared.
History is a lot darker than many are willing to accept

Do you have any idea how many southern scholars have examined the Civil War? This notion that the loser didn't get to express his point of view is absurd. Southern colleges are full of people who do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Both Confederates and Nazis made use of slave labor. And the average soldier was not guilty of slavery in either case, but their governments and leaders were. So it sounds like there was at least something in common.
.

Sorry, there are slaves today in Sudan. The illegal farm laborers are a modern version of slavery. And the way that the soviets made the peasants into kolhoz residents is not far from slavery either.

Government leaders are always involved in something shady.
The northern Sudans islamic government are not nazis.

Nazis were definitely something else, in another time and another geographic location.
But now the southerners get compared to them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i actually think there is something wrong with confederate history month; giving something a month implies it is something to celebrate. if it is an "awareness"month, then the emphasis is on curing an ill, or preventing a problem. as a jewish person, i think i would take offense to "third reich history month" or "nazi history month," as opposed to "holocaust awareness month." "slavery awareness month" is ok. the confederacy was an abomination, along with slavery, which was its primary reason for existence.
.

Regarding Third reich history, I wish I knew more about it, what exactly they preached and what they based their teaching on and how they managed to get control of the nation in such a short time and establish a police state. Unfortunately that is one thing that the history books seem to just mention, but seems to be a very important part.

Without offending anyone, a holocaust awareness month would not be complete without mentioning the 3 million that got sacrificed under the watchful eye of the UN. For some strange reason, the same thing is happening is happening again. Just not in the same reagion. And the lunatics have not been given 10 years to work their magic

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
Without offending anyone, a holocaust awareness month would not be complete without mentioning the 3 million that got sacrificed under the watchful eye of the UN. For some strange reason, the same thing is happening is happening again. Just not in the same reagion. And the lunatics have not been given 10 years to work their magic

Could you please explain what you are talking about? The UN didn't exist during the Holocaust.

[Anonymous]

I'm southern, proud of it, love my home, respect Robert E. Lee, all four of my grandparents had relatives who fought for the Confederacy... but I think "Confederate History Month" is a little bit gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The southern traditions of hospitality, manners, rich cuisine, music, architecture are all things to be proud of, but if my ancestors were slave owners/traders I'd be depressed.

Please elaborate. I would love to know more about southern manners in particular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding Third reich history, I wish I knew more about it, what exactly they preached and what they based their teaching on and how they managed to get control of the nation in such a short time and establish a police state. Unfortunately that is one thing that the history books seem to just mention, but seems to be a very important part.

Are you really saying this is an understudied field?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Both Confederates and Nazis made use of slave labor. And the average soldier was not guilty of slavery in either case, but their governments and leaders were. So it sounds like there was at least something in common.
.

Sorry, there are slaves today in Sudan. The illegal farm laborers are a modern version of slavery. And the way that the soviets made the peasants into kolhoz residents is not far from slavery either.

Government leaders are always involved in something shady.
The northern Sudans islamic government are not nazis.

Nazis were definitely something else, in another time and another geographic location.
But now the southerners get compared to them

I do not think the "other people did it too" defense really proves your point. The question was what do they have in common. I do not think any poster has ever suggested that they are uniquely alike or exactly alike. They have slavery in common. If you would like to differentiate their type of slavery as somehow more humane or "gentlemanly", by all means give it a whirl. This should be fun.

[Anonymous]

I think I've read that there are more people living as slaves today, in 2010, than there were in the U.S. at the height of our slave-owning history.

Many modern slaves are young girls sold to brothels. They will not live very long. Any children they have will likely face the same fate.

Seems like a Pre-Teen Sex Slave Awareness Month would go somewhat further towards making a difference in someone's actual life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I've read that there are more people living as slaves today, in 2010, than there were in the U.S. at the height of our slave-owning history.

Many modern slaves are young girls sold to brothels. They will not live very long. Any children they have will likely face the same fate.

Seems like a Pre-Teen Sex Slave Awareness Month would go somewhat further towards making a difference in someone's actual life.

You're absolutely right. Nicholas Kristof has written many wrenching articles on the subject, based on his travel and interviews. However, despite the fact that we know of various tragedies in progress throughout the world, we still live our daily lives and do our owwn feel-good things. Confederate History Month was supposed to be a feel-good thing for some of his constituents, but Governor McDonnell should have been able to pull it off without making it a major feel-bad event for another constituency.

We should be able to grant those with ancestors who fought for the Confederacy the right to remember their forebears fondly, and yet not overlook the fact that part of what they were fighting for, natural as it seemed at the time, was an abomination that continues to have effects on our society.