Important Things to Remind People About, When They Think of Confederate Veterans, Their Families and Communities
"What would YOU have done, in 1861?"
As I’ve been speaking out in defense of Confederate veterans, their families, and communities, I’ve looked for a catchphrase. Something that’s easy to say and will stick in people’s minds. Here’s what I came up with: “What would YOU have done, in 1861?” Bill Maher, host of the “Real Time” HBO show, had this to say about wokeism about a year ago:
Being woke is like a magic moral time machine, where you judge everyone [who lived in the past] against what you would have done in 1066, and you always win. Presentism is just a way to congratulate yourself about being better than George Washington because you have a gay friend and he didn’t. But if he were alive today, he would too. And if you were alive then, you wouldn’t.” –Bill Maher, TV talk show host. (4 minute mark in the video)
When I identify myself as a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, some people question why we still honor Confederate heritage. In response, I ask them what THEY would have done, if they had been poor farmers or workers in a Southern state in the spring of 1861. Would THEY have refused to serve in the Confederate army or navy? That makes many of them stop and think.
Then, I tell them the information I’ve listed below. Feel free to use it, if you think it could be helpful.
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We honor the memory and sacrifice of Confederate veterans, their families, and communities. We are the "Sons of Confederate Veterans," not the "Sons of the Confederacy." Our primary mission is to honor the men who fought the war, and the families and communities that had to endure it.
Men fought in the Confederate service for reasons besides slavery. Here are some of them:
They thought of their state as their home, not the United States. The Civil War changed that. But, when the war first started, and people made the decision to join the military, that was still an open question.
They thought their states had the right to leave the Union. Again, the Civil War changed that.
They wanted to defend their homes from invading armies.
They fought for their comrades in their units. "You fight for the man to the left of you and the man to the right of you."
They feared the results of an immediate end to slavery:
Insurrections by freed blacks
The collapse of the Southern economy, which would have been hardest on the poorer, working-class whites.
Having to compete with freed blacks for jobs, which would have been hardest on the poorer, working-class whites.
White Southerners had the same view that virtually all whites had of black people back then---they thought of them as inferior. That's a harsh thing to hear...but it's true. At that time in our history, most whites thought of Native Americans and Hispanics as inferior, too. (For example, Stephen Douglas, in his Lincoln-Douglas debates, called Hispanics “inferior peoples.” Lincoln himself didn’t think freed blacks should be allowed to vote.)
They didn't want to be ostracized at home. If all the other men in your town joined up and you didn't, you ran the risk of becoming very unpopular. It wasn't easy to pick up and move to a new place then. There were no cars, highways or remote work in 1861.
The Confederacy had a conscription law, which started in early 1862. For most of the war, if men weren't in the military, they risked arrest.
Just because you were in the Confederate military, didn't mean you were fighting to defend slavery.
Did everyone who fought in the Vietnam War fight because they supported the war?
Did everyone who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan do so because they supported President Bush 43's policies?
After Vietnam, we learned that it was important to separate the men/women who fought a war from the politicians who started it. Don't blame the soldier if you're unhappy with the war itself.
Double standard: If the Army can't have any Confederate symbology, then why are Army helicopters named for Native American tribes that killed U.S. Army soldiers, tortured captives, killed settler (white, black and Hispanic) women and children, and took settlers as captives (slaves)? Are double standards OK now?
Many Americans are descended from former Confederates.