Just a Reminder; The Confederates Lost the War
I think somebody needs to tell them.
I was surprised by how pretty the confederate flag is; I never really noticed it before. All of my life, I’ve averted my eyes because I knew, even as a child, that it was held by my enemy. It’s a shame that it stands for so much hatred and evil. Nastiness. Racism. Murder.
Its true message should just have been emblazoned across the middle:
“You won’t let me have my slaves!”
That would have been more honest.
Because, ladies and gentlemen, other than being a traitor, that’s all that it means.
It’s not about heritage, it’s not about southern pride or taxes, and it’s most definitely not about “states rights.” Those are smokescreens for an insidious confederation to hide behind.
The one and the only reason the civil war occurred was that slaveowners did not want to give up their slaves. That’s it. And in every measure, it has been proven to be true. Every once in a while, though, you see an uninformed person try to deny it. Here’s a short conversation on Twitter:
The southern states wrote quite openly about what they wanted, and what they demanded, what they fought for, and what they died for…was slavery.
Confederate denialism, in the form of states’ rights advocacy, permits sentimentalists to keep their questionable imagery without having to address its unsavory associations.
After all, the truth can be painful…
There were valid arguments for slavery.
What reasons could there be for the Southerners to want to own free labor? Actually, if one has no moral compass, free labor is a no-brainer.
First, there was the religious argument:
Defenders of slavery argued that the institution was divine, and that it brought Christianity to the heathen from across the ocean.
So it was God then, who wanted to spread the love of Jesus to those of a darker hue, and as a reward, use this barebone humanity to raise their children, cook their food, have sex with (lots of sex), and raise their crops…
Something tells me He’d be mighty surprised.
And then, they had the desire to love:
Defenders of slavery argued that by comparison with the poor of Europe and the workers in the Northern states, that slaves were better cared for. They said that their owners would protect and assist them when they were sick and aged, unlike those who, once fired from their work, were left to fend helplessly for themselves.
So they were compassionate. God bless their hearts.
The third argument was economic:
Slaves represented Southern planters’ most significant investment — and the bulk of their wealth.
This argument makes the best sense of all. Free labor is so very profitable. During slavery, did you know there were more millionaires per capita in the Mississippi River valley than anywhere else in the country! They believed in the slavery way of life, and they fought against the abolitionists with a passion. But they must have seen the future:
Today, Mississippi is the poorest state.
The truth is, one can become so rich and lazy…with free labor. The vestiges of these outcomes are quite obvious even to the present day. I could make a killing if I didn’t have to pay my employees. Couldn’t you?
Actually, if one has no moral compass, free labor is a no-brainer.
No wonder there was a war.
It was South Carolina’s fault.
South Carolina seceded because the federal government would not violate a state’s right to abstain from slavery and its concomitant policies.
Confederates opposed states’ rights all right — they opposed the right of Northern states not to support slavery.
For example, New Englanders let Black men vote. And they let abolitionists meet freely to have discussions about the abolition of slavery. To Southerners, this was an outrage.
“YOU WILL HAVE SLAVERY EVERYWHERE, BY GOD! Or else.” South Carolina demanded — or we’ll take our balls and go home.
And so they did.
THIS was the start of the Civil War.
There are still teachers teaching the lie that “states' rights” were the reason for the civil war. It’s too embarrassing to tell the truth. If they had, some of these history-deprived men and women wouldn’t have presumed to put their hands on this treasonous Confederate flag…and walk the streets of the United States as we’ve seen in recent times. They might’ve developed more pride. More backbone. And less racism.
Who’d have thought that people in modern times would’ve wanted to walk the streets for slavery?
Who’d have thought that people in modern times would’ve wanted to walk our streets as representatives of the losing side in an American war?
What could the Confederates be marching for today?
After all, they lost.
But if there’s any doubt, the states made a case for secession without any help from Northern agitators. A few examples:
Georgia
“For the last ten years, we have had numerous and serious causes of complaint against our non-slave-holding confederate States with reference to the subject of African slavery.”
Mississippi
“These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization.”
Mississippi was particularly offended at the North:
“It advocates negro equality, socially and politically, and promotes insurrection and incendiarism in our midst.”
and
Texas
“We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.”
They explained their obsession with slavery quite succinctly in their own words.
But these states left the union. They lost the war. They were traitors. I’m not even sure they were part of the United States…
“We have come a long way from 1865, when the federal government denied permission for Confederate soldiers to be buried in U.S. military cemeteries.”
In 2020, just what are the Confederates marching for?
The Confederates marched: We watched as they cried, “Jews will not replace us,” in Charlottesville, Virginia, August 11–12, 2017. They also shouted racial slurs against people of color.
They yelled, “Russia is our friend.”
There’s that traitor thing again.
That same Charlottesville march showed that the Confederacy equals White Nationalist equals White Supremacist hate…
“If you want to defend the South and Western civilization from the Jew and his dark-skinned allies, be at Charlottesville on 12 August.”
As they carry the flag, they’ve told us their motivations.
“The Confederate battle flag we know today is an emblem of oppression, white supremacy and the fight to maintain slavery. That is its heritage.” — Charles Blow, NYT Columnist
We do know that the confederates of old wanted to maintain their way of life; slavery was the glue that held it together.
Today, the Confederates are united by hatred.
But there is more
It isn’t easy to express, but I’ll do the best I can. There is a malaise in American society due to failing expectations. There is a myth that opportunities are out there for the taking, that if one works hard, one can get ahead in life. But that’s not always true, and it may be less true today.
Minorities know early on that this is not accurate. Getting ahead is a dream, but they’re skeptical because they’ve seen too much and so are less liable to lose their faculties. But some whites? They hold onto the myth of success, perhaps because of their white supremacist views.
Now that I think about it, as I was growing up, I was frequently in the presence of someone, a friend, who would casually say, “I’m Free, White, and 21.” It usually happened when something bad happened or was going to happen, but there were no worries.
This was because they consoled themselves. They knew that no matter what happened, they were still Free, White, and 21. How comforting. This was such an engraved part of my childhood, all the way into my teens. My friends had no awkwardness when saying that in front of me at all. Ironically, I didn’t feel odd either. We both knew it was true.
But that’s no longer working. And when they fail, they tend to lash out. They become bitter.
It’s harder than ever to stay on the horse. Most of us fall off.
They’re hanging fruit for White Supremacists and White Nationalists. If only they could get rid of the “others”; those who are taking their jobs and opportunities!
They become Confederates who are bound by fear — fear of what they will never have and of what they think they’ve lost.
It’s a losing proposition. There is a reason that the Southern ideology of the Civil War is also called the Lost Cause.
Because they lost.
It’s time for them to come back into the fold.
Hear me out.
I personally haven’t done this before, but I believe that “confederates” can be converted to the truth. All they need are the facts. They just need an intervention from loving friends and family. They don’t need to be canceled -they need the truth.
They can be saved.
Blaming others will not lift one into a successful life. It’s exactly the opposite. They need to realize this before it’s too late and before their lives are half over with nothing to show for the years that have gone by, and believe me, they go by so fast. One day you look up, and your future is here. Everywhere you look, you think, there’s nothing but hopelessness and despair…
And that’s when they get the guns.
But what about racism, some might ask? What about it? We can’t change people’s hearts. We can only hope that as the generations continue that some of it will be reduced in the world to come. Am I naive? Perhaps. But I have hope. And I refuse to return hate with hate.
But for now, we all need a future:
- We need massive employment — mammoth projects that will take us out of ourselves and give us a focus that makes life satisfying.
- Americans seem to be best when they’re drawn into some great task.
- We need opportunities. Everyone needs hope.
- We also need a president that will bring the nation together because we need a united America.
The Confederacy is a divisive, separatist, intolerant philosophy that is unhealthy for our future.
Do you really believe that these “Confederates” would show up at rallies of hate if they had a future they could reach out and touch? No. They’d be too busy for such nonsense. They would be loving their wives, raising their children, and doing their work. They would be living their best lives…
This is just a reminder that the Confederates lost the war.
I think somebody needs to tell them. With love.