Old times there are not forgotten...
Over the last few months, I've blogged about the innumerable examples of various communities seeking ways to involve themselves in the upcoming Lincoln bicentennial celebrations. Most are interesting and appropriate, some a little bit kooky, still others quite original.
Virginia has opted for a truly original approach. According to this story, the state will self-consciously choose not to celebrate the Lincoln bicentennial, killing efforts to form a bicentennial commission. "He sent armies into Virginia to lay waste to our land," according to an opponent and lawyer for the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Others in the state legislature found rather weak cop-outs to oppose the commission; one argued that Lincoln was "not a Virginian." That's pretty pathetic, especially given that Lincoln's family actually did in fact have Virginia roots.
I think we all know what happened here; Virginia's self-appointed keepers of the Confederate flame flexed their political muscles, and triumphed in their ongoing campaign to put a particular slant on the way Americans view the Civil War and its legacy.
The affair put me in mind of the famous scene in 1865 when President Lincoln visited Richmond and was surrounded by a sea of African-Americans, men and women who respectfully shook his hand and called him "Father Abram." I wonder what their perspective on a celebration of the Lincoln legacy might be?
posted by brdirck at 2:57 AM
13 Comments:
Great point. It also reminds me of the radio character from I think the Fred Allen show in 30's. He played a Senator from the south. I can't think of his name but the cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn was based on him. He was such a strict southern he refused to drive through the Lincoln Tunnel in NY.
I have come across my fair share of pro-southerners over the past few years. The day I moved into my first college dorm, I found confederate stickers all around my room. And soon enough I heard a slight southern accent denouncing yankees and the worst of them all, Lincoln
I see the books on the shelves at Borders condemning Lincoln in thinly disguised polemics and poorly researched "scholarship." I truly believe that this sort of thing drags down the connection between true scholarship and the public. I guess modern politicians turn every other subject into a controversial issue, so why not the Civil War? But when that starts seeping into the public through what many believe to be well-written and progessional scholarship, it does more harm than good and should be roundly condemned.
I was quite surprised when I read about this. I would've expected it from a state like Mississippi, South Carolina, or Georgia, but Virginia? True, it has Richmond and has the most battle sites on it, but I thought most of Virginia wasn't as bad as the rest in terms of neo-Confederate feelings. I guess I thought wrong. How sad....And I wonder how the African-Americans/Virginians with Northern roots/moderate, sane people living in the state will respond to this?
I am not surprised that this should occur in Virginia, as opposed to some other southern state. Virginia - especially Richmond, Virginia - has been the scene of many disputes over Civil War memory in the last decade or so. Remember the Arthur Ashe statue crashing Monument Avenue in the mid 90s. More recently there was controversy over the Lincoln Statue at the Tredegar Iron Works historic site.
One reason that Virginia remains an ideological battlefield may be their political progress rather than political backwardness. Richmond has been majority African American since 1990, and African American politicians lead powerful blocs in that city. Think of this debate in the context of a power struggle between African-American and Democrat Richmond versus "traditional" and Republican parts of the state.
Also remember Macaca. It is not all about Lincoln. They are still fighting over the meaning of freedom in Virginia, and I think it is worth while to watch.
Bjorn
Perhaps some Virginians also cannot forget that Lincoln signaled a "sea change" in American race relations, as Harold Holzer put it, by publicly, in the streets of Richmand, doffing his top hat and bowing in returning an elderly black man's gesture of respect.
Reading this leaves one to wonder? Would it be safe for a known relation to travel in this or any southern state? More so a relative that has his same facial features? There is one in PA and he thinks it would be nice to visit his Great uncles farm. And to possibly move into the same area, Any advise would be?
It must be gratifying for all of you to read so many comments from those whose thinking mirrors your own. It illustrated so clearly the danger of opinions based on misinformation. The Commonwealth of Virginia should not be wasting time or money to celebrate a man who not only violated the law in invading Virginia but ignored federal laws time and again whenever it suited his purpose. Your prejudices against Southerners are absolutely transparent - the politically correct term for that is racist.
Reading likeminded comments is not nearly as gratifying as reading yours, anv62, and being reminded that we have the right of it.
I wasn't aware that disagreeing with you, anv62, meant that we were racists. Or that Southerners were in fact a separate race from the rest of Americans, although apparently some of them believe so.
I have to wonder what Katie means by the term "neo-Confederate". Is she suggesting that those of us who honor our Confederate ancestors are "bad"?She goes on to suggest that we are not as "sane" as someone who might,I suppose, agree with her. I am proud of my ancestors, including those who fought for the Confederacy.Anyone who cannot understand that must have an extremely limited knowledge of that war and those who fought in it
Unfortunately, she was not suggesting that neo-confederates are insane. I think she was merely stating that she disagreed with your position, not that she critisized your humanity.
Anyone who cannot understand her post must have an extremely limited knowledge of the english language.
Why don't you try reading her comments again,anonymous. In plain English , she states "...and I wonder how the African-American/Virginians with Northern/roots/moderate, sane people living in the state will respond to this?" Admittedly, this sentence butchers the English language but its meaning is clear. By wondering about the response of the "sane", she is suggesting that the the other position represents something less "sane". Look it up, anonymous, the meaning of sane is "soundness of judgment and reason, of sound mind, something normal." And thank you, my English is quite good.
anv62, neo-Confederate refers to those Americans today who still believe in and uphold the political causes of the rebellious Southern states during the war. You suggesting that I meant honoring your Confederate ancestors was an inherently bad thing is a total misreading of my statement. Being "unreconstructed" and being respectful to those who fought and died for the Confederacy aren't one and the same, although it saddens me you appear to believe so. I know plenty of Southerns who honor their ancestors but disagree with the historic political causes of the Southern Confederacy.
And do I personally think that re-fighting a war that has been over for the past 140 or so years is "insane"? Well, yes, I do. Do you think that my admiration of Lincoln is just as crazy and close-minded? My guess is that yes, you probably do. So let's agree to disagree, in the spirit of harmony, eh? Sadly, I think that's about as far as we'll get.
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