Silver Rights News, thoughts and comments on civil rights and related issues. |
Friday, April 16, 2004
Analysis: Neo-Confederate leader blows stack Mike Tuggle, one of the most sneaky of the neo-Confederate movement's leaders, is mad. I mean upset, not insane. (Though he may well be that kind of mad, too.) He is upset because an editorial writer described the real motivation for 'heritage' advocates' efforts to prevent the National Park Service from siting monuments to commemorate important events that occurred during Reconstruction. After describing the infamous 1898 race riot that destroyed the black middle-class in Wilmington, N.C., Mary C. Curtis noted the irrationality of opposing commemoration of such events.
As I've written several times, the neo-Confederate movement has pressured politicians, both in the South and nationally, not to memorialize sites such as those of the first Freedmen's Bureau schools. They say that adding such sites to an itinerary that mainly commemorates Confederate generals and battles, would be anti-historical. What they don't say is the 'history' they seek to protect and impose on the rest of us is their own warped version. Tuggle responded to Curtis' factual message with a flight of fancy that only a neo-Confederate could have penned.
Tuggle identifies himself as the communications officer of the Egbert Ross Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp in his article. He does not say he is the president of North Carolina chapter of the white supremacist and secessionist League of the South. Tuggle happily turns history upside down. The Confederates did not try to destroy the Union; they were right to to secede, the Union wrong to stop them. The Reconstruction era integrated government was corrupt; the pre-Civil War government of slaveowners was an ideal America should still aspire to. Too much fuss is made about minor misbehavior of the Ku Klux Klan; the real problem was freedmen who burned white folks' barns. I really cannot express this perfect example of how a neo-Confederate muddles history adequately in paraphrases and quotations. Do take the time to read Tuggle's entire op-ed piece. What's the art? The photograph depicts Union soldier Powhatan Beaty, a North Carolinian. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor for taking command of his company when all the officers were killed. posted by J. | 6:43 PMThursday, April 15, 2004
News: Southern guvs snub Hunley ceremony Sometimes, Southern politicians do the right thing. Despite the brownie points that can be scored by kowtowing to the neo-Confederate movement, they refuse to go that route. That requires rejecting chicanery that often comes cloaked as an appeal to history, but is really about making the 'heritage' movement respectable. Newsday has the story of an admirable blanket refusal to support neo-Confederate mythology.
The Hunley (see detail above) has become a rallying cause for the neo-Confederate movement. For people who wish the South had won the Civil War, the success of the submarine in sinking a Union ship is cause for celebration. The recovery of the bodies of the Confederate soldiers on it is perceived as an opportunity to hale the 'heroism' of people who sought to destroy the United States. If the neo-Confederates had been able to convince the governors to attend, the illusion that the conduct of the Hunley's crew, and their own, is something to be proud of, would have been enhanced. About 20,000 people are expected to be on hand on for the internment. A continual stream of visitors comes to view the submarine where it is stored.
The refusal of even South Carolina's governor to attend the ceremony is not the first setback for the 'heritage' movement in regard to the Hunley. Efforts to bully the government into funding a museum to house the submarine also failed. Sometimes, Southern politicians do the right thing. posted by J. | 11:55 PMTuesday, April 13, 2004
Analysis: Remembering the Alamo We all think we know the story of the Alamo. It is one of those American myths bred into us by textbooks and popular culture. If we have been to Texas, we dutifully took the tour to stare at the small, unimpressive building. We posed for photographs. We are supposed to unblinkingly accept the explanation of its significance given in the World Book Encyclopedia.
Texas would be founded April of 1836, after a rout of Mexican forces. However, even cursory examination of the historic record does not confirm the Alamo as a Thermopylae. The motives of the 'heroes' of the siege were much too mixed. And, as a Mexican-American commentator explains, the Alamo marked the beginning of oppression for some soon-to-be Texans, not their liberation. That winter, a group of less than 200 supporters of independence from Mexico battled the 4000 troops of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (pictured) in San Antonio. They chose the old mission named after the cottonwood tree as the site where they would, ultimately, fight to the finish. Part of the tradition of mythic thinking about America is that the thinker is supposed to erase or discredit the people who ruin the myth. In "Gods and Generals," no human chattel get a speaking role until well into the second hour. The two slaves who speak are scripted not to say anything that questions the rightfulness of the Confederate cause. There were also slaves at the Alamo, fighting and dying for their masters' objectives -- not their own. Among the fighters were people who would come to be called Tejanos -- Texans of Mexican descent. It is their role in the new movie, "The Alamo" that leaves Oscar Villalon far from speechless. He wishes "The Alamo" could be interrupted in the interest of accuracy. Villalon imagines a nice woman stopping the action and setting the record straight. The Anglo martyrs would freeze in mid-self-aggrandization while she spoke.
Part of what one should remember about the Alamo is the independence of Texas became the bedrock for forms of racial oppression that would spread to the rest of the South after the Civil War ended. Texas, experienced with subjugating a non-enslaved people before it entered the Union, provided the blueprint.
Villalon's thoughtful discussion of what the Alamo means to American history may be me objectionable to some Anglos, those who hate to see the lies they base their lives on challenged. That applies even moreso to the opinion of a man in the San Antonio who decided to be more direct. He defaced a billboard advertising the movie to read, "F--- 'The Alamo.'" The message was quickly papered over. But, the legacy of the Alamo can't be. It is lived every day. Reasonably related •Mr. Cranky says 'F' "The Alamo" and Texas, too. •Texan and "The Alamo" co-star Dennis Quaid grew up with the myth. posted by J. | 8:15 PMMonday, April 12, 2004
Commentary: H.L. Mencken, neo-confederate Despite the perishability of his reputation as a writer, H.W. Mencken is being resurrected as an idol by some ultraconservatives. Among those heralding him are members of the neo-Confederate movement. They admire his elitism and contempt for democracy. Mencken shared their belief in superiority of the elite of Old South. Gail Jarvis penned a column explaining why he considers Mencken a neo-Confederate, titled "H.L.Mencken, Neo-Confederate," for Lew Rockwell.com. Jarvis states, correctly in my opinion, that Mencken's reputation as a critic of the South, mainly because of its lack of high culture, was directed at the post-Civil War South, not its slave-holding, wealth-generating antecedent.
Like many members of the 'heritage' movement, Jarvis believes that, in the absence of a government similar to that of the Old South, the region should secede from the Union. Jarvis' secessionist viewpoint coheres with the perspective of Mencken. In fact, Mencken would share the beliefs of the racist and secessionist League of the South, but for their reliance on religion as a moral compass. Ideally, the would-be secessionists would limit electoral participation to white, educated Christian white men who own property. I agree with Jarvis' explanation of why Mencken was a supporter of the Confederacy. As I've stated before, the writer was first and foremost a believer in a natural aristocracy. He thought the Old South's leadership met that ideal.
The only other aristocracy I am aware of Mencken supporting is Germany's. Though it is unclear why, he was not an Anglophile, thereby rejecting the most obvious of elites to emulate. In "The Calamity of Appomattox," Mencken makes his preference for the Southern aristocracy explicit. But for the demise of much of the white Southern male elite in the Civil War, the South would not be dominated by lesser men. A victory by the Confederacy would have resulted in a society preferable (to Mencken, that is) to the unified nation that exists.
There's no doubt about it. He was an elitist and admirer of the pre-war Southern arisocracy. But, I am not sure Mencken would want to be claimed by today's neo-Confederate movement. Its members are not genteel enough. Reasonably related •Jarvis explains why the Yankee media misunderstood the good citizens of 'Bombingham.' •Jarvis wrote a letter to the editor about the group he believes dominates the South today. posted by J. | 6:30 PMSunday, April 11, 2004
Archangel: Sharon Shinn builds us a world And God steppped out on space, -- James Weldon Johnson, The Creation One of the most impressive things a writer of speculative fiction can achieve is building a world that resonates as 'real' with her readers. Sharon Shinn has accomplished that worthy goal in her Samaria series, which now includes four books. At this point, readers who eschew speculative fiction, or perhaps fiction altogether, may be thinking, 'In other words, she writes escapism. She provides pabulum that helps people avoid thinking about the troubled world we live in.' I disagree. Writers who create believable fictional worlds usually model them on our own. They are often more interested in what it means to be that horribly flawed thing called human than writers who focus on the world as we know it. Shinn is that kind of writer. As I write this entry, I am reading the last of Shinn's novels about Samaria, The Allelulia Files. But, to understand why the series is a fine achievement, one must return to the source, the first book in it, Archangel. Background? The Harmonic Christers left their previous world because it was about to self-destruct as a result of human hatred and advanced technology. They chose to colonize the planet Samaria. The greatest challenge of living on that world is its mercurial weather. So, refugee scientists created beings -- angels -- who are able to fine tune the computerized weather controls to make the planet livable. The angels do so by 'singing' to the spaceship the Christers arrived on, Jehovah, which continues to orbit the planet. They fly 'heavenward,' and sing to end storms or bring rain, along with other antidotes to the problems of Samarians. Another indispensable purpose the angels serve is the maintenance of harmony among the diverse inhabitants of the planet. Representatives of the groups must gather, with the elite of the angels leading them, and sing to 'Jovah,' yearly or the computer will follow commands to destroy Samaria. The Christers decided better no world than a world as filled with viciousness as the one they emigrated to escape. But, forget most of that. The inhabitants of Samaria have. They gave up the religion of the Harmonic Christers within a few generations of settling the planet. Now, they believe Jovah is the spirit who rules the world -- that he is the God and Samaria the only dwelling place of humans anywhere. What hasn't fallen away is the belief that Jovah will destroy the planet unless his wishes are carried out. But, it has become subject to doubt. That doubt is given great weight when it appears that the new Archangel, Gabriel, will not be able to stand next to his angelica (wife) and sing the hymns to Jovah required to save Samaria. The chosen one, Rachel, does not want the honor of being angelica. The current Archangel, Gabriel, is unwilling to give up his 20-year reign. Furthermore, he is willing to gamble the existence of Samaria on his continued rule.
Shinn came to science fiction from fantasy. In Archangel, she segues into sci-fi in a way that does not jolt her established base of readers of fantasy. The romance between Archangel and angelica, which is a recurring theme in the Samaria series, grounds it in fantasy. However, the science fiction elements become increasingly important as the series continues. Archangel introduces the peoples of Samaria, ranging from the nomadic Edori to the aristocratic Manadavvi. It also familiarizes the reader with life in the three angel holds, the Eyrie, Montaverde and Windy Point. The rules governing how angels live, which are important to the structure if all four books, are first explained in it. Samaria is saved. By the time of the reckoning in The Allelulia Files, it will have been settled for six and a half centuries. The development, not so coincidentally, mirrors that of industrial culture on Earth. In following the changes, both in social relationships and technology, on Samaria, we come to a better understanding of where we have been and where we are going ourselves. posted by J. | 6:30 PM |
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