Confederates
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
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Some governors of former Confederate states usually proclaim April as "Confederate History Month." They use the month of April for the purpose of recognizing and honoring the history of the Confederate States of America. GOP Governor Bill McDonnell of Virginia recently did this.[[In-content Ad]]He stated, "... this defining chapter in Virginia's history should not be forgotten, but instead should be studied, understood and remembered by all Virginians, this study and remembrance takes on particular importance as the Commonwealth prepares to welcome the nation and the world to visit Virginia for the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the Civil War, a four-year period in which the exploration of our history can benefit all." Perhaps the governor should take heed of his own words and study the history himself. But then again revisionist history is not a new thing for the current GOP.
In the statement he made to chase tourist dollars, the governor purposely omitted slavery, a vile institution that many see as the basis for the Civil War. He later apologized for the omission and then diminished the controversy that he himself had caused by the omission. Some argue that states' rights, and not slavery, was the casus belli for the Civil War.
States' rights refers to the powers that U.S. states possess in relation to the federal government, as guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment. It was an amendment added to ease the fears that many had against a strong centralized government. The Confederate States used this amendment to defend their right to oppress and enslave people of a different race.
But as John Meacham, editor of Newsweek, stated, "If the slaves are erased from the picture, then what took place between Sumter and Appomattox is not about the fate of human chattel, or a battle between good and evil. It is, instead, more of an ancestral skirmish in the Reagan revolution, a contest between big and small government." He continued, "We cannot allow the story of the emancipation of a people and the expiation of America's original sin to become fodder for conservative politicians playing to their right-wing base."
After the Civil War, Jim Crow laws were used to continue the oppression of freed slaves and their descendants. The states' rights argument was again used to justify state-sanctioned institutional racism. And ever since then, the states' rights argument has been used to oppose such things as voting rights, civil rights and equal educational access for all.
The states' rights argument seems to raise its head whenever America is poised to move closer to a nation that will truly "establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty" to all of its citizens.
Predictably, the current GOP has decided that the states' rights argument will again be the tactic they use to oppose the reform that fear and intimidation failed to stop. But history has shown that America shall overcome and reform will move forward again.
Robert Betances
Warsaw, via e-mail
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Some governors of former Confederate states usually proclaim April as "Confederate History Month." They use the month of April for the purpose of recognizing and honoring the history of the Confederate States of America. GOP Governor Bill McDonnell of Virginia recently did this.[[In-content Ad]]He stated, "... this defining chapter in Virginia's history should not be forgotten, but instead should be studied, understood and remembered by all Virginians, this study and remembrance takes on particular importance as the Commonwealth prepares to welcome the nation and the world to visit Virginia for the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the Civil War, a four-year period in which the exploration of our history can benefit all." Perhaps the governor should take heed of his own words and study the history himself. But then again revisionist history is not a new thing for the current GOP.
In the statement he made to chase tourist dollars, the governor purposely omitted slavery, a vile institution that many see as the basis for the Civil War. He later apologized for the omission and then diminished the controversy that he himself had caused by the omission. Some argue that states' rights, and not slavery, was the casus belli for the Civil War.
States' rights refers to the powers that U.S. states possess in relation to the federal government, as guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment. It was an amendment added to ease the fears that many had against a strong centralized government. The Confederate States used this amendment to defend their right to oppress and enslave people of a different race.
But as John Meacham, editor of Newsweek, stated, "If the slaves are erased from the picture, then what took place between Sumter and Appomattox is not about the fate of human chattel, or a battle between good and evil. It is, instead, more of an ancestral skirmish in the Reagan revolution, a contest between big and small government." He continued, "We cannot allow the story of the emancipation of a people and the expiation of America's original sin to become fodder for conservative politicians playing to their right-wing base."
After the Civil War, Jim Crow laws were used to continue the oppression of freed slaves and their descendants. The states' rights argument was again used to justify state-sanctioned institutional racism. And ever since then, the states' rights argument has been used to oppose such things as voting rights, civil rights and equal educational access for all.
The states' rights argument seems to raise its head whenever America is poised to move closer to a nation that will truly "establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty" to all of its citizens.
Predictably, the current GOP has decided that the states' rights argument will again be the tactic they use to oppose the reform that fear and intimidation failed to stop. But history has shown that America shall overcome and reform will move forward again.
Robert Betances
Warsaw, via e-mail
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