The Civil War ended 145 years ago, and that period of slavery and killings still represents one of the darkest times in American history. Rather than learn from our mistakes, some still want to celebrate it.
For the month of April, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell wrote that those in his state should understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders
soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War.
His proposed Confederate History Month is purely unpatriotic and only perpetuates the problems of white supremacy.
Not only should Confederate History Month be a very obvious no-go, but also McDonnell should not seek re-election in Virginia, a state where black Americans composing 20 percent of its population.
No matter Virginia's role in the Civil War, it is important to remember the following three things.
First, let's face it, the Confederates lost. Americans generally don't go around hailing lost wars. We probably shouldn't be commemorating a whole faction of the states' dissention from the Union.
Likewise, celebrating the commonwealth's contributions to the Confederacy would be a slap in the face to all things patriotic and American. Lest we forget, at the time when the Confederates seceded, they were very anti-American.
Second, although Confederate pride is shrouded in calls for states' rights, it is important we never forget how large of a factor slavery was for those states seceding from the Union.
Obviously, not every person living in the Confederacy states was a slave owner. In fact, there were some who stayed loyal to the Union without the means to move north, but they reaped the benefits. Southerners took advantage of privileges afforded them by white supremacy and fought to keep those privileges in the aftermath of slavery. This was through support of Jim Crow segregation and right-wing extremist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.
For all who find comfort thinking this was not a very black and white issue, let me remind you that Alexander Stephens in the Cornerstone Speech of the Confederacy said that, (The) foundations (of the new government) are laid its cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.
What about this does not spell outright racism? I'm hopeful that today none of us views slavery as a natural or normal condition. So why support the commemoration of another government's known and absolute views on white supremacy?
Third, considering the Senate passed a resolution just a year ago apologizing for slavery, it may not be the best time for McDonnell's proclamation. Our government took 146 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation to acknowledge the largest forced migration and enslavement in world history was wrong. All told, American slavery claimed the lives of between 30 million and 50 million human beings.
In every sense of the word, this was genocide, but it took the American government 61 years after the United Nations set a concrete definition of genocide to apologize for the atrocities of slavery.
Although it could have been done sooner and some sort of reparative measures could have been taken in regard to slavery, this should not have been an open window for white supremacy to creep through.
We now live in a nation where anything viewed as unpatriotic is quickly labeled terrorism. I'm sure the sentiment was similar when the Confederate states seceded from the Union. Moving past Gov. McDonnell's original slavery omission in that dumb proclamation - no matter how pompous it is to forget such an integral part of the Confederacy - we must focus on what exactly it meant to be a Confederate. Along with the horrors of slavery and white supremacy, confederates were also anti-American. We cannot forget this.
McDonnell's proclamation was untimely and ridiculous. To advocate for such a month opens the floodgates beyond a white supremacist attitude; it creates an anti-American sentiment. His announcement takes a shady approach to propagating slavery-apologetic beliefs and covertly endorses the secession of states from the United States of America.
Aisha Upton is a senior studying African American studies and Tuesday columnist for The Post. Talk confederacy with her at au173107@ohiou.edu.
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Opinion
Aisha Upton
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