The South lost "The War of Northern Aggression," and
the North proceeded to attempt to erase the history of
the Southern soldiers.  In the last two years, I've
had a very unique--for me--opportunity to meet some of
the folks who are members of the Sons of the
Confederate Vetrans (see http://www.scv.org/ for info
about the organization) and found them to be rather
interesting individuals.  In my infrequent, though
very polite dialogues/debates, with members of the
group, I've learned a little something, too, along the
way, and stretched my mind a tad.

Since I'm the mother of multiracial children and
grandchildren, finding the courage to set aside my own
biases and listen to at least what these folks had to
say was a growth activity for me.  I didn't find the
folks with whom I spoke to be bigots (if they were,
they weren't with me), but rather historians
interested in the preservation of the history of the
South.

I was reminded, contrary to what I had bought into in
my own comfort level, that the North, too had slaves,
and Lincoln made his threats to take away southern
slaves (don't get me wrong, slavery is untenable),
while doing nothing at the time about removing those
outside of the Confederate States.  In fact, slavery
wasn't abolished until 1865, post Lincoln.  

For the South, these folks tell me the issues leading
up to the Civil War were more related to states'
rights (from the perspective of the South) than
anything else.  Given the fact that Chief Justice
Rehnquist is a firm advocate of states' rights, and it
has been in the spotlight in a number of key issues of
recent past at the political level, it makes this
concept all the more interesting.

The interesting thing I found about the Sons of the
Confederate Veterans is how one must prove that an
ancestor fought in the Civil War.  It restores some
part of the pride in the ancestry that has been tagged
with shame to the present day.  Sometime soon, there
is going to be a movie about POWs of WW II from Japan.
 One of the lines that stood out for me is that they,
too, were sons, fathers, and husbands.  The same could
be said of the Confederates, and when you go shaking
up the family trees, it's hard to think they were all
bad people who should be remembered ignominiously.

I should think this esteemed bank of individuals would
be interested in the topic from the vantage point of
remembering/preserving history, even if the things
which were the spark behind the historical events are
personally untenable.

Since my family crosses many racial and ethnic
boundaries (you can't tell a joke in my family without
stepping on somebody's toes) I can tell you most
assuredly that the South doesn't have the market
cornered on prejudice.  There may be very prejudiced
individuals who may lean toward membership in the Sons
of the Confederacy, but you'll find them in a lot of
other organizations as well.  



--- Richard Fields <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> At the risk of being flamed . . . 
> The sons of confederate veterans historically was a
> group that honored the efforts of thier ancestors,
> but not necessarily the cause. Most of thier efforts
> were put to restoring headstones and maintaining
> graves. In the past twenty years or so, there has
> been an alleged infiltration (intentionally
> flammatory word) of the group by those more
> interested in hate and racial division then
> heritage.  An interesting article from the other day
> is copied below. I would have done a link, but some
> have complained they can't access them.
>  
> On a personnal note, I dealt with officials of the
> SCV last year for an event, and it was one of the
> oddest expewriences in my professional life. I have
> dealt with CW reenactors a lot, but this was a whole
> new ball game. They made promises of up to 20,000
> visitors to an event. I told my board to expect a
> few hundred, which is what showed up. At the event,
> I was promised an "Honarary Colonelship" in the SCV,
> which was never delivered. Based on what I saw, it
> seems sad that what could have been an important
> group to understanding has fallen on hard times and
> poor leadership.
>  
> As to the art, well, art is what it is, and let the
> critics fight it out. I now retreat to my nomex
> suit.
>

Indigo Nights
[log in to unmask]

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