Pat Buchanan writes about a conflict that is apparently causing some difficulty in Virginia; evidently after an eight year hiatus, the governor has decided to issue a proclamation in honor of Confederate History Month. One would figure that GOP governors would realize that republicans have enough trouble getting black votes without doing this, but evidently not.
My take is that the governor should have instead isssued a quite different proclamation--one that would honor Frederick Douglass, Robert E. Lee, Harriett Tubman, and Thomas Jackson in one stroke. How is this possible? Simple; take a look at history.
Slavery only existed due to government. Who is going to risk their life returning their neighbor's servant to slavery if the law doesn't require it?
Jim Crow only existed due to government. What businessman spends an extra hundred bucks to install an extra drinking fountain if the law doesn't require it?
Secession was (in 1776 and 1861 both) largely a response to overbearing government power.
The impoverishment of the South for a century (roughly from 1840s to 1940s) was largely a result of federal government action--specifically tariffs that impacted the South being used to build railroads and other benefits for industry in the North.
All the governor had to do was note that because Virginians of all races had suffered from the abuse of government power, the best way to honor the heroes of the past who had fought that abuse of government power is to keep government out of the observance.
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3 comments:
I agree with your reasoning, but honoring Stonewall is going to have the same alienating effect as Confederate History Month, regardless of whether it should. People simply can't/don't want to hear that a Culturally Designated Black Hat is worthy of any sort of honor.
Stellar post.
Pentamom, you're probably right that because of his service with Lee, Jackson can't be honored today--even though he willfully broke Virginia law of the time to start a school for blacks. Same thing with Lee, even though I've heard he integrated his church after the war. Go figure.
On the other hand, I've got the hope that some would catch on if the governor noted that he was specifically avoiding an official proclamation because the life's work of these people was to prevent unjust use of government power.
Hope, dream, pipe dream maybe.
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