A "Langston Hughes" Happy New Year

The departure of an "old" year and the arrival of 2015 leads me back to a Langston Hughes poem often referred to as "Emancipation"...

Long View: Negro

Emancipation:1865

Sighted through the telescope of dreams

Looms larger,

So much larger,

So it seems,

Than truth can be.

But turn the telescope around,

Look through the larger end-

And wonder why

What was so large

Becomes so small

Again.

What do we truly see when we look backward...when we look forward?

What captures our attention...

the spectacular (murder, riots, war, etc.)...

the mundane (everyday poverty, everyday struggles, everyday racism, etc.)...

conventional wisdom, sensationalism, the illusion of equality...truth?

With every step toward progress, liberty looms larger, so much larger or so it seems...

The Declaration of Independence, The Civil War, The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, WWI, WWII, Brown v. Board of Education, The Civil Rights Era, a "post-racial" America, an increasingly democratic world.

But, it seems what was so large seems to become small again...

A defining of slavery, Black Codes, Jim Crow, American Eugenics, The Southern Manifesto,  the resegregation of America, racial profiling, excessive "military-style" police brutality, increasing fear and paranoia of immigrants, those who are "different", rampant hacking/ spying/ killing of innocent people/ hunger/ hatred.

I hope that in 2015 we can see Liberty sighted through the telescope of dreams...

Let's resolve to take at least two steps forward for every one step back and kill a lot of jellyfish.

Happy New Year!

Minnesota's Trail of Tears

Over 150 years ago, Governor Alexander Ramsey called for the extermination (303 men) and complete removal of the Dakota from Minnesota. Ironically, his September 9, 1862 declaration was brought on by his own government's failure to honor previous treaties which stole millions of acres from the Dakota and purposefully kept food and money from their starving families...now forced to go hunting "off the reservation" it led to violent conflicts with European homesteaders and thousands of Dakota to be placed "under arrest".

 

Trail of Tears: In November of 1862, over 1,700 Dakota (mostly women, children, and elders) were forcibly marched 150 miles from Morton, Minnesota to a recently built internment camp just outside of Ft. Snelling. They suffered (and several hundred died of starvation, disease, hypothermia, etc.) in this "camp" during the winter of 1862-63.

Extermination: On December 6, 1862, Abraham "The Great Executioner" Lincoln approved the largest mass execution (38 men) in United States history at Mankato, Minnesota on December 26, 1862.

In exchange for the list being reduced from 303 down to 38, President Lincoln promised to help kill or remove every Dakota from the state.

Trail of Tears II: In April/ May of 1863, those at Ft. Snelling (about 1,300) were sent down the Mississippi River to St. Louis and up the Missouri River to the Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota. The "pardoned" men at Mankato were placed on riverboats and transported to Davenport, Iowa where they spent 3 years in jail...before being sent off to Crow Creek.

Ft. Snelling Concentration Camp

Today, historians still struggle with how to get at the truth, how to remember and tell, falsely appeasing "proud Minnesota" traditions...

Was it a conflict...massacre...uprising...war...murder...genocide?

Should we pardon...seek forgiveness...reparations...reconciliation?

Maybe the best thing we can do is acknowledge the truth of our past...accept the open wounds that still exist...and begin healing.

Alexander Ramsey's modern-day counterpart Gov. Mark Dayton may have said it the best for all of us:

"I am appalled by Governor Ramsey's words and by his encouragement of vigilante violence against innocent people; and I repudiate them. The viciousness and violence, which were commonplace 150 years ago in Minnesota, are not accepted or allowed now...we need to remember that dark past; to recognize its continuing harm in the present; and to resolve that we will not let it poison the future."

Sitting Bull's White Horse

In 1830, Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen of New Jersey delivered a lengthy speech in opposition (and prophetic prelude) to United States "Indian Policy"...an excerpt:

"...if we abandon these aboriginal proprietors (Native Americans) of our soil, these early allies and adopted children of our forefathers, how shall we justify it to our country...How shall we justify this trespass to ourselves...Let us beware how, by oppressive encroachments upon the sacred privileges of our Indian neighbors, we minister to the agonies of future remorse."

Native American elders have often said that "the civilized way of life" ended at the execution of 38 Dakota leaders in Mankato, Minnesota during December of 1862...while most in the government saw this as the beginning of the assault on the "uncivilized Dakota savages" that would end with the murder of Sitting Bull and the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. 

Is this how we justified genocide to ourselves...by "scientifically" categorizing people as uncivilized?

Maybe we could learn something from the "story and symbolism of Sitting Bull's White Horse"?

 

As told by George Eagle Elk in 1969:

 

"When the white horse heard the shooting (the "police" killing Sitting Bull) it began dancing and prancing, sitting on its haunches and raising up its front legs, jumping around, bowing, curtsying, doing all the tricks it had been taught. In this way it honored its dead master in the only way it knew. All who saw it said that the horse was possessed because it was unhurt even though it danced through a hail of bullets. The white horse kept dancing for awhile after the fight was over and the bloody scene was silent..."

 

Maybe we could be The White Horse and honor Native American culture through a redemption of past "lessons of history", reconciliation, seeking the truth, dancing, and understanding the symbolism of the white horse!

 

White Horse as a Message Carrier- "no abuse of power will ever lead to true wisdom, power is only awarded to those willing to carry balanced responsibility."

 

White Horse as Power and Freedom- "power and freedom can only be useful (to the horse and the rider) to accomplish great things when mutual respect and responsibility is shown to each other."

 

 



 

Failure

As a teacher, one of the most frustrating things to witness is students not giving their best (lack of motivation, abysmal attendance, constant texting, distractions/ sleeping, side conversations, poor effort on homework, lack of preparation on tests, "refusing" to think critically, etc.) in school. 

But, what concerns me the most is not learning from these mistakes...

 

 I could tell you hundreds of stories from the past 30 years of teaching about students who failed/ made mistakes/ gave a mediocre effort, were overwhelmed with adversity, quit, etc. and made a conscious decision to fight/ change/ never give up/ make a difference in this world.

To me, this is more impressive than a letter grade...learning about history, math, science, etc...finishing first in a race...

I hear people say, "things are so much better than they used to be" and "we've come a long way."

Are we (as a country) truly learning from our (here are a few) mistakes?

Slavery...Manifest Destiny...Social Darwinism...ISMS...Native "Policy"/ Genocide...Sand Creek...Wounded Knee...Racial Categories...Jim Crow...Mexican "Repatriation"...Race Riots...The Red Scare...McCarthyism...Mohammad Mossadegh...Vietnam...Agent Orange...Watergate...Rodney King...Weapons of Mass Destruction...Benghazi...Racial Profiling...Police Brutality...Excessive Force...Droning the Innocent...Resegregation of schools...

Or are our principles just truths we seek when they agree with our selfish emotions?

All Skulls Created Equal?

"Nations and races, like individuals have each an especial destiny: some are born to rule, and others to be ruled. And such has ever been the history of mankind. No two distinctly marked races can dwell together on equal terms."

 

                                                                                        -Josiah Nott

 



 

 

 

In 1854, Dr. Josiah Nott compiled and published a 738 page best-selling book entitled Types of Mankind. It cited a massive amount of "scientific research"/data, quoted "findings", and displayed elaborate illustrations collected by the greatest scientists of the era.

 

Near the bottom of the title page was an ominous and prophetic quote by Lord Byron...

 



“But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling, like dew, upon a thought produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions think.”

 



 

The most influential scientist published in this book was Harvard professor-Dr. Samuel George Morton. He was well-known for "owning" the world's largest collection of skulls (600+ over several decades) which he analyzed, measured, compared, and ranked to help prove his belief that African-Americans, Native Americans, Chinese, etc. were each a different biological species (races) and inferior to Caucasians.

 

These "Racist Head Games" were used to predict brain size and the "progress/ potential of each race" in intellectual capabilities, morality, behavior, job capabilities, and capacity for future achievement.

 

Morton's "Cranial" Conclusion:

 

 "The Negroes have little invention, but strong powers of imitation, so that they readily acquire mechanic arts. They have a great talent for music, and all their external senses are remarkably acute."

 

Another Harvard professor, Swiss-born Louis Agassiz (a world-renowned biologist/ geologist) was deeply influenced and swayed (he had previously believed that man came from a single species) by Morton's "cranial data" and quickly became an "authority" on race.

Agassiz quotes:

"As much as I try to feel pity at the sight of this degraded and degenerate race, as much as their fate fills me with compassion in thinking of them as really men, it is impossible for me to repress the feeling that they are not the same blood as us..."


"The brain of the Negro is that of an imperfect seven month's infant in the womb of a White...they are incapable of living on a footing of social equality with the whites, in one and the same community, without becoming an element of social disorder...the government must put every possible obstacle to the crossing of the races, and the increase of half-breeds."

These "scientific findings" were used far beyond (even in 2014!) the abolition of slavery to rationalize and justify Dred Scott, Plessy v. Ferguson, Jim Crow Segregation, The Negro Problem, Native American Genocide, Chinese Exclusion, Mexican "Repatriation", Japanese Internment, Quotas, Real Estate Redlining, racial profiling, police brutality/ excessive force, the "drug wars"/ Jim Crow Incarceration, resegregated Public Schools, the "Black/Latino" Achievement Gap, U.S. Census racial categories, whitewashed History books, our friends/ neighbors...I could go on!  

I think Lord Byron was right about the power of "a small drop of ink"...it just depends upon which drop we choose to believe.


KEEP KILLING JELLYFISH!

 

 

 

  





Abraham Lincoln:Corporate Puppet

19th Century Corporate Monopolies

 

 

In November of 1864, POTUS Abraham Lincoln warned...

 

“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country….corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”

 

His warning was prophetic and also very myopic. Did he forget that he was one of the best friends and loyal lawyer/ political puppet of the big corporations (Railroad, Steel, Coal, and Oil)?

 

Amnesia seems to be a common theme in American politics! 

 

 

 

 

Historical evidence...Corporate Puppet Lincoln:

 

Tries his first railroad case in Illinois...saving the Illinois Central RR future millions.

 

Fought to limit monetary compensation to land owners who lost land to the RR "right of way".

 

Won a case that argued that farmers/ ranchers (and not the RR) were responsible for building fences to keep their animals off of the tracks.

 

Limited RR liability for killing livestock hit by the trains.

 

Helped the RR companies get tax-exempt status...saving them millions in taxes.

 

Signed The Railway Act into law...guaranteed money and land incentives for every mile of track that was built.

 

Supported state subsidies for the RR industry.

 

In his own words...

 

“A railroad to the Pacific Ocean is imperatively demanded by the interests of the whole country; that the Federal Government ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction.”

 

 

The bottom line...POTUS Lincoln was not unlike previous Presidents (controlled by tobacco, sugar, cotton, slavery, northern factories, shipping industry, etc.) in that he owed his election to corporations and corporate support.

 

 



Since 1776...Change we can believe in? 

 

 

But, how about 2014?

 

In America, 10% of the people (many of them heads of large corporations) control 75.4% of the nation's wealth.  This would include Warren Buffet (arguably the richest man in the world...$73.5B) who owns major stock in the railroad industry.

 

President Obama awards Warren Buffett the "Medal of Freedom"

 



Would you be shocked to know that Warren Buffett contributed $1B (yes that's billion) to help reelect President Obama in 2012?

Would you also be shocked to learn that President Obama’s opposition to the Keystone Pipeline (for environmental reasons...of which there are serious concerns) richly rewards his friend - Warren Buffett?

Buffett's Burlington Northern Railroad transports nearly a million barrels of oil (at $10-$15/ barrel) per day out of North Dakota to refineries around the country...the Keystone Pipeline could transport the same amount of oil for about $5/barrel.

 

 

Oligarchy...An American Tradition since 1776.

 

The Sin of Slavery

 

 

According to the National Literacy Project Foundation:

 

• There are 45 million adults in America who read below a 5th grade level.
• 50% of American adults can only read books written above an 8th grade level.
• 44% of Americans do not read a single book in a calendar year.
• 60% do not purchase a single book in one calendar year.

 

 

 

 

Functional illiteracy (1 in every 5 Americans) means that a person can read and write simple sentences (using simple vocabulary-about a 5th grade level)...but can't read or write well enough to function within society.  The inability to comprehend and analyze job applications, notices sent in the mail, newspaper articles, television news broadcasts, bank statements, tax forms, political candidates/ platforms, editorial cartoons, instructions for medicine, orders from the boss, etc. can lead to a variety of potential risk factors in a person's life. Most importantly, education must once again be seen (according to a Mississippi Freedmen) as the "next best thing to Liberty." 

 

ILLITERACY SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A NATIONAL EMERGENCY!

 



Maybe we should take a lesson from the newly freed slaves (Freedmen) after the Civil War who escaped from slavery with the great desire to acquire the ability to read and write...one man lamented,

"There is one sin that slavery committed against me that I will never forgive...it robbed me of my education."

Harriet Beecher Stowe commented, they rushed not to the grog-shop (saloon) but to the schoolroom- they cried for the spelling book as bread, and pleaded for teachers as a necessity of life!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Grand Illusion

THE GRAND ILLUSION: WE ARE LIVING IN A POST-RACIAL AMERICA.

The Gettysburg Address-November 19, 1863

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.  Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.  But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground.  The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.  The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.  It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Yesterday in class, we tried to define the word crisis in light of "A New Birth of Freedom" and the possibility that the "reunited" United States could truly pursue "All Men are Created Equal"  and begin a "New Birth of Freedom in Reconstruction"...or return to a country of  "A Few Men are Created Equal" defined by anger, bitterness, hatred, racism, "White Power", Jim Crow violence...and ridiculous "scientific" and Hitler-like eugenics/ "race" categories.

Crisis: A tipping point decision that can lead to positive or negative consequences.

IMO...both the Union and Confederacy allowed themselves/ chose to ignore the real truths of the Civil War (why it was fought...what the results should be...), developed a "Noble Cause" and positive memories of the war, and settled on reconciliation/ reunion in order to keep a firm grip on white economic and political power.

"The New Birth of Freedom" in a "Second America" (1865- ca. 1945) had failed to live up to our principles and ideals.

It is quite clear that as we continue to systematically define our "genetic differences" (U.S. Census Bureau) by race...divide ourselves by neighborhoods...sit at different lunch tables...hate others for the color of their skin...espouse "tolerance and open-mindedness, etc." instead of love...

Their are still many jellyfish to kill!

Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are or what they look like.

Jefferson Davis "Killed" Abraham Lincoln

Of course, everyone knows that John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in April of 1865...but, what most people don't know is that the assassination was part of a much larger plan to disrupt the Union Government and win the war through terrorist activities.

In February of 1864, Confederate President Jefferson Davis adopted a plan to strengthen ($5M) the activities of spies, secret agents, terrorists through the "Confederate Secret Service" mainly based in Richmond, Washington, D.C., Canada, and NYC.

Acts of terrorism that were planned include:

1. Starting arson fires in NYC buildings and hotels.
2. Poison the water supply of NYC.
3. Infect Union soldiers' clothing with small pox and other biological weapons.
4. Attack and blow up the White House.
5. Kidnap (later turned to assassination plot) Abraham Lincoln.
6. Assassinate Lincoln, VP Johnson, Sect. of War Stanton, Sect of State Seward, Gen. U.S. Grant

The Confederate Plan to Kill President Lincoln:

Fall 1864- Booth and other conspirators meet with Confederate Secret Service Agents (CSS) twice in Canada to discuss "activities".

October 1864- Booth receives a secretly coded letter from Richmond (Jefferson Davis) notifying Booth that "their friends would be set to work as he had directed."

November 1864- Booth begins recruiting a team to kidnap Lincoln.

January 1865- Jacob Thompson (Head of the CSS) talks about "a group of blood men" willing to kill Union leaders and "leave the government entirely without a head."

March 1865- large numbers of Confederate troops were sent to protect the planned route of bringing President Lincoln to Richmond.

March/ April 1865- Conspirators have several meetings in Richmond, Washington, D.C. and Canada to finalize plans.

April 19, 1865- Jefferson Davis receives a telegram that announces the death of Abraham Lincoln and responds, "If it were to be done, it was better to be done well...if the same had been done to Andy Johnson (VP), the beast, and to Secretary Stanton, the job would then be complete."

Judge Advocate John Bingham, in his closing arguments (a 1.5 month trial) during the Lincoln Assassination Trials clearly implicates Jefferson Davis as a guilty party to Lincoln's murder...

"What more is wanting (as far as evidence to convict the conspirators)...Jefferson Davis is as clearly proven guilty of this conspiracy as John Wilkes Booth, by whose hand Jefferson Davis inflicted the mortal wound on Abraham Lincoln."

The First Minnesota's Last 5 Minutes

Last week in class, we studied the contributions of "The First Minnesota" on Day 2 during the Battle of Gettysburg...


Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock saw a gap opening up in the Union line and Confederate troops pouring through...

"Reinforcements were coming on the run, but I knew that before they could reach the threatened point the Confederates, unless checked, would seize the position...in some way five minutes must be gained or we were lost.  I would have ordered that regiment in if I had known every man would be killed. It had to be done."

According to Civil War historian Shelby Foote...

"They had given Hancock his five minutes, plus five more for good measure."

 
Every man in this regiment "did his whole duty" and gave his last five minutes for his country...

How can we give our whole duty to our country...family...those in need?

What should we/ would we be willing to "charge into the gap" for today?

Will I give "my five minutes, plus five more for good measure" in everything I do?

"The last full measure of devotion..."

Lincoln:The Racist Emancipator?

Before Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863), he made one final attempt to meet with African-American leaders and ministers (August 1862) to persuade them to go back to their communities and convince the people that colonization was in their best interest:

"Even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race ... The aspiration of men is to enjoy equality with the best when free, but on this broad continent, not a single man of your race is made the equal of a single man of ours. Go where you are treated the best, and the ban is still upon you...we look to our condition, owing to the existence of the two races on this continent. I need not recount to you the effects upon white men growing out of the institution of slavery. I believe in its general evil effects on the white race...See our present condition -- the country engaged in war! -- our white men cutting one another's throats, none knowing how far it will extend; and then consider what we know to be the truth. But for your race among us there could not be war, although many men engaged on either side do not care for you one way or the other. Nevertheless, I repeat, without the institution of slavery, and the colored race as a basis, the war would not have an existence."

 

 

 

When asked "what did Abraham Lincoln do?" most Americans would likely respond..."he freed the slaves!"  This oversimplified answer (that most of us accept) allows us to "deify" Lincoln and find a hero worthy of our "national shrine and mythology". 

Keep in mind...the Emancipation Proclamation had a lot of "fine print" that actually freed a small percentage of slaves "under Union control" and kept a large percentage of slaves in bondage "in the border states and in over 50 counties "not in rebellion against the United States."

Lincoln's true "racist" beliefs:

That slaves should be deported through a system of gradual abolition and colonization.
That this would help protect and create jobs for poor whites (cheap labor vs. free labor).
That the Civil War was a "white man's war" fought to "save the Union".
That the Civil War was the slaves fault...can't they see what they've done to white men?
That slavery was wrong...but, they should never experience political or social equality.
That the "Emancipation Proclamation" was a temporary, wartime act that had no real legal basis.

So why did President Lincoln "free the slaves"?

* Political Necessity- he was being attacked by anti-slavery Radical Republicans for his moderate position on slavery/ black troops and threatened with being removed as their presidential candidate in 1864.

Thaddeus Stevens (a Radical Republican) commented in 1863 that Lincoln was a "dead card" in the Republicans political deck.  He also quipped (as Lincoln went to deliver his now famous "Gettysburg Address") that Lincoln was like "the dead going to eulogize the dead!"

* Military Necessity- the Union Army needed troops. What could be better than thousands of highly-motivated fresh troops?

Freedmen's Monument: Washington D.C.

Dedicated-April 14, 1876

 

 

The closest truth on Abraham Lincoln came from a Frederick Douglass speech delivered at the dedication of The Freedmen's Monument:

 

"It must be admitted, truth compels me to admit, even here in the presence of the monument we have erected to his memory, Abraham Lincoln was not, in the fullest sense of the word, either our man or our model. In his interests, in his associations, in his habits of thought, and in his prejudices, he was a white man.  He was preeminently the white man’s President, entirely devoted to the welfare of white men."

 

 

 

 



The Confederate Creed



“In history, truth should be held sacred, at whatever cost . . . especially against the narrow and futile patriotism, which, instead of pressing forward in pursuit of truth, takes pride in walking backwards to cover the slightest nakedness of our forefathers.”    

 

                                                              - Lt. Col. Thomas Aspinwall

                                                                         (1698-1774)

 

 

 

In 1894, The United Daughters of the Confederacy (parent organization of the Children of the Confederacy) was formed to:

• Study the "War Between the States" (us Yankees call it The Civil War)
• Study the Confederate Catechism (it explains why the Union/ Lincoln/ Radical Abolitionists were fully to blame for the Civil War and that the Confederacy fought for a Noble Cause- States' Rights, Popular Sovereignty, Self-Government, etc.)
• Study the Flags of the Confederacy...the Christian Character of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, battles, the role of women in the war, etc...
• Deny slavery as a reason for the Civil War
• Promote the love and defense of Southern Heritage...The Truth of the Southern Cause...A Love of Justice...Memory of the war through statues and memorials, etc.
• Fight against Northern political correctness...public school/ government "lies" about the war, etc.

 

 

The Children of the Confederacy is a youth organization formed in 1897 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy for children from birth to 18 years who have Confederate ancestors. 

 

The purpose of the organization is stated in their creed:

 

 

 

 



 

I readily acknowledge that I too honor my "noble and patriotic ancestors" who fought in the Civil War (Minnesota 6th and 7th Regiments), WWI, WWII, Korean and Vietnam Wars...

 

But, that doesn't mean that I blindly glorify their efforts, blatantly disregard the truths of history/ false flag causes of war, or whitewash the injustices of war. 

 

 

 



Destroy Confederate Statues (and Yankee Amnesia)

Stone Mountain, Georgia

 

 

Full disclosure, I am a Yankee who believes that many things in our country that are taken as a "source of pride" may actually be a "symbol of national amnesia/ shame". 

We must stop denying/ avoiding the ugly truths, whitewashing history, avoiding the topic of racism, and glorifying injustice (like Lewis & Clark, Manifest Destiny, Mexican-Am War, The American Holocaust on Native Americans, nativism/ jingoism, Vietnam, etc.)
 

 

I frequently ask my students, "Would Germany allow statues of Adolf Hitler, Erwin Rommel, Hermann Goering, or Joseph Goebbels (although they do have Nazi Eagles displayed) to exist and be celebrated in their country?" 

 

Of course not!

 

The Noble Cause, Forgiveness, and Reunion

 

So I ask, "Why do we allow thousands of Confederate statues and memorials (of traitors) to remain in our country?"

 

The answer: Convenient "Truth" and White Reconciliation/ Power

 

We allow the statues because The South in her historical amnesia "fought for Noble Causes"...states rights, popular sovereignty, soldiers' honor, country, etc. instead of facing the true cause...SLAVERY and WHITE POWER.

 

In exchange for statues of Lincoln, Grant, Sherman and "Yankee Forgiveness", the South allows us a bout of Yankee Amnesia to "fight for The Noble Cause" of ending slavery instead of our true motivation...THE UNION.

 

 

 

Dr. David Blight (Yale Historian) most succinctly summarizes post- Civil War "Memory"...

 

"Jim Crow danced his steps at hundreds of Confederate monument unveilings and veterans' parades. High atop his monument in Richmond, Lee represented...a sense of pride and soldierly honor, an end to defeatism, and a new sense of racial mastery."

 

 

 There is no honor in glorifying a lie. 

 

Maybe it is time to tear down the Confederate "Heroes", destroy Mt. Rushmore, recognize the legitimate sovereignty of indigenous nation (e.g. Sioux Nation), and build monuments to those who have fought for "all men are created equal."