The Civil War, Confederate Flag, Nationalism and Hate

The idea of “romantic nationalism” is rooted in the notion that the “true character” of a country is rooted in its culture—then glorified and morphed into some modern day political standard.  Like Nazism. 

The most prominent and pernicious of these revisionist movements in America today is the idea that the Civil War was a romantic struggle for freedom against an oppressive government trying to enforce cultural change.

Some typical Civil War revisionist talking points:

1) The Civil War was about economics, not slavery!  Yes, the Civil War was about the economics of slavery.

2) The Civil War was about states’ rights, not slavery!  Yes, the Civil War was about the states’ right to maintain slavery.

3) That’s not the Confederate flag!  True, it’s the battle flag of the Northern Virginia Army.  It’s still the banner under which men fought and died to enact secession.

4) Heritage not hate!  Actually, the heritage is hate.  This notion pretends “heritage” signifies some romantic, noble culture waiting to be recaptured.  Senator Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina) makes a mockery of history by saying: “The flag represents to some people a civil war, and that was the symbol of one side.  To others it’s a racist symbol, and it’s been used by people, it’s been used in a racist way.”

Yes, Senator, it does represent one side of the Civil War—the side that advocated slavery and secession.  It’s the flag of treason.

The states that seceded to become the Confederacy were actively engaged in open war against the United States government.  A war they started because of an elected man they deemed “hostile to slavery.”  A war they fought to maintain the “heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race.”  A war they lost.

The savagery of slavery is offensive enough to justify any level of outrage.  The sick, post-war history of the Ku Klux Klan is offensive enough to justify any level of outrage.  But what might be the most absurd part of this neo-Confederate “heritage” romanticism is that its advocates are simply glorifying treason.

It was a war based on a fundamental social conflict that is not resolved.  It was not resolved in 1865, not in 1965, and sadly, not in 2015.  It rears its ugly head to remind us it hasn’t gone anywhere.

The tragedy for America is that this is self-inflicted.  As Jon Stewart eloquently pointed out, “al Qaeda… ISIS… they’re not shit on the damage we can apparently do to ourselves on a regular basis.”

We want to comfort and assure ourselves that our most recent mass murderer has some mental issue, or that he’s evil, or some other easy excuse that absolves us all of responsibility.  The sad fact is, he’s not alone.

Neo-Confederate revisionism is everywhere.  It’s not confined to “dumb rednecks” or red-state voters or NASCAR fans or any other stereotype we use to dismiss painful realities.  It’s not even confined to older generations.  The murderer in South Carolina is 21.  He’s a Millennial—a new generation.

I find myself angry…very angry.  Angry at the culture that permits such blatant hatred.  Angry at the media who glorify division, provide cover for and protect the ignorant.  Angry at teachers and other leaders who perpetuate historical falsehoods.  Angry at myself for not being angry before.

And every day that we don’t react to that information, every day we don’t internalize this conflict, every day we tell ourselves nothing is wrong, every day we claim we can’t be racist because we have black friends, every day we share some viral cat video instead of advocate and engage…is another day nothing will change.