Do the people who accept 19thC newspaper articles in this uncritical way also believe what they read or watch in today's media without question? It's a jolly thought that Rupert Murdoch may be lying to future generations as well his current audience.
I suspect they do, which is not too surprising. And I suspect the problem is exacerbated by the fact that you can "discuss" your content from your preferred news source in the comfort of your preferred social media silo.
You do not need to enslave a person to demonstrate slavery; we do not need to keep racist statues in our holiest cemetery or dankest warehouse to propound upon the evils represented.
"Swords into ploughshares, spears into pruninghooks," statues to evil into.... hmmm. (OK, so I would fail as a King James scribe.)
Statues, as Arlington's Abomination? In ordinary words:
Arlington Statue: symbolically melt it into new printing plates for the $20 bill to bear Harriet Tubman's likeness, replacing that of the president who would have prevented the Civil War, according to the recent president, who's trying to start another one. (Too much to unpack!)
BTW: What has Joe done to this honor postponed? It would be a perfect event for my local Kamala to dedicate at an appropriate venue.
Plinth of that Statue: crushed (an unappreciated word) into gravel. The pebbles: to be distributed to gardens memorializing countless lives lived under the thumb and foot of historic and contemporary supremacists.
For being our lodestar in 2023, thanks to KML, and expectations for a more informed and equitable New Year to all!
I was listening to the audio drama “1865” the other day and Edwin Stanton’s voice actor said a line that made me raise an eyebrow:
“The true purpose of a just war is to punish those who are unjust, and through his sufferings, amend his ways”
I don’t know if harsher punishment would’ve have fixed relations at the end of the war, but it’s definitely a sentiment that some in the general public think about.
Thanks for the comment. It's an interesting debate and one that I tend to steer clear of, if only because I am uncomfortable with counterfactuals. It's hard enough to understand why a particular course was taken. I understand both Lincoln's approach and the Radical Republicans view of punishment, but I have few answers on what would have been best for the nation overall.
Now, what to do with the bronze-work that was removed? While it may be tempting to box it up and tuck it away in that warehouse from the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark", it's still a great teaching tool (as Kevin knows well) for learning about memory and the Civil War. My preference would be to split it up between the Civil War museum in Richmond and the Smithsonian.
It is an important piece, but I hope it remains in storage for some time before a decision is made. No need to rush. Officials need to think carefully about how it might be used in the future. Thanks, Mark.
“True reconciliation is never cheap,” Desmond Tutu wrote in 1995, when he was appointed to chair South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “It is based on forgiveness which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgment of what was done wrong, and therefore on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know.”
Great post. Just started reading Charles Reagan Wilson's new book and it's a good reminder that white southerners utilized Civil War memory and their history for a bewildering array of contradictory and contingent purposes that can't be boiled down to either "reconciliation no problems here," or "the Lost Cause that old racist lie." I'm over those takes.
I completely agree. I am also looking forward to Gaines Foster's forthcoming collection of essays, though I am not sure whether it will break any new ground.
Oh, cool. Looks good. His two essays in Zocalo Public Square were pretty important as I pitched back into all this in 2016. Can't say that Wilson is saying anything new (in fact, reads like it was written in an early 2000s historiographical universe) but the conceptual approach and organization are extremely helpful and I'll be leaning on it for a future project.
Do the people who accept 19thC newspaper articles in this uncritical way also believe what they read or watch in today's media without question? It's a jolly thought that Rupert Murdoch may be lying to future generations as well his current audience.
I suspect they do, which is not too surprising. And I suspect the problem is exacerbated by the fact that you can "discuss" your content from your preferred news source in the comfort of your preferred social media silo.
You do not need to enslave a person to demonstrate slavery; we do not need to keep racist statues in our holiest cemetery or dankest warehouse to propound upon the evils represented.
"Swords into ploughshares, spears into pruninghooks," statues to evil into.... hmmm. (OK, so I would fail as a King James scribe.)
Statues, as Arlington's Abomination? In ordinary words:
Arlington Statue: symbolically melt it into new printing plates for the $20 bill to bear Harriet Tubman's likeness, replacing that of the president who would have prevented the Civil War, according to the recent president, who's trying to start another one. (Too much to unpack!)
BTW: What has Joe done to this honor postponed? It would be a perfect event for my local Kamala to dedicate at an appropriate venue.
Plinth of that Statue: crushed (an unappreciated word) into gravel. The pebbles: to be distributed to gardens memorializing countless lives lived under the thumb and foot of historic and contemporary supremacists.
For being our lodestar in 2023, thanks to KML, and expectations for a more informed and equitable New Year to all!
Wholeheartedly agree. The concepts of what-ifs is tricky and sometimes controversial in Civil War/Reconstruction history.
I was listening to the audio drama “1865” the other day and Edwin Stanton’s voice actor said a line that made me raise an eyebrow:
“The true purpose of a just war is to punish those who are unjust, and through his sufferings, amend his ways”
I don’t know if harsher punishment would’ve have fixed relations at the end of the war, but it’s definitely a sentiment that some in the general public think about.
Hi Sam,
Thanks for the comment. It's an interesting debate and one that I tend to steer clear of, if only because I am uncomfortable with counterfactuals. It's hard enough to understand why a particular course was taken. I understand both Lincoln's approach and the Radical Republicans view of punishment, but I have few answers on what would have been best for the nation overall.
Now, what to do with the bronze-work that was removed? While it may be tempting to box it up and tuck it away in that warehouse from the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark", it's still a great teaching tool (as Kevin knows well) for learning about memory and the Civil War. My preference would be to split it up between the Civil War museum in Richmond and the Smithsonian.
It is an important piece, but I hope it remains in storage for some time before a decision is made. No need to rush. Officials need to think carefully about how it might be used in the future. Thanks, Mark.
Good point. Besides, according to the Southrons, the Army is going to be too busy taking down Mt. Rushmore and the Washington Monument next (eye roll)
No, no. They are going to remove the Confederate graves in Arlington first. LOL
“True reconciliation is never cheap,” Desmond Tutu wrote in 1995, when he was appointed to chair South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “It is based on forgiveness which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgment of what was done wrong, and therefore on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know.”
Well said, Laura.
Great post. Just started reading Charles Reagan Wilson's new book and it's a good reminder that white southerners utilized Civil War memory and their history for a bewildering array of contradictory and contingent purposes that can't be boiled down to either "reconciliation no problems here," or "the Lost Cause that old racist lie." I'm over those takes.
Thanks, Chris.
I completely agree. I am also looking forward to Gaines Foster's forthcoming collection of essays, though I am not sure whether it will break any new ground.
https://lsupress.org/9780807171387/the-limits-of-the-lost-cause/
Oh, cool. Looks good. His two essays in Zocalo Public Square were pretty important as I pitched back into all this in 2016. Can't say that Wilson is saying anything new (in fact, reads like it was written in an early 2000s historiographical universe) but the conceptual approach and organization are extremely helpful and I'll be leaning on it for a future project.
Dear Mr. Levin,
I just wanted to call you attention to this valuable article:
Opinions | Here’s the Civil War history they didn’t want you to know
The Alabama men who fought for the Union in the Civil War were expunged from history.
Opinion by Howell Raines
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/20/howell-raines-alabama-civil-war-history/
Bernard Leikind
Hi Bernard,
I am reading the book on which this op-ed is based. I can't recommend it enough.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624155/silent-cavalry-by-howell-raines/