Livingston, Tennessee's Black Mayor is a Member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
kevinmlevin.substack.com
Earlier this week I shared the story of the Black Tennessee mayor who met with the local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans to sign a proclamation declaring April Confederate History Month. I didn’t speculate as to what may have motivated the mayor not only to sign the proclamation, but also to take a photograph with members of the SCV. In many small communities these proclamations are routine and don’t involve anything more than the signing itself.
Sometimes, it's difficult to click the "heart," but I do so because I appreciate the depth of research and the verification of facts. My head pounds at the thought of contemporary Black men smiling and joining in on reinforcement of the myth of the Black Confederate soldier. It reminds me of Ben Carson's repulsive reference to enslaved, imported Africans as immigrants. Sorry, Ben, no.
Harriet Tubman freed a thousand slaves and would have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves. Hey Dear Mayor Cuz did you know that Mack’s wife ( Sam’s Son and my great grandfather) GAVE AWAY 125 acres to the church? You believe that shit!?
I’m am also a descendant of Sam Cullom. It’s difficult to honor a system that, had it had its way, would want me to still be a slave. More power to you Mayor Cuz but I don’t think Sam and his son , Mack, fought and worked so hard for us to fight for a system that fights against us still to this day!!
This is the weirdest flex I have ever seen of a Black dude. Like your great great granddaddy was a slave in a war about slavery and you think he was there, because he believed in slavery? Dear gawd the ignorance is real. Just a little thought would have prevented this.
Though generations old, the Lost Cause myth, including aspects of it that this situation in Livingston relates to, persists. In 2022. The myth is just one fissure fueling the miasma of untruths spreading thick and fast--right now--while too many people, the vast majority of people, who cherish democracy and liberty remain asleep. Whether it's the lie of denazification within or oppression by Ukraine, of voter fraud in the 2020 U.S. general election, of Democratic "groomers," of Critical Race Theory oppressing America's white majority, of LGBTQAI+ people as predatory, of global warming as a scam, it's a part of a worldview that is the acutest threat to personal freedom and agency and the matrix of self-government, human rights, and the rule of law certainly since the 1930s and 1940s, and possibly since the dawn of the Enlightenment. We're at a pivotal moment in history. My hat is off to everyone like Mr. Levin who does what they can to combat falsehood wherever it is found.
Steaming mad that our people allow themselves to be used like this and possibly for the reason of “recognition”…smh. Knowledge of our enslavement shouldn’t elicit desires to be recognized for helping the enslavers. He should be embarrassed! I’m sure his family is.
I would like to hear Mayor Hayes’s opinion as to why his ancestor, a slave, would join the Confederate army. He’s probably bought into the “loyal slave” narrative, too.
My favorite response from a Black Union soldier when asked why he decided to fight for his country: “I had no country. I fought so I would.”
Sorry, I don’t have the reference, but I read this recently from a Civil War site, possibly yours?
Wow. This story leaves me speechless. I wish rather than embracing the narrative the SCV puts forth that Mr. Hayes would instead raise important questions as to how his family member was coerced into 'serving' the Confederacy.
It is absolutely gobsmacking to see the content of the caption at the end "Compatriots with the Sons of Confederate Veterans [. . .] urging all citizens to avail themselves of the opportunities to increase their knowledge of this important era of Tennessee's history." and contrast that with the wave of anti-CRT legislation being passed. Silencing accurate history while promoting not just falsehoods but very damaging ones. This is ridiculous.
Sometimes, it's difficult to click the "heart," but I do so because I appreciate the depth of research and the verification of facts. My head pounds at the thought of contemporary Black men smiling and joining in on reinforcement of the myth of the Black Confederate soldier. It reminds me of Ben Carson's repulsive reference to enslaved, imported Africans as immigrants. Sorry, Ben, no.
Harriet Tubman freed a thousand slaves and would have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves. Hey Dear Mayor Cuz did you know that Mack’s wife ( Sam’s Son and my great grandfather) GAVE AWAY 125 acres to the church? You believe that shit!?
I’m am also a descendant of Sam Cullom. It’s difficult to honor a system that, had it had its way, would want me to still be a slave. More power to you Mayor Cuz but I don’t think Sam and his son , Mack, fought and worked so hard for us to fight for a system that fights against us still to this day!!
This is the weirdest flex I have ever seen of a Black dude. Like your great great granddaddy was a slave in a war about slavery and you think he was there, because he believed in slavery? Dear gawd the ignorance is real. Just a little thought would have prevented this.
🤦♂️
Though generations old, the Lost Cause myth, including aspects of it that this situation in Livingston relates to, persists. In 2022. The myth is just one fissure fueling the miasma of untruths spreading thick and fast--right now--while too many people, the vast majority of people, who cherish democracy and liberty remain asleep. Whether it's the lie of denazification within or oppression by Ukraine, of voter fraud in the 2020 U.S. general election, of Democratic "groomers," of Critical Race Theory oppressing America's white majority, of LGBTQAI+ people as predatory, of global warming as a scam, it's a part of a worldview that is the acutest threat to personal freedom and agency and the matrix of self-government, human rights, and the rule of law certainly since the 1930s and 1940s, and possibly since the dawn of the Enlightenment. We're at a pivotal moment in history. My hat is off to everyone like Mr. Levin who does what they can to combat falsehood wherever it is found.
Steaming mad that our people allow themselves to be used like this and possibly for the reason of “recognition”…smh. Knowledge of our enslavement shouldn’t elicit desires to be recognized for helping the enslavers. He should be embarrassed! I’m sure his family is.
I would like to hear Mayor Hayes’s opinion as to why his ancestor, a slave, would join the Confederate army. He’s probably bought into the “loyal slave” narrative, too.
My favorite response from a Black Union soldier when asked why he decided to fight for his country: “I had no country. I fought so I would.”
Sorry, I don’t have the reference, but I read this recently from a Civil War site, possibly yours?
Wow. This story leaves me speechless. I wish rather than embracing the narrative the SCV puts forth that Mr. Hayes would instead raise important questions as to how his family member was coerced into 'serving' the Confederacy.
It is absolutely gobsmacking to see the content of the caption at the end "Compatriots with the Sons of Confederate Veterans [. . .] urging all citizens to avail themselves of the opportunities to increase their knowledge of this important era of Tennessee's history." and contrast that with the wave of anti-CRT legislation being passed. Silencing accurate history while promoting not just falsehoods but very damaging ones. This is ridiculous.