History is ALWAYS Written By the Winners of The Battles

In the culture war to obliterate "Southern History" form the annals of time and all iterations of the "Southern Cross" from the face of the earth, nothing is sacred.  Poverty Pimps, Big Government advocates, and Liberals seek to paint ALL Southerners as slave holding racists, despite the fact that few were ever wealthy enough to "own" slaves.  

As the War Between the Stares ended over 150 years ago, none of the survivors or any other slave holder living in the south is still alive.  However, that doesn't matter.  Those that fly the Confederate Battle Flag, more correctly known as the "Southern Cross," in ANY form or for ANY reason must be beaten with the cudgel of racism until they have become repentant and submit to the cultured views of those who have decided ALL southerners are guilty of racism.

Let me give full disclosure, as nothing is ever as it seems:  I am a son of the South.

My maternal ancestors were of English and Scottish descent, with the Scots coming over as Indentured Servants, where they worked as share croppers in order to pay for their passage to a new future on the McIntosh Coast of Georgia.  

My paternal ancestors were Ulster-Scots, who came to America from Scotland via Northern Ireland, after the War Between the States had been fought.  He (J.A.) eventually settled in the "Olde English" district of Central South Carolina, with his brothers settling in Rome, GA and Birmingham, AL.

A great, great uncle of his daughter-in-law was Ambrose Burnside, the Union General that fought to hold the bridge over Antietam Creek in Maryland and then in the ill-timed battle of the Crater in Richmond, Virginia.  Losing in both contests, he was "retired " to a position where he could do less damage and lose fewer resources (lives in this case).

I am proud of my Southern Heritage and won't be bullied by the accusations of those who choose to believe they are morally superior to me, based on the geographic locals from which they live or their racial pedigree.  

The reader should note that I am choosing to use "religious terms" in discussing this.  This is because, much like the war Islam is waging against all infidel, non-believers, with the liberal perspective on History, ANY positive attributes of the Rebellion and Session must be wiped from history.  And, more importantly, all those that CAN be associated with the losing side, must wear the scarlet letter "R," to associate them with Racism.  

Recently, I found this essay in The American Thinker, by William Sullivan, author of the PoliticalPalaverBlog:
  
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/08/lincoln_vs_lee_how_history_is_distorted_to_preserve_legends_.html.  

Lee freed the slaves that he inherited from his father-in-law, but never had purchased slaves.  He believed that freed slaves were better off in America than in Africa and that Christianity would free the slaves sooner than war.  Yet, being the General of the Army of Northern Virginia, THE SYMBOL OF THE DEFEATED, REVILED, REBELLIOUS SOUTH, that he was not given his citizenship back until nearly 135 years after the War Between the States ended.   

Lincoln, on the other hand, was an astute politician and didn't care about the issue of slavery any where as much as he cared about keeping his power base. Neither did most of the Union at that time, as there were conscription riots in many Union cities.  Lincoln was interested in keeping the United States as a single union, rather than two, weaker countries competing for their individual destinies.   

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued for slaves in the Confederacy, not any that were in the Union.  It was a political document., as was the Gettysburg Address.  It wasn't until after the Union had won at Gettysburg, the very turning point of the war, that Lincoln claimed the "righteous mantle of the abolitionist," making the conflict a"Holy Crusade" against slavery.

Dr. Walter E. Williams has also written a great post about historical accounts of Black Southerners who took up arms with their white brothers, against the Northerners that would do battle to "free" them, http://patriotpost.us/opinion/40103. Please note that these are not anecdotal accounts, but historical ones.

This has reminded me of the words of my college history professor, Dr. James H. Sasser, who taught me two very important truths of life, so long ago:  

1. History is nothing more than "his story," referring to an author's view point which might not necessarily be the truth and
2. The winner gets to write the history.  

The truth doesn't necessarily have anything to do with history.

Rarely are issues ever black and white.  Once again, we see history as it was written by the winners of the War Between the States.  It has become, as Faulkner would put it, "a tale of fools, told with sound and fury (but he was a Southerner also - what could he know?)."  

In the opposing sides of any contest, there is often very little difference between the "hero" and the "pariah" in a contest of wills and the leadership.  Our sacred, iconic figures have feet of clay and the enemy often turns out to be of righteous character, while the hero is simply politically astute and can prosecute a war, simply because he has the political power and has the resources to do so.  

Debates over crux moments in history will never be settled on either side of eternity, as each group "worships its heroes," conveniently forgetting their flawed human condition.  They willfully ignore their abuses of power and proclaim "the righteousness" of the actions of their champion.  

Military geniuses and inspirations who were brilliant at pulling victory out of a situation where common sense said only defeat was possible are completely discarded because of their social positions that were against the narrative told by the victor.  THE PERFECT EXAMPLE of this was Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who is dismissed. because he later formed the Ku Klux Klan.  As a Confederate General, who was so acclaimed by both Confederate, Army of Virginia, General Robert E. Lee and Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, who once had a bounty put on the man's head.  Skilled in guerilla warfare, he often rode into situations where he was out gunned and out numbered as much as 3 to 1.  He regularly brought defeat in battle to a Union Army that was certain of its victory over the smaller rebel forces. 

And so it continues, until one side obliterates the "god" of the other, forcing its belief system upon others where simple proselytization of a people group will not do. 

I expect to be judged on my merits and faults in my actions.  Much like the Hank Rearden Character in Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, I refuse to acknowledge the accusation towards me that is intended to make me feel guilt.  I'm not guilty of judging people by the color of their skin.  I won't give someone the tool with which they will beat me.  

I judge others by the content of their character and the culture to which they subscribe.  This is how I choose to look at others who are around me.