I write this post in retrospect:
I am a Southern Partisan. I am PROUD to be a son of the South. Despite the scourge and stain of slavery that it brings, I think the South is culturally superior to places outside of the South that I’ve visited outside what is traditionally known as the South.
Culturally, the South moves at a slower pace. It’s a more religious place, in the sense of the Christian principle and the Golden Rule, where adherents believe that the way they desire to be treated is dependent upon the way they treat others. Those of us who are old enough and have had this teaching, are wise enough to understand the principles that make it work, are thankful for learning it and don’t care to live where it’s not practiced. Generally, I’ve found that the manner native Southerners treat others is much more polite that in other areas of the country. It's more Traditional in the sense that “wisdom of the elders or ages” isn’t thrown out and dismissed as old school thinking. Because of this, History is revered and respected, warts and all.
While what Governor Roy Cooper has done this injustice to Native or adopted Tarheels, who are Southern Partisans, we must address the root of this problem: Back a few years ago, when (hopefully, as we don’t want to admit that anyone in America can harbor the hatred and evil required to plan and commit mass murder against others) a “mentally ill” Dylan Roof had, with malice in heart, planned and then killed black worshippers in a Charleston, SC church Bible Study. VERY SHORTLY THEREAFTER, the NAACP leadership came calling on then SC Governor, Nikki Haley, requesting her to remove the Confederate Flag from the state capital grounds, as a symbol of hate.
Looking to expand her constituency, Nikki Haley, though it was good political reasoning to ban this historic symbol, to gain political capital from would be black voters at the expense of the “few” whites who would be offended at her actions. I am one of those whites, who is cognizant of US history. (And though I’ve lived in the metro Charlotte area of NC since October 1967, my heart is that of a South Carolinian, with my Paternal relatives being from The White Oak Community and Winnsboro areas of Fairfield County. Lord willing, I hope to retire in the Winnsboro area in about 10 years).
There is little doubt that Ms. Haley was working hard to increase her position politically. And she maximized her position with the Trump administration, as the Ambassador to the United Nations, she first tried to do so with her removal of the “Southern Cross” at the expense of history. The same history, with the Confederacy losing their battle to defend their homeland, was the very thing that Ultimately freed the slaves. It was short sighted for the NAACP to have done this.
However, in making this decision, Governor Haley “pissed on” the American Heritage and History itself. A lack of wisdom was demonstrated, as she engaged in a Faustian bargain for what she thought would give her personal political gain. It is apparent, that as an immigrant, who did not see the value of history, she should not have had the sole power to make that decision.
More importantly, she gave the NAACP, and Black Lives Matters the ”green light” to demand that all other weak politicians forgo their history and historic emblems, because they might be offensive (to people of small character, who ALWAYS look to be offended).
ALL OF THE STATUES FROM THE WAR FOR SOUTHERN INDEPENDENCE THAT HAVE BEEN TORN DOWN, REMOVED OR DESTROYED CAN ULTIMATELY BE TRACED TO GOVERNOR HALEY AND HER CAPITULATION TO THE NAACP’S DEMANDS TO ELIMINATE HISTORY THEY FOUND OFFENSIVE.
NOW BLACK LIVES MATTER IS DEMANDING/HAS DEMANDED THAT (1) ANY AMERICAN FOUNDING FATHER THAT OWNED SLAVES MUST BE ERASED FROM THE ANNALS OF HISTORY, SHE’S RESPONSIBLE FOR THOSE, and (2) AS WELL AS THE CHURCH ART THAT DEPICT JESUS, THE APOSTLES, AND OLD TESTAMENT PATRIARCHS THAT ARE SEEN AS “WHITE.”
Nikki Haley may be a great administrator, but she’s just another hack politician, trying to climb the political ladder, just like Roy Cooper. And I’ll never vote for either of them.
Full Disclosure: Although I’m a Southern Partisan, my paternal Grandfather and his brothers came to America, through the Port of Charleston, SC, about a decade after the war was over. But my most famous “Civil War” ancestor was my Paternal Grandmother’s Great, Great Uncle, Ambrose E. Burnside, a Union General and later U.S. Senator. My Maternal Grand Parents, who immigrated through the “MacIntosh Coast of Georgia, had kin folks who served in the Confederate Army.
And, with that, I’ll end my rant
