berchman Loc: South Central PA

(From a shared Facebook posting)

From someone who teaches AP US History:
If you are confused as to why so many Americans are defending the confederate f**g, monuments, and statues right now, I put together a quick Q&A, with questions from a hypothetical person with misconceptions and answers from my perspective as an AP U.S. History Teacher:
Q: What did the Confederacy stand for?
A: Rather than interpreting, let's go directly to the words of the Confederacy's Vice President, Alexander Stephens. In his "Cornerstone Speech" on March 21, 1861, he stated "The Constitution... rested upon the e******y of races. This was an error. Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great t***h that the negro is not equal to the white man; that s***ery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral t***h."
Q: But people keep saying heritage, not h**e! They think the purpose of the f**gs and monuments are to honor confederate soldiers, right?
A: The vast majority of confederate f**gs flying over government buildings in the south were first put up in the 1960's during the Civil Rights Movement. So for the first hundred years after the Civil War ended, while relatives of those who fought in it were still alive, the confederate f**g wasn't much of a symbol at all. But when Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis were marching on Washington to get the Civil Rights Act (1964) and V****g Rights Act (1965) passed, leaders in the south felt compelled to fly confederate f**gs and put up monuments to honor people who had no living family members and had fought in a war that ended a century ago. Their purpose in doing this was to exhibit their displeasure with black people fighting for basic human rights that were guaranteed to them in the 14th and 15th Amendments but being withheld by r****t policies and practices.
Q: But if we take down confederate statues and monuments, how will we teach about and remember the past?
A: Monuments and statues pose little educational relevance, whereas museums, the rightful place for Confederate paraphernalia, can provide more educational opportunities for citizens to learn about our country's history. The Civil War is important to learn about, and will always loom large in social studies curriculum. Removing monuments from public places and putting them in museums also allows us to avoid celebrating and honoring people who believed that tens of millions of b***k A******ns should be legal property.
Q: But what if the Confederate f**g symbol means something different to me?
A: Individuals aren't able to change the meaning of symbols that have been defined by history. When I hang a Bucs f**g outside my house, to me, the Bucs might represent the best team in the NFL, but to the outside world, they represent an awful NFL team, since they haven't won a playoff game in 18 years. I can't change that meaning for everyone who drives by my house because it has been established for the whole world to see. If a Confederate f**g stands for generic r*******n or southern p***e to you, your personal interpretation forfeits any meaning once you display it publicly, as its meaning takes on the meaning it earned when a failed regime k**led hundreds of thousands of Americans in an attempt to destroy America and keep black people ens***ed forever.
Q: But my uncle posted a meme that said the Civil War/Confederacy was about state's rights and not s***ery?
A: "A state's right to what?" - John Green
Q: Everyone is offended about everything these days. Should we take everything down that offends anyone?
A: The Confederacy literally existed to go against the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the idea that black people are human beings that deserve to live freely. If that doesn't upset or offend you, you are un-American.
Q: Taking these down goes against the First Amendment and freedom of speech, right?
A: No. Anyone can do wh**ever they want on their private property, on their social media, etc. Taking these down in public, or having private corporations like NASCAR ban them on their properties, has literally nothing to do with the Bill of Rights.
Q: How can people claim to be patriotic while supporting a f**g that stood for a group of insurgent failures who tried to permanently destroy America and k**led 300,000 Americans in the process?
A: No clue.
Q: So if I made a confederate f**g my profile picture, or put a confederate bumper sticker on my car, what am I declaring to my friends, family, and the world?
A: That you support the Confederacy. To recap, the Confederacy stands for: s***ery, w***e s*******y, treason, failure, and a desire to permanently destroy Selective history as it supports w***e s*******y.
It’s no accident that:
You learned about Helen Keller instead of W.E.B, DuBois
You learned about the Watts and L.A. R**ts, but not Tulsa or Wilmington.
You learned that George Washington’s dentures were made from wood, rather than the teeth from s***es.
You learned about black ghettos, but not about Black Wall Street.
You learned about the New Deal, but not “red lining.”
You learned about Tommie Smith’s fist in the air at the 1968 Olympics, but not that he was sent home the next day and stripped of his medals.
You learned about “black crime,” but white criminals were never lumped together and discussed in terms of their race.
You learned about “states rights” as the cause of the Civil War, but not that s***ery was mentioned 80 times in the articles of secession.
Privilege is having history rewritten so that you don’t have to acknowledge uncomfortable facts.
R****m is perpetuated by people who refuse to learn or acknowledge this reality.
You have a choice. - Jim Golden”

InfiniteISO Loc: The Carolinas, USA

Why are you posting this again, it wasn't good the first time.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-704761-1.html

berchman Loc: South Central PA

I guess it's because I have no memory left at my advanced age.

Frank T Loc: New York, NY

T***h is never good for those defending a lie.

skylane5sp Loc: Puyallup, WA

Yeah, let's erase the history and t***hs some of us don't like today so we can make the same mistakes all over again tomorrow.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

You have read the books deemed proper reading by the KKK. Your entire perception of why the U.S. endured open r*******n is as incorrect as it could possibly be. War was fought because several southern states decided they were going to dessert the Union and cede the responsibility of nationhood. There is NO allowance for this. Southern aristocrats refused to stop making their fortunes off of the backs of human beings. The Union said NO and southern cry-babies threw a tantrum. The Union prevailed. The Confederation was destroyed and paid a severe financial disaster. Now, you want to idolize a bunch of losers? Keep it in the privacy of your own home and nobody cares what you do.

thom w Loc: San Jose, CA

Or are you just sore that people no longer wish to relish a past you long for?

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

Look at the positive side.
You can meet new friends in your house every day.
Plus, you can hide your own Easter Eggs!.

skylane5sp Loc: Puyallup, WA

No. I don't 'long for that past'. History is history, right or wrong. It is foolish to erase reminders of our past both good and bad.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

With regard to statues and monuments. If one is on public property, there must be a v**e to remove it. If that v**e ( state v**e) approves of removing it, so be it. They can then v**e on destruction or displaying in a museum. But only after a v**e. Rabble tearing down a statue on public property is a crime and should be dealt as one. For those on private property, it is up to the owner to make that decision. Also not the mob. Some of our history is ugly, but it must not be ignored or forgotten. Who was it who said "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it" (or words to that effect)

BadPhoto Loc: Maryland

If this was written by someone who teaches AP US History, they shouldn't. Not that I disagree with the sentiment, but the monuments discussion is incorrect.

The majority of statues and monuments were put up during the Jim Crow era.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Confederate_monuments_and_memorials

The Jim Crow era is one thing that gives Democrats a bad name.

https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/blackrights/jimcrow

A really bad name, as a matter of fact.

Most of them were cheap and mass produced (ironically in the North). There isn't even an artistic value in preserving them. Some may be considered works of art, so they probably should be preserved, but they don't deserve prominent public display because of their message. And yes, I am a strong proponent of taking them all down. The leaders of the Confederacy were t*****rs.

Texcaster Loc: Queensland

Wait until they wheel out Golden Jim Trump.

Even fortified GOPer strongholds won't want to host this grief magnet.

BadPhoto Loc: Maryland

If you want to teach t***h, then knock down all of the Confederate statues and monuments and leave them lying there, as a reminder that the final end for t*****rs is death.

Frank T Loc: New York, NY

Bt that logic. We should have a statue of Hitler in your town square.

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

Why don't we replace General Lee's statue with John Brown's?
And a big plaque to explain his works?
History ...
I grew up listening to folk singing about his body.