I didn’t start this thread to condemn anybody. I started it with a desire to understand where the people who support confederate history month are coming from. To me and a lot of other minorities, the confederacy is associated with racism, ignorance, and of course, slavery. However, I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt that these aspects are not the things these people want to celebrate. That being said, I’d like to know what they are celebrating, and why they think something as culturally divisive as the confederacy is even worth celebrating.
I wanna know what are the positives the Confederates have given us. Besides allowing me to shake my head at crazy white people while eating my jerk chicken
Confederate History Month huh? Fo real? Isn’t the confederacy considered traitors?
What, exactly, is there to celebrate? Moonshine that causes blindness? Incest as a legitimate pass time? Or more per capita bestiality than anywhere else in the world?
You guys do realize slavery wasn’t the only reason the Confederacy emerged right??
I don’t feel it needs it’s own month but i also don’t feel we need a whole month for just Black history month as all this shit should be wrapped up year round as American history but I’ve been known to be thought of as crazy from time to time…
Yes, Yes, and Hell Yes!
You pretty much answer your own question by saying “To me and a lot of other minorities, the confederacy is associated with racism, ignorance, and of course, slavery.”
The point of a Confederate History month is to educate people about confederate history.
Wikipedia is, as you imagine, a good place to start for information regarding the Confederacy, or if you get the chance, There are Museums dedicated to sharing Confederate history that you can visit.
I understand your question and why you would place it in an open forum like this, but besides the avenues I suggest to you, you’re asking for some of the worst trolling possible by having this thread open.
(I was raised in Richmond, Virginia - The capital of The Confederacy)
How dare you, slavery was the one and only factor that lead to the civil war. The north was against slavery so they killed the south.
I don’t think there needs to be a whole month for Black History anymore either but the problem is…are schools actually going to spread it out into the learning with everything else?
I appreciate the response. However, this isn’t really what I was asking for. I wasn’t asking for historian’s account of the confederacy. I was asking why people like you think the confederacy is worth celebrating. What have they done to earn it in your opinion?
What have black people done that is so special that they get an entire month to themselves?
(the question is rhetorical)
pfff what have puerto ricans done to deserve their own month? thats the important question
pfff what have native americans done to deserve their own month? that’s the important question
Well the simple answer, then, Jin is money. Richmond is looking for another way to boost revenue via tourism.
It ain’t racist. It’s tradition.
Been awhile since US History, I think I should brush up. I think it’s not a bad thing to learn about. More knowledge is better.
Tradition? Forget what color of skin you are and what your political leanings are for a moment, and realize that its a REBEL flag.
F*ck that shit.
Word
Seems like they’re still salty. IDK why it is legal to have one tbh
the real question is what kind of twisted ulterior motive does this governor have by declaring this month confederate history month and how does this decision that he’s come to represent his state? rather how does this governor represent ALL of the ppl of his state by declaring this month confederate history month?
Virginians, stand up and get rid of this bigot.
so much for trying to include everybody under the big tent of the GOP.
roland martin got stupid offended on CNN just now. shit is extra hilarious. i can’t wait til its on youtube. i’ll post it.
Fuck the Confederate flag-wavers.
Seriously.
The real issue with these “history months” is that they’re not really about understanding or investigating their subject, but rather about promoting a politically-motivated, ideological “platform” about it. Relevant school curriculums (based on when I was in school, at least) are superficial, completely uncritical and focused much more on creating positive feelings about the group in question than on understanding history. While the need to better represent minority groups in history education is clear, these “months” are more myth-making and social conditioning than history. I agree with the underlying message (increased knowledge and appreciation of the role of non-white-males in our history and culture) but not so much on how it’s being delivered.
For example, the whole time I was in public school, from probably 2nd grade until 12th, racism was brought up at least once a year (usually in history or literature.) This is a good thing, in my opinion, as it is unfortunately a very significant part of our history and shared cultural heritage here in the U.S. The only problem is that the school’s treatment of the topic never really got any more sophisticated than it was that first time in 2nd grade – basically, “racism is bad, okay?”
This is, of course, true and a good point, but also pretty damn obvious and not really all that illuminating. Anything more complex – the underlying social/psychological causes, for instance – was either avoided or dealt with in an emotional or moralistic way (which is fine in some contexts, such as art perhaps, but doesn’t lead to great objective understanding.)
At all levels of education (I’m in my junior year at college right now) I’ve found that there is a hesitation to really examine and try to understand “bad” things (racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.) Academics love to talk about these things but there seems to be an unspoken belief that explaining why they occur is equivalent to justifying and excusing them. For example, if one suggests that racism ever occurs for any reason other than that the person is both evil and stupid, then he or she must be trying to justify racism. This is an exaggeration, certainly, but I do think it expresses an aspect of the prevailing anti-intellectualism (in favor of emotional, activist sentiment) in the social sciences and humanities today.
Getting back on topic, in light of the fact that these history months are more about politics than history, having a confederate history “month” seems like a questionable idea, at best. While there was certainly a lot more to the Confederacy than slavery, the fact is that that is what is most remembered and what people most strongly associate with it. While I think it is very important to be cognizant of all aspects of our history, including (perhaps especially) the parts that are controversial or that we are not proud of, declaring a special month in honor of such as chapter in our past, one that is still quite divisive, is not the fitting way to go.
It seems hard to imagine that those in favor of Confederate History Month don’t secretly pine for the day when the “South will rise again.” This is certainly a position they’re free to hold, but making it an official, government mandated celebration seems less than appropriate.