On the 150th Anniversary of Start of the Civil War

The New York Times has a very interesting piece on activities planned by a few individuals and organizations in the South to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.

The events include a “secession ball” in the former slave port of Charleston (“a joyous night of music, dancing, food and drink,” says the invitation), which will be replicated on a smaller scale in other cities. A parade is being planned in Montgomery, Ala., along with a mock swearing-in of Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederacy.

In addition, the Sons of Confederate Veterans and some of its local chapters are preparing various television commercials that they hope to show next year. “All we wanted was to be left alone to govern ourselves,” says one ad from the group’s Georgia Division.

That some — even now — are honoring secession, with barely a nod to the role of slavery, underscores how divisive a topic the war remains, with Americans continuing to debate its causes, its meaning and its legacy.

“We in the South, who have been kicked around for an awfully long time and are accused of being racist, we would just like the truth to be known,” said Michael Givens, commander-in-chief of the Sons, explaining the reason for the television ads. While there were many causes of the war, he said, “our people were only fighting to protect themselves from an invasion and for their independence.”

Not everyone is on board with this program, of course. The N.A.A.C.P., for one, plans to protest some of these events, saying that celebrating secession is tantamount to celebrating slavery.

“I can only imagine what kind of celebration they would have if they had won,” said Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina N.A.A.C.P.

He said he was dumbfounded by “all of this glamorization and sanitization of what really happened.” When Southerners refer to states’ rights, he said, “they are really talking about their idea of one right — to buy and sell human beings.”

It is critically important that we remember the history of this country.  But you can’t only remember what you want to remember or obscure facts to make history conform to the image you want to have.

The desire of some in the South to revere secessionists without being honest about the reasons that those individuals decided to secede is just one of the most prominent examples of how hard it is for this country to be honest about how race informs our history.

In separate posts that are worth reading in their entirety, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jamelle Bouie cite the actual documents of secessionists to make the point that such a desire is really just wishful thinking and, quite literally, ahistorical.

Says Coates:

I think we need to be absolutely clear that 150 years after the defeat of one of the Confederacy, there are still creationists who seek to celebrate the treasonous attempt to raise an entire country based on the ownership of people.

and Bouie:

To those without the courage to face the deeds of their ancestors, the war was about “self-government.” To the rest of us, this was treason in defense of slavery, and nothing will change that fact.

Indeed.