In an event meant to highlight the link between Robert E. Lee and Kappa Alpha Order, the members of this fraternity dressed in Confederate uniforms and waved confederate flags. The antebellum-themed 'Old South' event was held on the campus of the University of Alabama. It also just so happened to parade past Alpha Kappa Alpha, a well known black sorority, while they celebrated their 35th anniversary. Both events occurred peaceably, however Alpha Kappa Alpha alumna, Joyce Stallworth, was quoted saying, "They were being insensitive. I don't think they understood the broader implications of what they were doing."I hope these college students did not understand the broader implications of their actions. Anyone who does, knows that a celebration of the 'Old South' is akin to Germans celebrating the Nazis. Southerners must let this part of their 'history' fade away. What from this chapter of their history is there to be proud of? Losing to the North? A generation of dead men? The destruction of their land? The near end to our union? Or the enslavement of an entire race?
To an extent it is important that Southerners do not completely forget this part of their past. The Germans attempted to erase all that connected them to their Nazi past. Clearly the incorrect way to embrace one's history, because if for nothing else history is there to learn from. So Southerners never forget your past, but stop celebrating something that conjures such negative sentiment. The Confederates were not some cool rebels meant to be romanticized. They stood for a divided America in which it was perfectly acceptable to enslave other human beings. People of the south, move the hell on already.
3 comments:
excellent blog, compelling and rich.....the problem is that people love holding onto anything that's "cool/badass"
the confederate flag is straight up cool, there's an X going right through it and it's colors kind of jump out at you....thats why ppl in the south cry about it when you make a law that you cant raise it in front of a courthouse. And then they claim it's their heritage...get real
It reminds me of the chief at U of I(this comment is no longer anonymous, u know its Gray) but u threaten to take away a "cool/badass" looking symbol and people (white ppl namely) complain that it's tradition/legacy/heritage of some sort....cant stand it.
i did not experience the civil rights movement, so I cannot speak for anyone who is connected to the flag with a perspective that relates more closely to a time in which the flag actually held true meaning..but if you were born in the 80s, the confederacy is not your heritage....the same way that slavery is not mine
It is part of your ancestoral history, but nothing that should be actively promoted or reenacted.....read a book, watch a movies, reflect on it...and call it a day
Idk about this...is there really any way to "learn" from the past without acknowledging its there and in some ways, commemorating how far that particular group, country, people, etc have come?
The author references Nazi Germany...Several of the former concentration camps are now museums. The German people celebrate events like the now famous "Valkrye" plan to assassinate Hitler and have come to acknowledge that that was a part of their past...but then also show that they've moved on.
I haven't really understood why sometimes people give soooo much meaning to symbols and flags and such. I think the KKK wearing hoods and robes is ridiculous. If you ever see a skinhead do that salute it looks lame...like c'mon dude get with THIS century. It’s more or less US, the public that give it so much meaning. If a group wants to dress as confederate soldiers...that’s part of their right as citizens. Just because their views and opinions don't match ours or at least main stream society doesn't mean their right to express their views is any less valid. If anything, it should be seen as a stepping-stone in history to what we've achieved now. That being a black man in the White House. Every generation has events that act as land-marks in our history where future generations can look back and say that that was when things changed.
Now, I'm in NO WAY saying that I agree with their statement, if they really intended to make one...or discounting any hurt feelings they might have caused. All I'm saying is that there's no way the United States could look at events such as the election of Obama, a possibility of Universal Health care, the WORLD taking a look at global warming and taking active steps to reduce a potential catastrophe without also acknowledging the darker side of history as well. The not so good stuff such as slavery, internment camps for Japanese-Americans, etc. Its all a part of the path that put us where we are today
I think the point that we need to take away is that the act of CELEBRATING the symbols such as the confederate flag and uniforms and PARADING them around town is the ridiculous act that these college students should be ashamed to have been a party to.
Should the South forget about their past, no. But don't go marching around proudly when there is clearly nothing to be proud of. You can never forget your past or just simply move on though, Beans. The South should commemorate this part of their past, sure, but there is a very clear line and these students overstepped it.
The Germans did not try to erase all connection to their Nazi past. They have denounced it, but not forgotten, which is what the South should do. I've been to concentration camps in Germany and there is def nothing to celebrate and trust me the Germans have not moved on. I've been to many battlegrounds/cemeteries in Northern France, Lux, and Germany. A clear demonstration of appropriate memorials are the cemeteries in Hamm. There lies Gen. Patton and rows and rows of pristinely white crosses marking the lost American soldiers of this battle in WWII. Across the road is the German cemetery, which conversely is very dark with black, moss covered headstones. The Germans have appropriately memorialized their soldiers and this dark part of their Nazi past.
The South should recognize their past and commemorate, but it is certainly no cause for celebration and should never warrant a parade. Such an act should have been treated with much more press and backlash so that the Confederacy has just as much of a negative connotation as the Nazi Germany and the Third Reich.
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