How Our Love for the Confederacy Will Never Die

by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

In response to the brutal, senseless death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement accelerated.

There were protests throughout the country—and sometimes violent responses by law enforcement or right-wing activists.

Then, after ignoring them for generations, we looked around and found all sorts of monuments to the Confederacy. They dotted the landscape throughout the South, and even in some northern and northwest states. Schools, parks, military bases, and highways were named after Confederate generals and Confederate lawmakers.

Who Erects Monuments to Losers?

Like waking up from a deep sleep, America did a sudden double take. Why do we have all these monuments celebrating the Confederacy? Currently, we live in the United States of America. The Confederacy rose up against the United States. This is a simple fact; you can’t deny it or pretend it was anything else than a rebellion. (We even called the confederate soldiers “the rebels”!)

The Civil War was started because the Southern states seceded from the Union—and at least seven of the seceding states said openly, in their proclamations of secession, that they did it to preserve “the peculiar institution” of slavery.

Who Honors Traitors to their Country?

However, it really doesn’t matter why they seceded; they tried to leave the United States. This act alone was treason. So why are we celebrating a group of men who committed treason against the United States?

Slowly, these monuments to the Confederacy began to come down. Statues were removed. Schools changed their names. Public parks were renamed. The US Department of Defense renamed a dozen military installations. And, just as before, like in 1865, many Americans smiled and said to themselves that an error had been corrected. It was over. Done. In the past.

Yet, just as in 1865, and the end of Reconstruction in 1875, and the dawn of Jim Crow that lasted for another 85 years, many Americans did not move on. Instead, they developed a deep resentment toward those who wanted to “erase” their history.

One of the best examples of this can be found in Virginia. Mountain View High School used to be named Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. Now, it is named Thomas Stonewall Jackson once again. The school board voted 5-1 to reinstate the name. Why? Does it matter why? It doesn’t. The excuses run the gamut, including the fact that he was a “religious” man devoted to his wife and children. He also prayed for the destruction of his enemies, which is not all that Christlike.

Still Trying to “Win” the “Lost Cause”

The Confederacy is deeply woven into the South. The Virginia legislature just passed a law to stop funding the Daughters of the Confederacy. The Virginia governor vetoed the bill. Yes, that’s right. The state of Virginia is sending taxpayer money to fund an organization that explicitly glorifies the Confederacy.

We have Americans who pore over maps of the battle of Gettysburg or the siege of Vicksburg not as an intellectual exercise but instead trying to rework the battle so that the Confederates would win. If only this had happened, or if only that had happened, the South would’ve won the war.

We will continue this struggle, as a nation, until we can put the Civil War behind us. Until we can see the Civil War as one group of Americans that wanted to keep the Union together and a second group that wanted to split the Union part, we will continue to have this battle.

Guilty 34 Times

I tried not to follow the Trump trial in Manhattan closely. I did not read the daily testimony. Yet, when the guilty verdict came down, guilty on all counts, I was happy but in shock.

For decades, Donald Trump has figured out a way to maneuver in and out of the justice system. Mostly, he’s never gotten anything more than a slap on the wrist. So, I was bracing myself for the worst. Somehow, he would get off scot-free. To even a casual observer, Donald Trump’s fortunes have turned. He lost twice to E. Jean Carroll and now owes $84 million. He lost in the NY fraud case and may owe $355 million.

Now, I do not expect the judge to throw Donald Trump in jail, but I do expect him to fine Donald Trump. And who knows: maybe 34 weekends in New York’s infamous jail at Riker’s Island? He can campaign Mondays through Fridays when he’s not in court for other cases, and take the weekends off—behind bars.

We all need to remember that the courts will not save us in November. There is no court that will say that Donald Trump cannot run for president or should be disqualified. We are going to have to mobilize, be active, and get out all of our friends to vote against Donald Trump or for Joe Biden.

Born in the USA

The iconic song, written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, is now 40. When most people think of the song, they hear the driving drumbeat and Bruce’s strong, gravelly voice singing the refrain—Born in the USA. Yet I bet most of us don’t know what the words are. This is a song of protest.

The first verse:

Born down in a dead man’s town
The first kick I took when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that’s been beaten too much
So you spend half your life just coverin’ up, now

Wow. This is not one of those “our America is great” songs. This is something different.

The fourth verse:

I had a brother at Khe Sanh
Fightin’ off them Viet Cong
They’re still there, he’s all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms, now

Take your time, sit down, and listen to this 40-year-old song and read the lyrics. It is a protest masterpiece. Also, remember that Ronald Reagan wanted to use this song in his campaign. Clearly, he didn’t listen to the words.

Protests

We have seen students protest throughout the country. As usual, Republicans are running around like Chicken Little, crying the sky is falling. Protest is good. Our students are not robots. They are engaged. They are…God forbid, WOKE! Their protest should make us stand up and take notice. It should make us rethink whatever issue they are protesting.

Our response to protests tells us a lot about ourselves. Our reaction to protests should be thoughtful. Yes, we should not let protestors occupy the Dean’s office or the Administration building. They should be cleared from the main Quad. The protestors should make us feel uncomfortable and make us think about what we are doing. I think that this new generation of protesters did exactly that. Americans are re-thinking our blanket support of Israel.

Gaza

It was early in October when Hamas brutally and viciously attacked Israel. Since that time, Israel has systematically leveled Gaza. Thousands and thousands of Gazans have died. The Israeli prime minister has rejected any endpoint.

This is like a 6’4″ 240-pound man repeatedly picking up and slamming a 5’2″ 100-pound man into the ground. The man is unconscious. Yet the behemoth continues to pick him up and slam him to the ground.

Joe Biden has called for a cease-fire. He has called for the end of hostilities. He called for Hamas to return the remaining hostages. The international community has filed charges against several Israeli military leaders as well as several members of Hamas. The charges are crimes against humanity.

I love Israel. But loving Israel, and loving the Jewish people, and/or the Israeli people, does not mean loving their corrupt prime minister or his unrelenting destruction. This must stop, and Israel and the international community need to figure out how to rebuild Gaza quickly.

Hunter Biden

The president’s son, Hunter Biden, is a train wreck. He has been given many advantages that most of us could only dream of. He has taken advantage of some of those gifts. He has completely messed up other advantages.

He has had serious trouble with drug addiction—not that unusual for Americans rich or poor. Almost every one of us has somebody in our families who is fighting that devil.

Currently, Hunter Biden is on trial for lying on an application. He was applying to get a gun. I have no idea why he wanted a weapon. That is beside the point. The point is he stated that he was not on drugs when, in fact, he was.

Now, Hunter was investigated and is being prosecuted by an “independent prosecutor” appointed by Donald Trump when he was in the White House. That’s right; the then-president appointed someone from his administration to prosecute his successor’s family. His name is David Weiss. Joe Biden let him stay on, even though he was prosecuting Biden’s own son! (And the case is being heard by a judge also appointed by Donald Trump.)

The irony here is that the GOP is now suing to have the law allowing Independent Prosecutors overturned. They want the prosecution of Hunter Biden to continue, but they claim the Department of Justice has no legal authority to appoint a different Independent Prosecutor—Jack Smith—to pursue a case against “their president”—though Smith was appointed precisely to keep the prosecution independent from the Biden Administration.

An even more important irony is that the GOP has fought against gun safety for decades. They don’t want anyone to have to fill out any applications to buy a gun. Except Hunter Biden. They believe as fact that if you are born in the United States you have an absolute, unassailable right to own a gun.

If we lived in a United States that wasn’t dominated by the policies of the GOP, Hunter Biden would not be on trial today. I just hope justice will be done.

Go, Simone Biles!

Miss Biles just won her ninth US gymnastics all-around title. She may be the greatest athlete of our time. Whenever we’re having those conversations in the beauty shops and barbershops about the most extraordinary athletes—Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens, Bo Jackson, Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis, Jim Brown—Simone Biles has to be in that conversation. She is the most decorated American gymnast ever. I look forward to seeing her at the Summer Olympics.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed here, as well as assertions of facts, are those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Urban News.