Confederate flag is a symbol of America's culture wars

Confederate flag is a symbol of America's culture wars

By barefooted on Sat, 06/27/2015 - 2:24pm |

Now, pretend for a minute that you’re a 50-year old white man living somewhere in the Deep South. You cast your first vote for Ronald Reagan in 1984. As a kid, your favorite show was the Dukes of Hazzard, which featured a car called The General Lee. The backdrop to every party or prom you’ve ever attended was the music of Lynyrd Skynyrd (with lyrics like “In Birmingham they love the governor”).
Today, your way of life is under attack -and this (by far) transcends the Confederate flag. You’re experiencing what feels like a radical cultural revolution.

Where do we go from here? After the last ten days or so, it's hard to imagine.

URL:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-politics/11703283/Confederate-flag-is-a-symbol-of-Americas-culture-wars.html

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Let me be the insensitive one here. For the last 150 years, we have bowed to the sensitivity of white Southerners When the Southern Heritage of the Confederate flag is discussed, we are talking white Southern Heritage. black lives never mattered. Southern Heritage has told us lies for 150 years. After losing the Civil war, Southerners were appeased. We allowed them to keep their dignity. Jefferson Davis did not hang as a traitor.yet, if blacks talked about slavery, they were told to stop dwelling on the past. We cannot go through this Confederate nonsense for another century. Time to end this now.

Despite the written evidence of the leaders of the secession movement declaring slavery as the reason for leaving the United States of American. Southerners could lie about the Confederacy not being tied to racism. Next came the flag shuffle. The argument was the battle flag was not the official flag. That was only because there were a multitude of flags used by Confederate forces.Black Conservative Ron Christie notes, the Confederate battle flag was used in Pennsylvania. Jefferson Davis made clear that any white Union commander that had black troops would be executed.. This was the command of a racist. Black troops knew there would be few left alive or that they would face enslavement.Next we were fed the lie of organized black Confederate troops. Records of these organized, armed troops is nonexistent Southern Heritage is used to excuse racism. lastly, blacks are told that they need to be aware the other blacks sold them into slavery. somehow this fact ismade to impart shame. If black heathens sold blacks to white heathen Christians it just says that evil comes in many forms. Lies and diversions and a refusal to acknowledge the evil committed in the past cannot be what southern Heritage stands for. True white Southerners have been working for change, they are the ones who need our support.

If you read the linked article, you find that the hypothetical white southerner also disagrees with the marriage of two same-sex people who are in love. What concessions do Gay couples "owe" this gentleman?

by rmrd0000 on Sat, 06/27/2015 - 7:50pm

I will retract the careless words "well documented". Data for one camp or the other is sparse.

by Aaron Carine on Sat, 06/27/2015 - 10:51pm

Please find the documentation of black Confederate soldiers listed as members of regiments in on your Google of the African-American Encyclopedia.

There is documentation of non-combatant servants

There was a mulatto unit in Louisiana that became a unit in the US Colored Troops after blacks escaped slavery and free mulattoes fled to avoid being canon fodder for the South. The unit was disbanded and left to fend for itself.

During the final weeks of the war, there may have been a disjointed attempt to muster black confederate troops.

Please provide non-Confederate, non-anecdotal data.

by rmrd0000 on Sat, 06/27/2015 - 10:06pm

Okay, this is a hotly debated topic, and data is scarce, but there is some evidence for Black soldiers. There is no reason to reject Confederate sources. They should be our main sources when researching this matter(who else would know more about the Confederate army than the Confederates?)

http://www.scv.org/documents/genworks/RoleofBlacksConfederateArmy.pdf

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/09/black-confederates/

http://californiascv.org/Did%20Blacks%20Serve%20in%20the%20Confederate%2...

by Aaron Carine on Sat, 06/27/2015 - 10:50pm

Aaron here is a line from Stauffer's Harvard lecture

But unless readers think that black Confederates were truly enamored of the South’s cause, Stauffer related the case of John Parker, a slave forced to build Confederate barricades and later to join the crew of a cannon firing grapeshot at Union troops at the First Battle of Bull Run. All the while, recalled Parker, he worried about dying, prayed for a Union victory, and dreamed of escaping to the other side.

“His case can be seen as representative,” said Stauffer. “Masters put guns to (the heads of slaves) to make them shoot Yankees.”

The above represents a prisoner, not a soldier. Here is the line on the mulatto units that never went into battle. Others switched sides as I noted above.

It is well known that in Louisiana and Tennessee, Stauffer added, Confederate units were organized by elite, light-skinned freedmen who identified with the slave-owning white plantation culture. (The Tennessee troops were never issued arms, though, and the black unit known as the Louisiana Native Guards never saw action — and quickly switched sides as soon as Union forces appeared.)

Note the other problem is that Stauffer notes that heard that Fredrick Douglass was told there were black armed Confederates in 1961. If these black Confederates were commonplace in 1861, why was there Confederate debate about enlisting black troops in 1864? It makes no sense.The idea of black Confederates uses historical jiggery-pokery methods to distort facts. These mythical black troops appear nowhere in Confederate records.

Here is a takedown of the Harvard. Lecture if you want to believe in black Confederates and Santa Claus, feel free. Produce Confederate records documenting the existence of these troops.

by rmrd0000 on Sat, 06/27/2015 - 11:29pm

I don't want to believe in black Confederate soldiers, although I do want to believe in Santa Claus. I just say that it hasn't been settled(I retracted my thoughtless "well documented" statement; that was my bad). At least one of the sources I cited referred to what he claimed were records; maybe he's snowing us; I don't know

Sober people don't say black troops were commonplace; Stauffer's estimate of three thousand is a tiny number, since nearly a million men served in the Confederate army. I'll see if I can find records, although I don't think eyewitness testimony should be disregarded. Maybe there were no black soldiers in the Confederate army, but it's still being debated.

by Aaron Carine on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 7:15am

Climate change is being debated as well. Good luck finding documentation that the Confederates enlisted armed slaves into their ranks.

by rmrd0000 on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 9:32am

I thought black soldiers--if the Confederacy ever had any, and maybe they didn't--were free. At least one of the sources cited what he claimed was documentation. Also, I don't think rmd is justified in dismissing eyewitness testimony and statements by Confederate officers as worthless.

by Aaron Carine on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 9:56am

I dismiss Confederate anecdotes because Confederates lied about what the war was fought to what the flag represents. I request documentation.

by rmrd0000 on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 10:05am

In 1861-65, Confederates weren't lying about what the war was about. They were candid about it being about slavery. That they denied this years later isn't any reason to reject what men said they saw with their own eyes. I'm going to look for documentation when I'm able to get to the university library. But I'll probably have to rely on secondary sources, because the library doesn't have a trove of Confederate documents. I'm getting tired of saying that one of the sources cited what he said was documentation. I don't know whether or not there were black Confederate troops; I'm going to see what evidence I can find, but if historians haven't settled this question, I won't be able to.

by Aaron Carine on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 10:31am

In the final weeks of the war, the Confederates did try to enlist Blacks. The bill passed by the Confederate legislature did not include freedom as a result of service, there is no evidence of organized black troops under leadership of specified Confederate officers fighting anywhere. The Confederacy, even in its last desperate days was not about to free any slave.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/confederacy-approves-black-so...

Here is the law allowing enlistment of slaves

Keep in mind this law passed just weeks before Lee's surrender. Going by the Confederate law, black troops couldn't have been legal before a couple of weeks before surrender. The Confederacy would have had limited time to arm and trade the slaves. The slaves would have remained slaves if the Confederacy were victorious.

Organized black Confederate troops are a myth.

by rmrd0000 on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 11:25am

Who said the Confederacy was going to free slaves? I didn't. There could have been free black troops before the government authorized drafting slaves. Until I have been to the library, there is nothing more to say.

by Aaron Carine on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 11:37am

From your initial condescending post, I thought that you had done a review of the issue in the African American Encyclopedia. I guess not.

by rmrd0000 on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 3:15pm

I read about it in the African-American encyclopedia; I'm not sure what you mean by a "review" of it. Whether I am condescending is for others to judge. Some may find rmd's dogmatic certainty on this matter somewhat haughty.

by Aaron Carine on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 3:26pm

There are a plethora of encyclopedias that have African Americans as the topic. You offered no link to your source, so it seemed like a dismissive response.

I'm not dogmatic. I'm documenting my sources and pointing out the flaws in yours. The Confederate law allowing black troop enlistment was signed mere weeks before Confederate surrender. Fact, not dogma.

Good luck in the "university library".

by rmrd0000 on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 3:45pm

The law you are referring to authorized conscription of slaves. I'm talking about the possibility that free blacks may have been in the army. So the law is neither here nor there, as far as this discussion goes.http://www.freedmen.umd.edu/csenlist.htm

You haven't exactly pointed out flaws in the sources; you've just said that they are all crap. And the scare quotes in your last sentence indicate that you have already decided that any sources I find will be worthless. That is dogmatism.

I don't know what the truth of this matter is, but I am going to find out all I can about what historians are saying.

by Aaron Carine on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 8:07pm

See below

by rmrd0000 on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 8:45pm

Barefooted, there's really no big deal - I doubt if most people remember Dukes of Hazzard that well, just as Hee Haw is a fading memory just as Turner's empire turned into Warner Brothers and Hank Aaron's been replaced by a bunch of new sports stars I stopped following long ago. They even play hockey in the south now. From what I know, the line about Birmingham is tongue-in-cheek - one election Birmingham didn't vote for Wallace so he made sure highway funding dried up for any interstate thru Birmingham for 10 years. Paybacks are hell. Faulkner was helping Southerners parse the sin of slavery and its poverty and the peculiar pride of southern institutions from the 30s on. So did Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, James Baldwin, Carson McCullers, Harper Lee, Truman Capote, even MLK if you appreciate him as a southern writer as much as a preacher and activist. Maybe Robert Penn Warren as a northern transplant expressed it best - "Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud. There is always something" and "After a great blow, or crisis, after the first shock and then after the nerves have stopped screaming and twitching, you settle down to the new condition of things and feel that all possibility of change has been used up. You adjust yourself, and are sure that the new equilibrium is for eternity. . . But if anything is certain it is that no story is ever over, for the story which we think is over is only a chapter in a story which will not be over, and it isn't the game that is over, it is just an inning, and that game has a lot more than nine innings. When the game stops it will be called on account of darkness. But it is a long day." The South is an oxymoron, tech parks and space program and CNN global news and auto factories combined with "yes, ma'am, no ma'am" and a backwards dumbass philosophy and a religion over-invested in faith and selective in good works. And twisted -all southern culture including literature is imbued with a bizzare self a deprecating humor Randy Newman's Good Ol' Boys" does a respectable job of finding that pulse, with George Jones "you think I'm psycho don't you Mama" revealing the disturbing Hitchcock tones similar to Faulkner's Cainian cursed Snopes family. A Good Man Is Hard to Find sums it up with "she would have been alright - if there'd been someone there to shoot her every day of her life". Perhaps a fitting obit for the Old South as well. The issue isn't settled because nothing ever gets settled. We're on to "Gone With the Wind", arguably the greatest most accessible American novel (vs say Moby Dick) and the most iconic of American films. We will then move on to figures like LBJ, that curious redneck hero of civil rights and the Great Society and classic crooked backroom dealer who gained office by voting up half the cemeteries in his precinct and finished on the rocks of Vietnam. There's never an easy satisfying story when it comes to the South, which is more fine with southerners than the rest. The south will not go away, and instead of "prevail" as Faulkner suggested, the south just endures. I posted the photos of Johnny Cash and Dennis Hopper flipping the bird as a sign of southern contrary behavior - Never Give A Inch. I imagine things will change in different ways than expected.

by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 9:05am

Being mired in the past, ignoring or just overlooking the changes that happen is a trait everyone shares. Each generation wallows in it, and each generation has different mud. Most things that move us along are incremental enough to blink through, though when they pile up they can seem volcanic. Once in awhile the forward momentum stops suddenly ... making old shadows visible again. That's what has turned so much upside-down recently, and for good or ill we're all caught in the vortex. But as is often said in one form or another, we wouldn't be where we are today if we weren't where we were then.

There will never be a clear answer, because the question hasn't been fully asked. I don't know why it is, sometimes, that we see through rose colored glasses now what was blindingly ugly then. I don't understand when we do the reverse, either. For all the demand for truth, it doesn't feel like understanding is part of it. Yet, if we can't at least admit the possibility that every coin has a third side, we'll keep making mud.

"Sweet Home Alabama" was written as a sort of rebuttal to Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man". Some of that push-back you mentioned. Years later, Neil Young wrote, "My own song 'Alabama' richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. I don't like my words when I listen to it. They are accusatory and condescending, not fully thought out, and too easy to misconstrue".

by barefooted on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 2:58pm

And most important, as Neil pointed out, Sweet Home Alabama is a lot more fun to play. Actually I never liked Southern Man as a song - thought his Alabama was much better done musically and lyrically.

by Anonymous pp (not verified) on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 4:58pm

Southern music, like it's people, cuts both ways and down through the middle. The state of Alabama is particularly popular - with lyrical praise/scorn and it's very own band sing'n "Song of the South".

Gone, gone with the wind ... ain't nobody going back again.

by barefooted on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 5:40pm

And kudos to Neil for recognizing he was a bit simplistic - aside from that, his recording of Harvest was more of a tribute to the sound and energy of the South than anything else he might have said - recorded in a barn, for Christmases...

by Anonymous pp (not verified) on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 5:02pm

Chrissakes... Damn android spellchecker

by Anonymous pp (not verified) on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 5:04pm

A bit simplistic could be the stock response when discussing the lyrics of any song.

by ocean-kat on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 6:55pm

I'm gonna pass on pretending I'm a 50 year old "white" guy blah blah blah. And I don't think it is at all true, as Matt Lewis (who is a bit of a dick, incidentally) claims, that "putting yourself in the other guy’s shoes is a two-way street." However I do have a few words for our 50 year old caricature:

I'm sorry you were lied to by people you trusted while growing up. I'm sorry so many of the institutions you put your faith in turned out to be so rotten. And I'm sorry if you feel confused or defeated or bitter. But you don't get a pass. You don't have an excuse. For crying out loud, you're 50 years old. You should have known better at half your age. And look, if you're thinking, like Lewis suggests, that "progressive winners in this culture war want to punish their opponents," think again. It's just another lie. What so called "progressive winners" want and need, in fact, is help. Any time you're ready to join the community of people interested in creating and nurturing a better world for everyone, bring it on. Otherwise, sit down and STFU. You're in the way and we're running out of time.

by kyle flynn on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 6:44pm

It is amazing that Matt Lewis would tell blacks to grow up, stop complaining about slavery and the Civil War, and move on, yet seeks compassion for the people stuck in praise of a racist flag.

by rmrd0000 on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 8:02pm

Is that what you took away from the article?

by barefooted on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 8:09pm

Look. At the limited concerns he heard from the Conservative Black Chick and the long list of aggravations assigned the theoretical white Southerner. The black woman worried about a highway named after the Confederate President and the flag on state grounds. The white Southerner had a whole host of gripes. What did you take from the article?

by rmrd0000 on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 9:02pm

It's a fairly shallow article by someone attempting to explain a stereotypical southern white man. So I suppose what I took away from it was more the idea if even stereotypes aren't inherently evil, maybe the real thing deserves a break. Rather than repeat what we know, I think it was a weak challenge to consider what we don't.

Not all southern whites are bigots with the Confederate love of slavery in their hearts, rm. It's as unfair as thinking all southern blacks are poor and uneducated. I know you see the world differently than I do - but the beauty of real progress is that we can talk to each other. And maybe put the caricatures to rest.

by barefooted on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 10:25pm

I see the bigots as bigots. No one believes that the wingnuts are the only whites out there.i was pointing out that Matt Lewis took more care in describing the fictional white guy than the real black woman. I speaks more about Matt Lewis than the fictional white guy.

by rmrd0000 on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 10:43pm

The linked piece is 'both sides' claptrap by a GOP consultant, Matt Lewis. He gets paid to keep the culture wars front and center, and The Base fired up enough to vote.

There are two types of Republicans, co-conspirator hucksters, and willing dupes who buy the GOP malarkey, who have, with Fox News indoctrination, slipped irretrievably beyond the event horizon of wingnut reality deniability. (see Fox News guest says Charleston murderer product of the Left),

Lewis is the former type.

No one is taking away TV's, music collections, personal guns or flags, and the South lost the war 150 years ago. Those most impacted are long gone.

The proverbial 50 year old guy would be better off watching less TV News, it's a nearly worthless product delivered by millionaire corporate executives whose mission is to keep viewers focused on Caitlyn or Rachel, not what goes on in the power centers of the nation and government.

by NCD on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 1:15pm

Forget it, barefooted - it was a nice simplistic article, but even doing a Romney King "why can't we all just get along" brings scorn and derision - "we are, you racist fuckwits" - tolerance is applied sparingly and selectively.

by Anonymous pp (not verified) on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 12:40am

There's fairly little compassion among "progressives" for any on the losing side of any debate. Mozilla's Cto had to step down over a private contribution that coincided with the president's view, despite inventing JavaScript and decades of huge service in open source. A British Nobel winner with decades of achievements lost his career over some stupid but not completely biologically erroneous one-time remark about women crying at a conference. Why you think white southerners should expect kumhaya, I've no idea - yes, they'll reach accommodation with black southerners, but not white liberals elsewhere.

by Anonymous pp (not verified) on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 12:30am

Conservative white Southerners are the leaders of movements to suppress black voted. They are the ones who tell the lies about the Confederacy not being about slavery. The are the leaders of anti-Gay organizations. They will continue to fight back. Progressives are ready to move on, it is Conservative white Southerners putting up roadblocks. Watch the continued resistance to voting rights. Watch the ongoing efforts to limit healthcare expansion. Progressives are not the villians.

Blacks and Progressives already have excellent relationships with white Southerners who are capable of living in the 21st century.

by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 8:11am

Aaron, here is your own John Stauffer looking at Black Confederates, slave and free. They ran for the Union lines at the earliest opportunity.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/history/2015/01/black_confederates_not_a...

Edit to add:

When you go to the university library, you should be aware of did information about black Confederates that is being promoted by people with an agenda

http://cwmemory.com/book/black-confederate-resources/

by rmrd0000 on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 9:59pm

I thought this discussion was not about whether black Confederate soldiers deserted, but whether black Confederate soldiers ever existed. Stauffer says there were some until 1863. Is he right? I don't know, but I'll find out what I can.

by Aaron Carine on Sun, 06/28/2015 - 10:05pm

Find documentation that black Confederate troops existed anywhere in actual Confederate records. This would provide evidence that they were recognized by the Confederate military and don't represent anecdotal sghtings. Thanks.

Edit to add:

See if there is anything comparable to the databases for United States Colored Troops

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/usct/usct-united-states-colore...

by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 8:29am

I'm going to look for documentation, but I don't accept the view that anecdotal evidence is always worthless. Those witnesses probably saw something, and statements by Confederate officers about who was under their command should carry some weight.

I regret the bitterness that has crept into this discussion, and I hope we can clear it up.

I'm having trouble tracking down the book I skimmed ten years ago(there are a number of African-American encyclopedias) so I shouldn't have mentioned it. I'm going to stick to sources I actually have in front of me.

by Aaron Carine on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 1:45pm

The anecdotal stories of value because many of them carry the taint of being doctored by organizations like the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Slave graves are given headstones provided by the SCV so they can be labeled Confederate Army soldiers. I will need more than anecdote.

by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 2:37pm

If we have evidence that a witness accounts was fabricated, that is one thing. Simply dismissing them all as fabrications a priori is not legitimate.

by Aaron Carine on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 2:49pm

I think all you will have are anecdotes.

by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 3:00pm

Next you'll be demanding a handwritten letter authored by a black slave soldier pledging his undying loyalty to the Confederacy - dated within months of the start of the war, notarized and accompanied by scientific documentation of ink and paper period dating.

Then again, that would be anecdotal.

by barefooted on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 3:00pm

The problem here is that there has been a steady pattern of labeling slaves as soldiers. Read passages from John Stauffer cited above. Stauffer himself notes that many "soldiers" literally had a gun to their heads. These men were still slaves. The slaves ran for the Union lines when possible.

Edit to add:

If men were enlisted in the Confederate Army, it does not seem unreasonable that there is documentation of enlistment

by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 3:07pm

Your documentation request is not unreasonable, rm. It's your increasingly narrow parameters of what you'll accept that is.

by barefooted on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 3:21pm

It is narrow because there has been much disinformation. I don't trust anecdotes without documentation. If there were organized black troops under the leadership of confederate officers let us see the proof. Isolated pictures of slaves with guns are insufficient. They could have been holding the guns for their masters. Many so-called soldiers were slave brought to the battlefield by their masters. Given the amount off effort put into labeling slaves as soldiers, why should my narrow criteria be rejected?

Edit to add:

The scenario about black Confederates is the same scenario we see with the Confederate flag. You blame people who call out the lies about the Confederate flag as wanting revenge on the South. Historians who point out holes in the story about black Confederates are said to be unwilling to accept that blacks served under the Confederacy. They turn skepticism into denial of facts. When you ask for documentation about black Confederate enlistees, you find no documents. You are then told to trust anecdotes.

OK, show me the anecdotes, I'll see if they have been found wanting by other historians.

by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 4:18pm

I don't know if rm is right that there are no documents at all. That is one of the things I'm going to try to find out. I think oral accounts have some value, although less if they are recorded long after the event. Forty years later, former Confederates may have had an interest in embellishing, and their memories would have been imperfect.

by Aaron Carine on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 6:59pm

BTW

Could you provide a link to the Amazon or other source so we can known which The African-American Encyclopedia you read?

Edit to add:

Use the Google and enter "The African American Encyclopedia" and see what turns up. Are you talking about a 20-year old tome?

by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 10:29am

A Confederate Law authorizing the enlistment of slaves came less than a month before the collapse and surrender of General Robert E. Lee in April, 1865.

Confederate Law Authorizing the Enlistment of Black Soldiers, as Promulgated in a Military Order

ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Richmond, Va., March 23, 1865.

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 14.

I. The following act of Congress and regulations are published for the information and direction of all concerned:

AN ACT to increase the military force of the Confederate States.

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That, in order to provide additional forces to repel invasion, maintain the rightful possession of the Confederate States, secure their independence, and preserve their institutions, the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to ask for and accept from the owners of slaves, the services of such number of able-bodied negro men as he may deem expedient, for and during the war, to perform military service in whatever capacity he may direct.

SEC 2. That the General-in-Chief be authorized to organize the said slaves into companies, battalions, regiments, and brigades, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe, and to be commanded by such officers as the President may appoint.

SEC 3. That while employed in the service the said troops shall receive the same rations, clothing, and compensation as are allowed to other troops in the same branch of the service.

SEC 4. That if, under the previous sections of this act, the President shall not be able to raise a sufficient number of troops to prosecute the war successfully and maintain the sovereignty of the States and the independence of the Confederate States, then he is hereby authorized to call on each State, whenever he thinks it expedient, for her quota of 300,000 troops, in addition to those subject to military service under existing laws, or so many thereof as the President may deem necessary to be raised from such classes of the population, irrespective of color, in each State, as the proper authorities thereof may determine: Provided, That not more than twenty-five per cent. of the male slaves between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, in any State, shall be called for under the provisions of this act.

SEC 5. That nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize a change in the relation which the said slaves shall bear toward their owners, except by consent of the owners and of the States in which they may reside, and in pursuance of the laws thereof.

Approved March 13, 1865.

............

By order:

S. COOPER,
Adjutant and Inspector General.

by NCD on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 12:35pm

The Sons of Confederate Veterans have been one of the groups promoting the existence of black Confederates. They find no connection between racial hatred and their beloved flag. They distance the flag from the massacre in Charleston.

http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/HaireoftheDog/archives/2015/06/22/sc-...

Here is a link to a takedown of the above nonsense by a person who has followed the misinformation put ou by the SCV

http://cwmemory.com/2015/06/24/black-confederates-to-the-rescue-again/#m...

The truth is the Confederacy thrived on rounding up black people at Gettysburg and slaughtering black Union troops at places like Fort Pillow and Crater, (see above link).

I live with black Republicans today like Clarence Thomas who waxes about dignity in slavery and the inability of two loving people to marry, and Ben Carson who finds Obamacare akin to slavery. I don't pull out my hair because they exist. I wouldn't be embarrassed if black Confederates were real. The problem I have is that there a lot of lying liars promoting black Confederates as a convince for a political position.

by rmrd0000 on Tue, 06/30/2015 - 10:39am

Here is the hilarious response of the SCV to the classic TV miniseries "Roots". They had a book written about black Confederates and asked people for stories about black Confederates because "Roots" made the Confederacy and the South look bad.

http://cwmemory.com/2011/07/31/the-influence-of-roots-on-the-black-confe...

by rmrd0000 on Tue, 06/30/2015 - 10:53am

Thanks for the links. Maybe O'Reilly can write a book Killing Slavery, on how black Confederates freed the slaves and saved the nation.

My eyes glaze over on anything written or spoken by Republicans.

They are hucksters and liars whose mission is keeping the willing dupes of The Base hopping mad, voting and convinced they are the victims.

Carnival barkers are a more honest breed.

The same white racists the Republicans have exploited for 40 years, 'the southern strategy', were still taking their families to lynchings until the 1940's.

Some are burning black churches today.

For a disturbing presentation of 20th century white racism and violence see Flash presentation on lynching postcards/photography at Without Sanctuary.

by NCD on Tue, 06/30/2015 - 12:44pm

What is amazing is that when you call out crap like that handed out by the Sons of Confederate Veterans or others, you are treated like you are the one with a chip on your shoulder. It cannot be that you realize that Confederate supporters have lied for years about the Civil War. The South was not handing out freedom if you joined the Confederacy. Confederate soldiers committed war crimes against black Union troops, freedmen, and escaped slaves

I'm aware of Without Sanctuary, but thinks for the link.

One thing I will be working on as a post is the issue of black Confederates and Southern Yankees. The Southern Yankees are those Southern White who supported the Union and the terrors they faced. There is actual documentation about the abuse of Southern Union supporters.

by rmrd0000 on Tue, 06/30/2015 - 2:26pm

In the News

Russia plays weak hand in Palestine
Russia plays weak hand in Palestine

submitted by PeraclesPlease 8 months ago

The intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow has precedent

Russia's hosted such meetings in the past, most recently Feb 2019

Russia has long lamented the US' "monopolization" of the peace process & tried to carve out a niche for itself: mediating among the disunited Palestinians/2
— Hanna Notte (@HannaNotte) February 29, 2024

Read the article at https://twitter.com/HannaNotte/status/1763116222256701787

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Mother Jones is Reaching out to Alternative Party Voters
Mother Jones is Reaching out to Alternative Party Voters

submitted by HSG 9 months ago

Here's what I told them: https://halginsberg.com/vote-for-jill-stein-again/

Read the article at https://halginsberg.com/vote-for-jill-stein-again/

2 comments

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Controversial Brazil law curbing Indigenous rights comes...
Controversial Brazil law curbing Indigenous rights comes into force

submitted by artappraiser 11 months ago

Controversial Brazil law curbing Indigenous rights comes into force https://t.co/pCoDg05irX
— Gareth Harris (@garethharr) December 28, 2023

Read the article at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/28/brazil-law-indigenous-land-rights-claim-time-marker?CMP=share_btn_tw

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Security Alert: U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince, Haiti (...
Security Alert: U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince, Haiti (December 25, 2023)

submitted by artappraiser 11 months ago

Location: U.S. Embassy and residential compounds

Events: Heavy gunfire is occuring around the area of the U.S. Embassy and residential compounds adjacent to the Trutier area of Tabarre. All Embassy personnel have been instructed to remain indoors and shelter-in-place until further notice. All others should avoid the area.

Actions to take:

Avoid the area;

Avoid demonstrations and any large gatherings of people;

Do not attempt to drive through roadblocks; and

If you encounter a roadblock, turn around and get to a safe area.

Read the article at https://ht.usembassy.gov/security-alert-u-s-embassy-port-au-prince-haiti-december-25-2023/

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Pakistan Is Creating the World’s Next Refugee Crisis
Pakistan Is Creating the World’s Next Refugee Crisis

submitted by artappraiser 11 months ago

By The Editorial Board @ Bloomberg.com, December 8, 2023

A mass expulsion of Afghan migrants could destabilize the region and fuel radicalization. The West should pressure Islamabad to change course.

Read the article at https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-12-08/pakistan-s-expulsion-of-afghan-refugees-risks-another-crisis

6 comments

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Internet shut down in Chad
Internet shut down in Chad

submitted by artappraiser 11 months ago

All eyes on #Chad right now
Chad has two internet trunks coming into the country: One from the Red Sea via Sudan; the other from Cameroon. Not possible for the totality of the country's internet network to be shut unless done centrally. A lot of rumors swirling; few facts. https://t.co/N6bDJZ2ixO

Read the article at https://x.com/_hudsonc/status/1732891968709992511?s=20

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[Economy] where Joe's success falls short
[Economy] where Joe's success falls short

submitted by PeraclesPlease 11 months ago

Read the article at

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[CRIME News] 3 loss-prevention employees in Macy’s across...
[CRIME News] 3 loss-prevention employees in Macy’s across the street from Philadelphia City Hall stabbed

submitted by artappraiser 11 months ago

BREAKING: Three loss prevention employees in Macy’s across the street from Philadelphia City Hall stabbed, one of them has died from stab wounds, @PhillyPolice sources tell me. Police converged on the store as the three workers were rushed to Jefferson Hospital. pic.twitter.com/4U1eKycL4W

Read the article at https://x.com/KeeleyFox29/status/1731713272942940365?s=20

38 comments

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Former U.S. Ambassador Arrested, Charged With Working As...
Former U.S. Ambassador Arrested, Charged With Working As Secret Agent For Cuba

submitted by artappraiser 11 months ago

Former US Ambassador Arrested, Charged With Working As Secret Agent For Cuba https://t.co/LDwo4ZJI1K
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) December 4, 2023

Read the article at https://www.huffpost.com/entry/manuel-rocha-ambassador-arrested-cuba_n_656d1e2ae4b028b0f3d07478

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[War in Israel, Chapter II] UNRWA under scrutiny
[War in Israel, Chapter II] UNRWA under scrutiny

submitted by artappraiser 11 months ago

[Chapter I news is HERE, Oct. 7 til today]

You don’t get it.
It’s not about an UNRWA teacher who held an Israeli kid hostage in his house.
It’s all about how for 75 years you have destroyed the future of generations of Palestinians, including my family.
My cousins in Arab countries are still not citizens - not even the… https://t.co/nv6anubGhc
— George Deek (@GeorgeDeek) December 2, 2023

Note 'Community Notes' attached to UNWRA's statement.

Read the article at https://x.com/GeorgeDeek/status/1731020551328579863?s=20

58 comments

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Maduro, Under Pressure, Holds Vote to Annex Territory From...
Maduro, Under Pressure, Holds Vote to Annex Territory From a Neighbor

submitted by artappraiser 11 months ago

Imperialism for me but not for thee?

It's wild that Venezuela is now holding a vote on whether 2/3 of Guyana actually belongs to them! Analysts suggest that Modoru may want military action to pump up his sinking popularity.

Could we have a war in South America?!?

"The people who live in Essequibo are largely… pic.twitter.com/QvMEjkkgwy

Read the article at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/03/world/americas/maduro-vote-essequibo-guyana.html

6 comments

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[Where is the GOP headed?] Divisions leave Florida’s House...
[Where is the GOP headed?] Divisions leave Florida’s House Republicans powerless

submitted by artappraiser 11 months ago

The lack of a cohesive delegation has allowed attention-seeking lawmakers to act on their own.

McCarthy: “You have [Rep. Matt] Gaetz, who belongs in jail…”

Gaetz: “Tough words from a guy who sucker punches people in the back. The only assault I committed was against Kevin’s fragile ego.”https://t.co/LctPuz6Pcf

Read the article at https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/29/divisions-leave-floridas-house-republicans-powerless-00129200

10 comments

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‘She got so mad at me’: book on the ‘Squad’ details AOC-...
‘She got so mad at me’: book on the ‘Squad’ details AOC-Pelosi clashes

submitted by artappraiser 11 months ago

By Martinn Pengelly in Washington DC for TheGuardian.com, Nov. 30

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells Ryan Grim life in Congress ‘completely transformed’ after Democratic leader stepped down

Read the article at https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/30/squad-book-aoc-nancy-pelosi?CMP=share_btn_tw

15 comments

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US health insurers Humana, Cigna in talks to merge -source
US health insurers Humana, Cigna in talks to merge -source

submitted by artappraiser 12 months ago

@ Reuters, Nov. 29

Read the article at https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/us-health-insurers-humana-cigna-talks-merge-wsj-2023-11-29/

3 comments

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Central Africa’s dinosaur regimes and the art of coup-...
Central Africa’s dinosaur regimes and the art of coup-proofing

submitted by artappraiser 12 months ago

"Both the AU and the intl community place more weight on whether elections are held than whether they are free and fair. Sanctions/expulsions occur when there is a coup but not necessarily when elections are rigged or if an “institutional coup” occurs." https://t.co/m9dNimJP0D
— Cameron Hudson (@_hudsonc) November 28, 2023

Read the article at https://africanarguments.org/2023/11/central-africas-dinosaur-regimes-and-the-art-of-coup-proofing/

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