Attention Tripp Lewis …

Thank you for attempting to get a third mention in the 2013 Confederate Heritage Follies, but the competition is closed.

Nice shades.

Better luck next year … after the SCV kicks you out.

(hey … at least Tripp’s on the front lines … as opposed to Susan Hathaway)

(h/t Kevin Levin)

UPDATE: John C. Hall Jr., the pride of Dublin, Georgia, tries to improve his position on the countdown by displaying the sort of bigotry that’s just fine with some folks over at Backwards. Don’t expect BR/B or dear Ms. Connie to show any disgust (credit to Michael Lucas for doing so).

(h/t Corey Meyer).

So I could have had thirteen after all … 🙂

Is the Civil War Really Over?

Poster Jefferson Moon would like to have more discussion about the American Civil War. Fair enough … but I’d say that heritage debates, even if one sees them as a rearguard action, are one (just one, and not a big one) of the reasons to ask whether the American Civil War is in truth over. After all, it was Reconstruction, not simply Appomattox, that defined much of what the war achieved and did not achieve. That process defined the price of reunion as the sacrifice of meaningful equality for many African Americans and  left emancipation an unfinished revolution.

In light of today’s political debates, one can ask what the war really settled. Yes, it stopped a move for southern independence, and it did destroy slavery, neither of which is to be minimized. But what else did it settle and what else did it achieve? It might well have set the United States firmly on the road to industrial development, although economic historians disagree about that; the absence of southerners from Congress certainly facilitated the process of establishing the nation-state’s support for that evolution. But issues of federal power, federalism, and justice for all Americans remain high on today’s political agenda as sources of debate.

What say you?

Duck Dynasty and the Virginia Flaggers

By now I’m sure you’ve hears all about the controversy surrounding what a “star” of a “reality” television show said and the reaction of A&E to that statement.

As you might suspect, opinions range across the spectrum, with some people deploring the comments of the star and backing A&E, some saying that regardless of what the star said, he should not be suspended from the show, and, as you might imagine, some people voicing agreement with what the star said.

Among those voicing support for the star’s statements and supporting the star against A&E’s reaction are many of our good friends at the Virginia Flaggers, including the person who does the group’s “heavy hitting,” as Susan Hathaway herself says.

None of this should come as a surprise. Indeed, it’s evident that many of the Flaggers share the star’s views on various issues, including the ones currently under discussion.

What does come as a surprise is that we have not seen the same outpouring of support for Susan Hathaway’s right to speak her mind about the absence of Confederate flags on the exterior of the Confederate War Memorial Chapel without fear of reprisal from either the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts or her employer, who has contracted with the VMFA to renovate the nearby Robinson House, another VMFA holding related to Confederate heritage.

Why is this? Why are the Flaggers so loud about supporting the right of a reality TV star to voice an opinion without fear of reprisal from an employer, and yet so quiet about the right of their very own leader to do the same? Why the cowardice?

This blog remains supportive of Susan Frise Hathaway’s right to express her own opinion without fear of retaliation from her employer. The Virginia Flaggers have failed to show such support for their own leader.

Return Susan! Restore the honor!