Stephanie McCurry’s Confederate Reckoning brings together much information in making the case that southern women and slaves helped to bring about the collapse of the Confederacy.
Not everyone agrees with this argument.
How do you balance external and internal explanations for Confederate defeat?
Recently, a Confederate heritage apologist blogger posed the following questions of a fellow New Yorker:
The diversity you appreciate… Is it cultural? racial? something else?
And do you consider it superior, morally or otherwise, to prefer dissimilarity over similarity? That a group of people who are diverse is better — in some ways, in all ways? — than a group of people who are alike? I’m sure you’ve heard the meme, “Diversity is our strength.” Would you say that diversity is always strength, and homogeneity is always a liability?
Would you advise me how important it is — compared to other important things in life — to have a level of comfort with people of all cultures?
I find these questions most revealing of the person who asked them. Doubtless one could point out that they are problematic and reflect assumptions that one might reject. But let me offer a few observations:
Crossroads 