Civil War Chat
By: Phil Leigh
(February 4, 2020) Those wanting to remove Confederate symbols obtain most of their strength from tyrannical political correctness. In contrast, Confederate heritage advocates are more tolerant. They are generally amenable to public memorials for other causes, even when statue critics argue that those causes contradict Confederate legacy. Former Confederate states, for example, have far more MLK streets and avenues than similarly sized Northern states. North Carolina and New Jersey have comparable populations but the Southern state has twenty-nine MLK streets whereas the Northern one has only eight. Even though Ohio has four times the population of Mississippi, the Buckeye State has only eight MLK streets whereas the state with the Confederate banner in its flag has sixteen.
Recent events, however, suggest that the flood tide of political correctness may be reversing. One was the mostly apolitical Super Bowl. Unlike last year, this year’s commercials did not promote identity politics. There was, for example, no comparable ad to the one played by Gillette a year ago that portrayed adult males as toxic. This time, some of the ads even celebrated traditional virtues. During the preliminaries the Fox network played one featuring Johnny Cash’s “Tattered Old Flag”. Evidently the National Football League got fed-up with the declining audience ratings over the last several years caused by protests rooted in identity politics and ingratitude. In contrast, Cash’s song celebrates a former sharecropper’s appreciation for America.
Similarly Richmond’s gun rights rally last month seems to be well received by pivotal lawmakers. They respect its size and honorable conduct. Consequently, the Virginia general assembly is rejecting some of Governor Ralph Northam’s proposed gun controls notwithstanding a narrow Democratic majority in both chambers. Likewise many TV viewers were offended when CNN’s Don Lemon laughingly portrayed Trump supporters as ignorant and Southerners as degenerate. Lastly, during the past month or so readers observed hypocrisy when the Washington Post condemned Trump by pretending that he threatened Iranian cultural sites while the newspaper simultaneously urges that Confederate memorials be destroyed.
Generally, all political movements either grow or shrink. They don’t stand still for long. This time there is reason to hope that the political correctness that has been driving Southern cultural genocide will reverse as Americans increasingly realize they don’t want to discard their customs unless they have something of value to replace them.
Web Source: Hope For Confederate Heritage
