Scrolling through my Facebook wall, I cringe when I see yet another meme posted by a friend expressing condemnation of the South, supported by other friends.
Is it possible people still don’t realize how offensive this is? It dawns on me, perhaps they’re happy to offend. Maybe they need to feel superior.
Despite my campaign of shared facts, particularly around the hypocrisy of the Union and Northern States, they cling to their belief that they landed on the right side of history. Perhaps it’s a response to inner shame, knowing they didn’t?
I’ve yet to come up with a positive spin for the apparent desire of some to suppress information that broadens our understanding of history. In fact, some people go so far as to propagate bias and prejudice about a war that presumably ended over 150 years ago. Why do people need to not just feel contempt, but proudly share it on Social Media, anticipating “likes” and feel-good support.
I’m starting to form my own feelings of contempt. You see, the framework of willful ignorance seems reprehenisble to me. I was raised to do better.
If Southerners were recognized as an ethnic group, which we are, perhaps we could sensitize our Yankee friends and make them aware of their double standards?
In practical terms, when a well-meaning person posts offensive condemnation of the South, is it better offer examples of nobility in the South or counter with examples of equally questionable actions of the North?
Our Founding Fathers benefited from slave labor while writing articles of liberation. Lincoln was racist, not believing blacks capable of equal outcome (although he supported equal opportunity). Lincoln advocated for colonization, exporting blacks “back home to Africa”.
{I fear hammering this point, lest the ignorant masses topple the Lincoln Memorial!|
Lincoln’s 1865 2nd inaugaral address digs on the South, still separated from the Union. It reads like propaganda. Etched in stone, memorialized at his side.
Andrew Johnson, God love him, had troubles of his own. But, I’ll be damned if he shouldn’t get credit for liberating more slaves than Lincoln! As General Marshall of Tennessee, Andrew Johnson freed all of the enslaved in Tennessee prior to the end of the Civil War. Yet, he gets no credit. Why is this?
Meanwhile, those seeking to condemn the South stand on the soapbox of the Cornerstone speech, orated in 1861 by the new VP of the Confederacy, whose name you probably don’t know because he’s a nobody. I’ll not stand condemned under the statement made once by one politician. Good grief!
Hey, Yankee friends, really? On that you make your case? That’s the best you’ve got! Have you read South Carolina’s declaration of secession?
It seems the North didn’t win the war afterall. Otherwise, why the need to post misguided, misinformed BS on Facebook?
Does America now admire bullies?
