You probably already know about it, but I'd recommend taking a look at Sanford Levinson's "Written in Stone" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product...glance&
n=283155
It's also an interest of scholarly interest for me at the moment, so I was happy to read your posts!
Just another weak example of marxist drivil from the mind of one of the legions of "new south educators" infecting our region today. The entire work is agenda driven and blindingly transparent in its weak attempt to discredit the South, its statesman, its heroes and its culture. Sally is simply another South hating bigot whose obvious intent is to instill her hatred of Southern culture and history into the innocent and unaware minds of the coming generation of blank slate Southern youths whose parents have, tragically, but with all the best intentions, sent their young Southern lambs to be educated by the wolf. Unfortunately, this is a scenario that's being played out all too often across the South these days.
Marxist bigots teaching Southern history.... personally, I would rather go to Vegas and put all my childrens education money on one roll of the dice than to see it wasted on Miss/Mrs. Greene's brand of twisted hate; but that's just my opinion.
It's Ms.
I agree in spirit with Greg that these posts echo a nasty biased non-southern view being deliberately positioned against any cultural remnants of the South. It's not enough that the North had slaves, or that the war has been over for 140 years, or that bigoted perceptions are still spread, there seems to be a need among northerners who move to the sunbelt to want to apply punitive measures to a benign people.
This post is just awful in its lack of acknowledging that northern figures such as John Hancock, Ben Franklin, William Seward, Ulysses Grant, Will Sherman all traded slaves. Before you attack our monuments in our town squares, please address the one's above Mason-Dixon first. Why not start with Sherman at the corner of 59th St and 5th Ave in NYC? Then we'll talk about the South.
Perhaps one of the worst anti-southern activists I've come across is the ignorant Kevin Levin, but I'm beginning to think this site needs as much attention.
Jim,
Thank you for your thoughtful attention to my blog.
Certainly, more attention needs to be given to the fact that northern leaders, too, enslaved and traded in human lives. You can look at the recent study along these lines at Brown University, among others, and see that to some extent this is happening.
I am proudly southern myself. Nothing "anti-southern" about me.
If you can, I hope you will attend a conference upcoming this fall on the UNC campus, "The Perils of Public Homage: State v. Mann and Thomas Ruffin in History and Memory." It's on November 16. (Look for more about it on this blog soon.) Professor Levinson and others will be speaking. Your constructive contributions to the dialogue will be welcome.
Sally, I've given the wrong impression that because some are causing a controversy in the southern landscape and culture that it's okay as long as the witch hunt is also pursued in the North. My point is that it is not only fruitless to dig up these historical issues but it can be counter-productive to race relations, regional pride, sense of place, culture, and progress in areas of greater need.
I've often argued that because there are so many different perceptions of the past, that the people of this country cannot agree on it's details. There is probably more opportunity for misinformation than a true accounting of relative ethics of the past. But we can agree on how to progress into the future and build a more inclusive society.
Removing monuments and renaming awards is as fruitless and unproductive an activity as putting your finger in the crack of the dam. It's just that there should be so many other uses of our time and effort that deserve our attention and have a bigger impact on our lives such as war, economic instability, current day slavery, corruption, bird flu, etc.
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