I grew up in Georgia, to a very southern family. I grew up wanting to be Scarlett O’Hara and taught that the Yankees took everything not tied down, and everything they didn’t take was burned to the ground. I grew up hearing about the “War of Northern Aggression” and how Marse Robert (E. Lee), was a god among men.
I often find myself wondering, considering my background, how I am not a Lost Causer.
And then I remember it is because I think that PoC deserve equal rights, that slavery was wrong, and a society built on racial hierarchy should not exist.
This is the most common argument defending the Confederacy and the Battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. And to anyone and everyone who says this, I say to you:
It’s my heritage too. My ancestors were Louisiana planters and slave owners from Baton Rouge and Colfax. They fought and some died for the confederacy. It is my heritage. But I recognize my heritage is full of hate. Slavery started as an economic institution, but in the Southern United States it quickly became a social and cultural institution that built a racial hierarchy that benefited from the suffering, labor, submission, and oppression of blacks. The Confederacy fought and died to keep that institution alive, even after the end of the Civil War white southerners did everything in their power to keep blacks from gaining basic freedoms and rights. White supremacy groups like the KKK fly this flag with the knowledge that it means racial hierarchy through oppression and violence of minorities, so don’t you dare tell me that the Confederacy or any other confederate symbol is justified because of your heritage.
-Julia
Yes!