I was born and raised in the Mid South -- Nashville, Tennessee -- but born in a small town. We were absolutely raised to believe in Southern Pride with respect to the Civil War. Yes, we lost, but our soldiers were brave, never gave up, persisted for a long time even in the face of overwhelming economic and War Materiel deficiencies -- this was what we were led to believe.
It wasn't overtly about racism, but it certainly was a type of implicit racism. Fortunately, my mother was a Progressive Democrat and I was made aware of the racism behind this despite having everyone else in the extended family a believer in Southern Pride.
In 1968, as a 15 year-old, I wore a Humphrey campaign button to school and, on the bus, was called n***** lover and various other pejorative words and phrases. This was just after, during the summer before, being a Wallace supporter because all my friends were. My mother, upon finding this out, set me straight pretty quickly. I was lucky in that regard.
At the time, btw, the ONLY black person I had ever been in contact with was a sweet lady who would come to our house (she road the bus, my job was to go to the bus stop and walk her to our house in the all-white neighborhood for her 'protection') every Monday to wash and iron all our clothes (3 young boys go through tons of clothes in a week, all quite dirty after use) -- Miss Eula.
She was the most wonderful, soft-spoken, sweet lady ever created. Yet she exhibited great deference to me -- a silly teenager -- simply because I was white and that's what was expected of ALL blacks in the South at the time. As long as they "stayed in their lane" all was well. Get a bit uppity and the racism was elicited rather quickly and vehemently. I was perceptive enough to notice this despite being a dumb teenager. (Truth be told, ALL teenagers are somewhat dumb, but fortunately most grow out of that eventually, faster if one goes to college and meets a variety of people of all types and comes to realize people are people and it has none to do with skin color.)
All this to say, the statues are fine with me -- but put them in a museum somewhere, with an explanation of what they are all about. Which turns out to be a Bygone Era which is no longer applicable in the 21st Century. If we don't move on as a country (and especially the South which I love and am still proud to call myself a member of and still take pride in my heritage) soon then it's going to get much worse going forward.
The Time is Right, so to speak, to finally turn the corner in this country and "fix" the cultural problems that linger from the Civil War Era once and for all.
I believe if we Move the statues to a museum, provide those viewing the statues (especially school groups) with the history of our region of the country and point out how they no longer represent who we are as Southern People, then we can soften the harsh reaction from those who are hesitant to move on, sort of give them a "safe place" to inch themselves toward accepting, one and for all, that:
1. the South lost
2. it really was about slavery, not Southern pride
3. racism in any form against anyone is morally wrong
4. it's time to erase this sordid history and move on as a country.
IOW, let's not attack one's "heritage", let's adjust what that heritage stands for and learn to accept ALL other people for what they are, as they are, without prejudice against them for any reason.
The time is now to put this issue to bed once and for all. For my grandchildren's sake, if nothing else. As my grandpa often said, "You got to strike while the iron is hot."
I was born and raised in the Mid South -- Nashville, Tennessee -- but born in a small town. We were absolutely raised to believe in Southern Pride with respect to the Civil War. Yes, we lost, but our soldiers were brave, never gave up, persisted for a long time even in the face of overwhelming economic and War Materiel deficiencies -- this was what we were led to believe.
It wasn't overtly about racism, but it certainly was a type of implicit racism. Fortunately, my mother was a Progressive Democrat and I was made aware of the racism behind this despite having everyone else in the extended family a believer in Southern Pride.
In 1968, as a 15 year-old, I wore a Humphrey campaign button to school and, on the bus, was called n***** lover and various other pejorative words and phrases. This was just after, during the summer before, being a Wallace supporter because all my friends were. My mother, upon finding this out, set me straight pretty quickly. I was lucky in that regard.
At the time, btw, the ONLY black person I had ever been in contact with was a sweet lady who would come to our house (she road the bus, my job was to go to the bus stop and walk her to our house in the all-white neighborhood for her 'protection') every Monday to wash and iron all our clothes (3 young boys go through tons of clothes in a week, all quite dirty after use) -- Miss Eula.
She was the most wonderful, soft-spoken, sweet lady ever created. Yet she exhibited great deference to me -- a silly teenager -- simply because I was white and that's what was expected of ALL blacks in the South at the time. As long as they "stayed in their lane" all was well. Get a bit uppity and the racism was elicited rather quickly and vehemently. I was perceptive enough to notice this despite being a dumb teenager. (Truth be told, ALL teenagers are somewhat dumb, but fortunately most grow out of that eventually, faster if one goes to college and meets a variety of people of all types and comes to realize people are people and it has none to do with skin color.)
All this to say, the statues are fine with me -- but put them in a museum somewhere, with an explanation of what they are all about. Which turns out to be a Bygone Era which is no longer applicable in the 21st Century. If we don't move on as a country (and especially the South which I love and am still proud to call myself a member of and still take pride in my heritage) soon then it's going to get much worse going forward.
The Time is Right, so to speak, to finally turn the corner in this country and "fix" the cultural problems that linger from the Civil War Era once and for all.
I believe if we Move the statues to a museum, provide those viewing the statues (especially school groups) with the history of our region of the country and point out how they no longer represent who we are as Southern People, then we can soften the harsh reaction from those who are hesitant to move on, sort of give them a "safe place" to inch themselves toward accepting, one and for all, that:
1. the South lost
2. it really was about slavery, not Southern pride
3. racism in any form against anyone is morally wrong
4. it's time to erase this sordid history and move on as a country.
IOW, let's not attack one's "heritage", let's adjust what that heritage stands for and learn to accept ALL other people for what they are, as they are, without prejudice against them for any reason.
The time is now to put this issue to bed once and for all. For my grandchildren's sake, if nothing else. As my grandpa often said, "You got to strike while the iron is hot."