Civil War Memorials
In the first article, "America, how should we remember this soldier?" by J. Pepper Bryars, he describes the story of a young farmer named Elijah and his journey from a small town farmer to a soldier in the 36th Regiment, Georgia Infantry. His story is fascinating and quite heartbreaking both in the circumstances and the outcomes and in the fact that his story is not "unique." Bryars includes the viewpoint of both his wife, and his progeny to describe what it is like to for "children and grandchildren who never know where their loved ones were buried." I agree most with his perspective on Civil War Memorials especially unmarked graves with corpses reaching 300. I identify most with his final statement of the article, "Anything less and we forget who we are, and dishonor ourselves."
In the second article, "Put progressive Civil War Republicans on a pedestal," by LeeAnna Keith, she describes how this ongoing discussion of Civil War Memorials has pushed "both political parties to their extremes," illustrating the hardened and unpopular Democrat identities and unifying the relationship between the Republican Party and white supremacy. She lays out before us the dilemma facing Republicans today, the "burden of resolving a crisis of increasingly dangerous proportions." Her article takes the reader back to the Civil War and Lincoln's agenda and brings to our attention the countless Republican activists, that supported Lincoln's humanitarian effort, who have been forgotten. She highlights the sturggles of the Civil War and the naïvity of our current president and his actions.
The third article, "Truth Behind Confederate Symbolism" is written by David Person. In this article, Person describes Nikki Haley's initiative to remove the Confederate flag in South Carolina. He writes, "the flag that has symbolized the systematic oppression of black people iin the U.S. for over a century." In the section titled, "The New South," he illustrates that the SCSP's campaign to put up Confederate battle flags throughout South Carolina is, "in honor of our Confederate ancestors who sacrificed all in service to our state." He continues and indicates that we, people in the South, have not moved past this history and it is still prevalent in our lives, we're, "fighting the same arguments as we did a hundred years ago," and I believe he is not wrong. I don't think that the people in the South have completely moved on as much as they could. He goes on to describe the, "Original Intent" of the SCSP. Toward the end, he quotes Dr. Abel Bartley and, in my opinion, it was striking, "They wanted to hold on to slavery...Don't tell me that it's about heritage. It is about heritage: the heritage of holding slaves." This was very shocking to me but when I took a step back, I realized he was right in some ways.
In the second article, "Put progressive Civil War Republicans on a pedestal," by LeeAnna Keith, she describes how this ongoing discussion of Civil War Memorials has pushed "both political parties to their extremes," illustrating the hardened and unpopular Democrat identities and unifying the relationship between the Republican Party and white supremacy. She lays out before us the dilemma facing Republicans today, the "burden of resolving a crisis of increasingly dangerous proportions." Her article takes the reader back to the Civil War and Lincoln's agenda and brings to our attention the countless Republican activists, that supported Lincoln's humanitarian effort, who have been forgotten. She highlights the sturggles of the Civil War and the naïvity of our current president and his actions.
The third article, "Truth Behind Confederate Symbolism" is written by David Person. In this article, Person describes Nikki Haley's initiative to remove the Confederate flag in South Carolina. He writes, "the flag that has symbolized the systematic oppression of black people iin the U.S. for over a century." In the section titled, "The New South," he illustrates that the SCSP's campaign to put up Confederate battle flags throughout South Carolina is, "in honor of our Confederate ancestors who sacrificed all in service to our state." He continues and indicates that we, people in the South, have not moved past this history and it is still prevalent in our lives, we're, "fighting the same arguments as we did a hundred years ago," and I believe he is not wrong. I don't think that the people in the South have completely moved on as much as they could. He goes on to describe the, "Original Intent" of the SCSP. Toward the end, he quotes Dr. Abel Bartley and, in my opinion, it was striking, "They wanted to hold on to slavery...Don't tell me that it's about heritage. It is about heritage: the heritage of holding slaves." This was very shocking to me but when I took a step back, I realized he was right in some ways.
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