Over the years I’ve had a difficult time melding together political views and trying to decide what I believe personally. I’m sure many of us have done this to some extent. We are taught by our parents that X is right and Y is the answer, then you learn later in life that this might all be hogwash.
I was a hardcore conservative until I went off to school and got all liberalized by my teachers. That’s how I (jokingly) like to think of my family’s perception of the events. In truth they have been very good natured about it. I’m allowed to hold my own beliefs and they playfully challenge these beliefs…mostly to have a debate that involves wit, self-composure, and ultimately love.
I guess you can say I never went full liberal…and my family doesn’t heartily endorse every proscribed declaration of the GOP . We like to think of ourselves as independents, like many Americans. Mainly I think it’s half-pretending…we’ll openly deliberate about the pros and cons of a local candidate for Congress, all the while knowing full well that we’ll vote along party lines. Then again, there are certain issues where you have to part with said party and stake out your own side.
The Washington Post and other major newspapers have recently focused on VA Governor McDonnell’s proclamation that April is designated “Confederate Month.” As one might guess, liberals and conservatives foam at the mouth, preparing to eviscerate the other over a war that happened over 140 years ago. Liberals believe that the Civil War was fought solely over slaves and that anyone who does not agree is an outright racist. Also, the Confederates were all slave-owners and the Yankees were abolitionist heroes.
Conservatives, on the other hand, cling to a battle flag that became a symbol of animosity and hatred during the Civil Rights era. They tend to gloss over the issue of slavery, which was indeed tied to other Civil War issues that they feel are not mentioned in history books(industrial vs. agrarian, states’ rights, tariffs).
Both sides have taken a piece of our history and distorted it beyond recognition. No, it’s not boiled down to a slavery-only, “the South lost and that’s that” oversimplification. No, it should not be a rallying call for racist rednecks and Neo Nazi propaganda. Our nation remained united as a consequence of the war…our ancestors who fought believed that they were honoring their families and homeland…slaves were freed as a result of the war.
There is cause for remembrance and history should not be a political tool for either party.
