WHOSE HERITAGE? CONFEDERATE SYMBOLS IN U.S., B'TOWN

By Southern Poverty Law Center

The Confederacy: In Its Own Words

The desire to preserve slavery was the cause for secession by Southern states.

But 150 years after the war, many continue to cling to myths. As recently as 2011, 48 percent of Americans in a Pew Research Center survey cited states’ rights as the reason for the war, compared to 38 percent citing slavery. This finding is all the more astonishing because a review of statements and documents by Confederate leaders makes their intentions clear. The following is a sample:

"We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.”

Texas Declaration of causes for secession, February 2, 1861

“Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery — the greatest material interest of the world.”

Mississippi Declaration of causes for secession

“They assume that the negro is equal, and hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man. If their premises were correct, their conclusions would be logical and just but their premise being wrong, their whole argument fails.”

Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy
Cornerstone Speech, March 21, 1861

“Our new government is founded upon … the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.”

Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy
Cornerstone Speech, March 21, 1861

“A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States, whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery.”

South Carolina Declaration of causes for secession,
December 24, 1860

 

There are:

• 718 monuments and statues, nearly 300 of which are in Georgia, Virginia or North Carolina;
• 109 public schools named for Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis or other Confederate icons;
• 80 counties and cities named for Confederates;
• 9 official Confederate holidays in six states; and
• 10 U.S. military bases named for Confederates.

Critics may say removing a flag or monument, renaming a military base or school, or ending a state holiday is tantamount to "erasing history." In fact, across the country, Confederate flag supporters have held more than 350 rallies since the Charleston attack.
But the argument that the Confederate flag and other displays represent “heritage, not hate” ignores the near-universal heritage of African Americans whose ancestors were enslaved by the millions in the South. It trivializes their pain, their history and their concerns about racism — whether it’s the racism of the past or that of today.

(To read full article, click on link below:

https://www.splcenter.org/20160421/whose-heritage-public-symbols-confederacy