Kevin Levin and James I. Robertson and Levin's establishmentarianism

I blog on Kevin Levin because he represents a certain mentality among some Civil War historians.

This is the link to a post of his where he expresses disappointment in James I. Robertson.

http://cwmemory.com/2016/02/23/the-confederate-battle-flag-was-not-stolen-from-the-south/

The point of the post is valid. The Confederate battle flag was not stolen from the South. Some extremist groups did not seize the Confederate battle flag and give it a a racist meaning that it previously didn't have.

However, what is interesting, and revealing of Levin's blind establishmentarianism is that he is surprised and disappointed at what James I. Robertson has to say about the Confederate battle flag and also that he has "a great deal of respect for Professor Robertson."

"Professor" Robertson interviewed in the Southern Partisan in the 3rd Quarter 1997 issue.  That the Southern Partisan was a neo-Confederate magazine and had a racist agenda he certainly knew about.

In the 3rd Quarter, 1990, Vol. 10 issue of Southern Partisan in a letter to the editor of the Southern Partisan complaining about some comments about him printed in the magazine.

"Such statements, appearing in a publication whose purpose and content I have previously admired, is a disservice to you and a degradation to me."

That's right Roberts "admired" the "purpose and content" of the Southern Partisan, he "admired" the endlessly bigoted Southern Partisan.

 However, you don't need to have access or know about the Southern Partisan magazine to know about Robertson's views. It has been fairly obvious to those who know about Robertson. Or knew about the Civil War Centennial. Why this is a surprise to Levin is a wonder.