Richmond, Virginia, oh what will the neoliberals favorite mayor do?

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney originally came out with a plan for contextualization. But that was several weeks ago. That was before Charlottesville. Confederate monuments are coming down all over the place.

So now he sees both sides of the debate.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-richmond-confederate-monuments-08182017-story.html

Well that was two days ago in the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

"As memorials toppled across the country, the African American mayor of the former capital of the Confederacy defended his city’s own. 

Removal doesn't do “anything for telling the actual truth,” Levar Stoney said.
That was Monday. 

Two days later, the Richmond mayor said Confederate monuments had become a “rallying point for division and intolerance” and should be removed.

This is a Richmond Times-Dispatch article on Mayor Stoney, August 14, 2017 about his being committed to Confederate monument contextualization.

http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/mayor-stoney-richmond-s-confederate-monuments-should-stay-with-context/article_b8cbb743-410f-520f-9197-2a58450d128a.html

So in the end the monuments will go, but Mayor Stoney will not get credit for any vision or being like Mitch Landrieu.

Instead he will be remembered as a mayor who didn't think that the winds can shift and the weather van can suddenly turn around. That is a mayor who didn't have any convictions and guessed wrong on where this issue is headed. The wages of a centrist Democrat who triangulated wrongly.

Perhaps Mayor Stoney can be known as the great waffler.

Some more articles about Richmond and the struggle there.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/richmond-mayor-confederate-monument-debate-trump-doesnt-live/story?id=49313827

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/richmond-could-be-next-confederate-monument-battleground-n793741

At this point even the ACLU is calling for the monuments removal. Wonders never cease.
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/aclu-calls-for-removal-of-confederate-memorials-in-virginia/article_0f80a646-52d3-5e64-aba2-5d077b3d92d5.html

"Los Angeles Times" article about Abraham Lincoln uses term "Black Lives Matter."

It seems that the concept that "Black Lives Matter" might be getting more use in the historical profession. John Barr, author of "Loathing Lincoln" has posted this on his Facebook page.

The Op-Ed is titled, "How Abraham Lincoln said that Black Lives Matter," by Martha Hodes. The link follows:

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0301-hodes-lincoln-second-inaugural-20150301-story.html

Hopefully people who are concerned that human life matters will perceive historians who in their thinking Black lives don't matter.

Martha Hodes' website is http://marthahodes.com/.

An earlier blog I had on the topic about Black lives matter in history is at:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/search?q=matter#.VPJXs_nF_UU

Dr. Hayes-Bautista Op-Ed about Cinco de Mayo's American origins as an anti-Confederate holiday in the "Los Angeles Times."

Dr. Hayes-Bautista has an Op-Ed about Cinco de Mayo's American origins as an anti-Confederate holiday in the March 4, 2014 Los Angeles Times. The Link is:

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-hayes-bautista-cinco-de-mayo-20140305,0,4208043.story#axzz2v8VSmr5z

The great thing about this is that it will inform a great many people that Cinco de Mayo is a patriotic American holiday and an anti-Confederate holiday. The popularity of Cinco de Mayo will work to increase the unpopularity of the Confederacy.

I was in Los Angeles for an exhibition on Cinco de Mayo. The following is my blog on the visit with pictures.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2012/09/cinco-de-mayo-civil-war-exhibit-pictures.html#.Uxe81_ldWSo

Additionally there is a lecture by Dr. Hayes-Bautista on video in the blog posting. I have other blog postings on Cinco de Mayo, use "cinco" and search my blog.

I am hoping that as Cinco de Mayo becomes popularly known as an anti-Confederate holiday, the Roman Catholic churches will be less likely to host neo-Confederate groups.

"12 Years a Slave" movie wins "Best Picture" Oscar. UPDATED: Additional material has been added.

From the Los Angeles Times, "12 Years a Slave" movie wins "Best Picture" Oscar.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-oscars-2014-academy-awards,0,6353563.story#axzz2utpQbMQk

The Gone With The Wind view of slavery seems to be gone with the wind. All the years of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) trying to portray slavery as somehow justifiable is undone.

Further the movie "12 Years a Slave" is going to be used in classrooms to teach students about slavery.

http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/24/12-years-a-slave-will-be-taught-in-schools/

The following is a trailer for the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z02Ie8wKKRg

Double click to get full view.



You can get a PDF of the original book here.
https://ia600500.us.archive.org/5/items/12yearsaslave00nortrich/12yearsaslave00nortrich.pdf

This is a "New York Times" article about the book from 161 years ago.

http://gawker.com/this-is-the-161-year-old-new-york-times-article-about-1-1535199589

A good article worth reading about kidnapping of free African Americans in Antebellum New York City to be sold into slavery.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/untold-history-beneath-12-years-article-1.1706946

The response of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) will likely to be either to wail and moan that it is an attack on the South, or shift through the movie and find some minor or minute technical error to make the claim that the whole movie is is historically inaccurate, or to make up some historical claim which they will represent as a historical error to claim that the whole movie is historically inaccurate.

Primarily though they will bring up a lot of historical claims which don't really relate to the movie but will serve as a distraction and misdirection away from the substance of the movie, but which they will claim some how discredits the movie.

A particular way they will attack the film without discussing the contents will be to focus on attacking Hollywood and the film as a product of Hollywood.

H.K. Edgerton will be showcased with the idea, that if any black person rejects the movie than the it is okay for the SCV members to reject it also for whatever reasons that might motivate them.

Of course there could be just a lot of ranting and raving too.

Maybe St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond should get a copy and review it.

Perhaps I will suggest that the leadership of the United Methodist Church (UMC) consider viewing it before they continue to host the UDC and SCV. Maybe the UMC will give up the Confederacy. www.templeofdemocracy.com/churchesoftheconfederacy.htm.