The ideology of violence of the neo-Confederate movement, op-ed published in the "Dallas Morning News"

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/17/confederate-heritage-root-recent-tragedies-troubles


I discuss the Red Shirts, Michael Andrew Grissom, Frank Conner, "South Under Siege," "Southern by the Grace of God."

Some excerpts:

The United Daughters of the Confederacy renovated and operates the Oakley Park Museum in Edgefield, S.C., of which a 2001 UDC Magazine article explains, "Today it stands as a shrine to the Red Shirt campaign of 1876."

Radical neo-Confederate writing is also directed at Unitarians, the LGBT community, Muslims, Hispanics and others. The publications of pro-monument groups such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans incite fear and suspicion for a lengthy list of enemies. We should not be surprised that their publications incite violence and, sadly, we should prepare for more to come.

League of the South denounces the Kennedy brothers' "The South Was Right!"

Hell has frozen over!  Beelzebub is putting on ice skates. Lucifer is throwing snowballs. Satan is putting on an overcoat, mittens, and a stocking cap,

Michael Hill, president of the League of the South has written a lengthy essay condemning the book, "The South Was Right!" by the Kennedy twin brothers, Walter Donald and James Ronald.

http://leagueofthesouth.com/a-plausible-lie-a-critique-of-the-south-was-right/

This was one of the founding books of the modern neo-Confederate movement.  Hill's criticism is to a large extent, as much as anything Hill would say could be, is correct.

The book "The South is Right!" is a defense of the Confederacy against charges of it being a racist enterprise.

The importance of this public condemnation isn't clear. The League of the South is a remnant organization and Hill and company, however many that might be, are desperate to get some notice for their organization. However, it might be a wedge strategy taking advantaged of a much more racially polarized environment, and the Sons of Confederate Veteran has been radicalizing and they read Frank Conner now, a really scary book which sees the civil rights movement as a Jewish conspiracy against American society.

Also, with Confederate flags, statues coming down, Confederate names being removed it might be that the neo-Confederate movement doesn't see much value in trying the old "Heritage not Hatred" song and dance.

Hill is somewhat hypocritical. The League of the South for years used to deny having any racial agenda. What is the cliche, "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."

There were two important books starting the neo-Confederate movement: "The South Was Right!" by the Kennedy twins and "Southern By The Grace of God" by Michael Andrew Grissom. Grissom has been more openly racist with his books, but has been in obscurity. The Kennedy twins books sell. However, I think there is a phase change going on in the neo-Confederate movement and Hill might have picked up on it. When I mean a phase change I mean a discreet break between one mode of things to another, like ice to water or water to steam.

Neo-Confederates may laugh, but Michael Hill might be a future Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Okay, you can laugh now, but we live in the time of Trump. In a time of racial polarization the SCV may get pulled in a racist direction.

Regardless this is a good development. It is infighting of a serious nature among neo-Confederates. The League of the South will be a racist force pushing on the Sons of Confederate Veterans to be crazy like themselves. It could really discredit the neo-Confederate movement.