The delusions of the Council of Conservative Citizens and genetics.

With the sequencing of the nuclear chromosomes and the genetic material of the mitochondria science has gained a lot of information on the relatedness of peoples and species and a window back in time. In the pages of Science magazine, the publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of which I have been a subscriber to for 20 years at least, the new revelations of genetic sequencing have come to light. Also, in Scientific American, another prestigious publication, the discoveries of genetic sequencing have been reported.

Some of the genetic material in us isn't very critical and seems to be along for the ride, and some of the other material is of course critical and if mutated is the cause for so many diseases. Though exactly what isn't really critical continues to be a subject of discovery and further investigations. Then there is epigenetics which is a whole other level of complexity.

The mitochondria are inherited from the mother, though there was some discussion whether in rare occasions a mitochondria might come from the father, but I never did read what the end of that discussion was. This DNA can be sequenced, it exists in a circle in the mitochondria, and since it isn't involved in reshuffling in sexual reproduction from two sources it is a great source of information to trace evolutionary relatedness.

Changes in this mitochondrial DNA is solely through mutations and the variations in the non-critical parts changes over time. You can thus with sequences map the relatedness of the human species. Of course scientists understanding that they could do so did so and what they found was that in the scheme of things everyone outside of Africa were part of a sub-sub group, I am not sure how many subdivisions down, of one of the African groups. Africans are divided into three groups with a lot of mitochondiral differences. Out of Africa is a scientific reality.

A scientific question over the years has been whether Neanderthals and modern humans ever interbred and the debate has gone back and forth. DNA sequencing a piece of tissue left from a Neanderthal would help resolve this. However, there are real problems in doing so. As the DNA is older it is degraded and results less clear. Also, you have to make sure that the sample isn't contaminated by human DNA such as the dead skin cells people are shedding all the time.

However, recently one researcher has done an analysis, reportedly successfully in the scientific press, and has come up with 4%. This is a very interesting result, but needs some replication since it is just one sample and one analysis. Once we have three or four analyses and similar numbers we can start to perceive this as result which more confidence can be placed.

However, the goofologists at the Conservative Citizens Council at the following link see this one scientific result as the basis of delusional claims. http://cofcc.org/2010/10/new-discoveries-disprove-out-of-africa-myth/

"The “Out of Africa” theory was not created by actual scientists. It was cooked up by left-wing college administrators and forced onto the science departments. It was a myth designed to promote the left-wing agenda on multiculturalism. Every new discovery in the fields of anthropology and genetics continue to completely disprove this left-wing fantasy. Europeans and Asians have substantial amounts of Neanderthal ancestry, while Sub-Saharan Africans do not. Further, the Neanderthal genome project has revived the groups placement as “proto-Caucasian.” Neanderthal can be divided into at least three regional sub-groups. Some Neanderthal, at least those living in Europe had members with fair skin and red hair."

First there is the denial of years of scientific research and publication, with the claim that the conclusion of this research was "cooked up by left-wing college administrators." Then there is the claim of "substantial amounts of Neanderthal ancestry," instead of mentioning it is just 4%.

The mitochondrial evidence is real and not subject to hysterical delusion and exists as scientific evidence independent from nuclear genetic material.

However, these http://www.cofcc.org/ posts just show that what passes for scientific thinking among the members of that organization's membership is actually some type of crazed racism grasping for straws and has no understanding of the underlying science involved.

Update: It occurs to me that it is somewhat ironic that the Council of Conservative Citizens which is hysterically aghast over interracial relations, regards very positively interspecies or perhaps it might be called intersubspecies relations.

James Loewen on National Public Radio on the myth of Black Confederates

Jim was on NPR this morning on the topic of the bogus Black Confederate claim being in a school text book.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130744788

The Confederates were fairly hostile to the idea of any African American troops until the last few weeks of the Civil War when they were really desperate.

Charles Kelly Barrow is so pathetic when he says, "Some people just don't like the truth." Would that include Robert E. Lee? Robert E. Lee towards the very end of the Civil War wrote a letter endorsing the idea of Afro-Confederate troops saying that it would be better for the Confederacy if they freed slaves under their terms than the Union doing so.

Was Robert E. Lee a liar and there were thousands of African American troops all along? Or was Robert E. Lee a heritage violator and wanted to defame the Confederacy? Or was Robert E. Lee out of touch?

Mr. Barrow would that include the Confederate Veteran magazine of 1893 to 1932? In more than one article, the Confederate Veteran discusses the issue of Black Confederate troops and the opposition to them and how they weren't adopted until the very end. Was the Confederate Veteran not liking the truth about Confederate history? Were the individual Confederate veterans heritage violators?

Though, this constant claim of Afro-Confederate troops has a good benefit. It discredits the neo-Confederates generally as being deluded and bogus.

James Loewen and the Filson Historical Conference on Secession in the "Louisville Courier-Journal"

The Louisville Courier-Journal has a lengthy article about the Filson Historical Conference on secession and James Loewen at this link.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20101018/FEATURES06/310180021

From the article:

"Loewen will give the opening address of the three-day conference, which begins Thursday at the Filson Historical Society.

The conference topic, “Secessions: From the American Revolution to the Civil War,” coincides with the 150th anniversary of South Carolina's secession from the Union and will explore moments in U.S. history when Americans threatened or acted upon a perceived right to secede from state or national authorities."

"In true Loewenesque fashion, the University of Vermont professor's address is titled “Lies My Teacher Told Me About Secession.”

Questionnaire for the 2012 Presidential Candidates

This is the questionnaire for the 2012 Presidential Candidates. The results will be posted online. We are writing up briefing papers about the questions in the questionnaire, a briefing paper on the neo-Confederate movement, and a briefing paper on the presidents and the Confederacy starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt to the present.

Of course there is a question, #8, about sending a wreath to the Arlington Confederate monument.

The question about secession may seem a little crazy, but we already have the Governor Rick Perry talking about secession and a Minnesota Republican Congressional district convention passed a resolution that a state had a right to secede. Secession is back as an issue in politics.

There were other questions we might have asked, but we wanted the questionnaire to be short. Also, these twelve questions will give a fairly good indication where a candidate stands in general regarding the Confederacy and neo-Confederacy.

We will likely start sending out the questionnaires after the November elections.

The questionnaire is as follows:

2012 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE NEO-CONFEDERACY QUESTIONNAIRE

INTRODUCTION:

The questions are divided into two sections. The first section pertains to how neo-Confederacy impacts policy; the second seciton contains cultural questions in which the issue is who we are.

POLICY:

1. Do you support the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in its entirety?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other

2. Do you think that nullification is a legitimate action?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other

3. Do you think a state has a right to secede?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other

4. As President would you nominate or appoint a person who is a member of a neo-Confederate organization such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, or Council of Conservative Citizens to any position in the Federal government or judiciary?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other.

If Yes, to what positions might you appoint or nominate a neo-Confederate?

5. As President would you oppose the involvement of neo-Confederate organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Council of Conservative Citizen in the Reserve Officer Training Corps or the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other.

6. As President would you oppose the U.S. military participation in the activities of neo-Confederate organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Council of Conservative Citizens?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other.

CULTURAL

7. Are you a member, regular, associate, honorary, or otherwise of a neo-Confederate organization such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, League of the South, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Council of Conservative Citizens?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other.

8. As President would you send a wreath to the Arlington Confederate monument?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other.

9. As President would you fly or display the Confederate flag at the White House or elsewhere?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other.

10. As President would you declare a day, week, or a month of Confederate memorialization?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other.

11. As President would you participate in a celebration, observance, or ceremony to honor, memorialize, or celebrate the Confederacy or a member of the Confederacy or send a representative to do so?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other.

12. As President would you support having Civil War battlefield parks explain the role of slavery in the Civil War?

Yes, No, Undecided, Other.

"A Talk With James Loewen" on Univ. Press of Miss. Video Website

"A Talk with James Loewen" is at this link.

http://vimeo.com/15789951

James Loewen discusses our new book, "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The 'Great Truth' About the 'Lost Cause'" in this video.

A historical group of Nazi re-enactors, claim not to be pro-Nazi

It turns out that one of the GOP's congressional candidates is a member of a group that does re-enactments of Nazi's and white washes their history.

The link is here:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/10/why-is-this-gop-house-candidate-dressed-as-a-nazi/64319/

Read the article. Does it remind you of any "heritage" groups that you know?

Questionnaire for the 2012 Presidential Candidates

The Committee Against Neo-Confederacy will be sending out a questionnaire on neo-Confederacy to the 2012 Presidential candidates. Of course there will be a question about the Arlington Confederate Monument and wreath sending, but there will be eleven other questions for a total of twelve questions.

The cover letter has been written and the questions have been defined. We started with 20 or so and whittled them down to twelve questions. These questions may not cover every issue, but I think that answers to the questionnaire will give a person a fairly good picture as to where the candidate stands.

What isn't complete is the briefing and background information papers which will go to journalists. We are still working on these papers. We will want to have a brief paper on what neo-Confederacy is, I don't expect reporters to want to read a book. We need to write up a back ground for each question. We are also going to have a paper with background information on the presidents and the Confederacy and neo-Confederacy from Franklin D. Roosevelt to the present. I have accumulated materials over the years and have some interesting materials.

The questionnaire is about where America is heading and about what direction the presidential candidate would take America if elected. It isn't about debating the 19th century or the president's interpretations or understanding of 19th century history. It is about who we are and where we are going which is something everyone is interested in.

So we have the questions in two sections, one section concerns policy, and the other concerns national identity, what type of nation we think we are. Once a nation has an idea of who they think they are and what type of nation they should be, politics, policy, actions are largely derivitive actions.

I think we have fairly good chances of getting a response to our questionnaire. There are a great many candidates for the presidency on the Republican side and I think one or two would be interested in answering our questionnaire, if only to differentiate themselves from the pack. Republican candidates for South Carolina governor met with a neo-Confederate front group to be video taped as to their views on the Confederacy among other topics. The South Carolina presidential primary is a critical gate in the primary season for presidential candidate and after New Hampshire, an opportunity for a candidate to gain the lead. George W. Bush derailed John McCain's presidential aspirations in 2000 by having a pro-Confederate flag front group attack McCain. Huckabee when campaigning there in the 2008 presidential primary wanted to make sure that voters knew that he supported the Confederate flag. I suspect that neo-Confederate groups are already planning a questionnaire or video interviews to screen the presidential candidates as they did the candidates for governor of South Carolina.

On the Democratic side, there well may be some other candidates besides President Obama in the next primary cycle and who might want to answer the questionnaire.

We are working on all the papers to have them ready by Nov. 2010. The campaign for the presidency I think really starts in January 2011. The mid-term elections will be over, the holidays will be over, and the new congress in session.

We will post the questionnaire later.

2011 Letter to the President concerning the Arlington Confederate Monument

There will be a letter in 2011 to the President concerning the Arlington Confederate Monument.

This blog will keep you updated as things develop.

http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/

Also, at this blog you can read the letters of 2009 and 2010, or you can read them at the History News Network.

I think in 2011 we will be able to garner a great many more signatures for a variety of factors. The second book is out and a great many people are reading it. I have two new web sites for scholars and students to use as a research resource. It means when I "cold call" for a signature, it is going to be much easier to get a dialog going and get support.

Giving up Neo-Confederacy by the Virginia GOP

This very interesting article in in the Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/02/AR2010100203167.html

Governor McDonnell and former Gov. George Allen publicly reject Confederate History Month. However, it is not clear whether State Attorney General Cuccinelli has given up Confederate History Month.

James Loewen signs "Reader" at Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi

James Loewen will be signing copies of "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" and doing a reading, at Lemuria Books in Jackson, MS, Oct. 11, 2010.

The event notice is here:

http://www.lemuriabooks.com/index.php?show=events&id=1351

Some of James Loewen's engagements can be viewed at his website: http://sundown.afro.illinois.edu/

The "Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" recommended by www.rethinkingschools.org and www.teachingforchange.org

The word is getting out there! These two groups reach thousands of teachers across the United States, and the teachers will reach hundreds of thousands of students and the students will go on to let many more know about the historical truth of the Civil War. We are moving on in broadcast media, in print, in the classroom, and elsewhere.

This is the web page of "Rethinking Schools" recommending our book.

http://rethinkingschools.org/archive/25_01/25_01_resources.shtml

This is the notice which will be in the Fall 2010 print edition as well as the web page.

The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: “The Great Truth” About the “Lost Cause” Edited by James W. Loewen and Edward H. Sebesta(University Press of Mississippi, 2010)424 pp., $25

James Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, co-edited this collection of primary documents because the story they tell about the Civil War is not found in textbooks. The editors explain that “the declarations supplied by the 11 Confederate states as they left the union are among the most important documents in the history of our nation.” Yet not only do textbooks avoid the documents, “the accounts they provide contradict the historical record.”

The result is widespread misinformation about the cause of the Civil War. In surveys across the country, Loewen found that the great majority of audiences (including teachers) thought states’ rights was the cause. Only 15 percent named the preservation of slavery as the key factor. In addition to a well-organized and annotated collection of primary documents, the editors provide background on when and why the narrative about the causes of the Civil War was rewritten in American consciousness.

And this is the web page of Teaching for Change recommending our book.

http://www.teachingforchange.org/news/loewen

This is the online article.

On September 20, 2010, James Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, spoke to a full house at Busboys and Poets about his new book The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: “The Great Truth” About the “Lost Cause" (University Press of Mississippi, 2010). The event was coordinated by Teaching for Change’s Busboys and Poets Bookstore. Co-edited with Edward H. Sebesta, this book is a collection of primary documents on the Civil War. Loewen explained that, “the declarations supplied by the 11 Confederate states as they left the union are among the most important documents in the history of our nation.” Yet not only do textbooks avoid the documents, “the accounts they provide contradict the historical record.” The result is widespread misinformation about the cause of the Civil War.

Loewen opened the evening with a one-question, multiple choice survey, explaining that everyone had to vote and that they could only vote once. The question was: “Why did the Southern states secede?” and the audience had to select from four options: slavery, states’ rights, election of Lincoln, tariffs and taxes. At Busboys and Poets, the majority selected slavery. Loewen said this response was highly unusual. He has conducted this survey with audiences across the country and the vast majority (including teachers) selected states’ rights as the cause. Only 15 percent named the most correct answer, the preservation of slavery, as the key factor. In his talk he described when the myth of states’ rights as the cause developed and why.
There was a lively discussion following his talk, with audience members thanking Loewen for providing this invaluable resource and asking how to help use the book to shift public understanding. A 5th grade teacher from EL Haynes Public Charter School, Mr. Kiplinger, said that when people tell him the motive is “states’ rights”, he asks them, “Which states’ rights?” Invariably they respond “The right to own slaves.” This answer helps him point out that therefore slavery was really the root cause or motive.

Author Richard Morris wrote about the event on his blog and commented, “Once again, Barbara and I were delighted to travel to Busboys & Poets at 14th and V Streets in Washington, D.C. on Monday evening to hear this consummate truth-teller make another compelling presentation to a packed audience.”

The book has been a best-seller at Teaching for Change’s Busboys and Poets Bookstore and is available from our webstore.

"Civil War to Civil Rights" A great new project of the National Park Service.

I was notified of this great National Park Service project this morning. I provide some links and comments following this notice.

CIVIL WAR TO CIVIL RIGHTS

A NATIONAL DIGITAL HISTORY PROJECT FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

The coming year, 2011, marks the 150th anniversary of president-elect Abraham Lincoln's inaugural train trip from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, DC and the presidency of a nation on the eve of civil war.

Inspired by that anniversary, the National Park Service invites high schools classes to join in a national digital project on the broader theme of inaugurations - new beginnings.

The National Park Service invites students to create short digital narratives on one of three themes:

* My area in 1861 - using maps, photos, illustrations, census
data, telling incidents from local newspapers, and (if available) national parks materials - students will create a portrait of where they live as it was just before Lincoln set off to Washington.
* A civil rights hero from my area one hundred years later, in
1961, -- by seeking out and interviewing a veteran of the struggle for equal rights, or finding existing oral histories, and/or maps, photos, illustrations, census data, and local news stories and national parks materials, students will tell the story of someone in their area who brought about change in the 1960s.
* The road ahead - students will define the changes they intend to
inaugurate in their adult lives.

Narratives will be gathered from schools throughout the nation and placed on a special National Park Service website. Participating students, their communities, and a broad national parks audience of all ages will then be able to use the site as window into key moments in our national life, as they were experienced locally, and as a virtual memorial for the momentous journey upon which President Lincoln embarked 150 years ago.

This project was developed by Dr. Marc Aronson (www.marcaronson.com ) in cooperation with Charles Forcey of Historicus, Inc. In the fall of 2010, the project team will provide a kit on the three themes, primary source samples and suggests, as well as links to Common Core Standards. Materials will be submitted through online forms; technical and editorial support will be available all along the way. A suite of digital resources taken from the National Park Service and Library of Congress sources will be available for all participating schools.

Evidently this is going to be a theme of the National Park Service's observance of the Civil War Sesquicentennial as shown by this item.

http://www.nps.gov/ulsg/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=202422

If you search on Google for "Civil War to Civil Rights" you see that this is the theme of books and various activities large and small.

James Loewen in Oklahoma & Richmond, VA; Update

OKLAHOMA

James Loewen will be the awards banquet speaker at the annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History in Oklahoma City, OK.

Friday, Sept. 24, 6:30 to 9:30 pm.

http://www.aaslh.org/am2010.htm

I think among other things the word about "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" will get out to historians across the nation.

UPDATE: The AASLH was a sellout for the "Reader." Additionally, some major contacts were made potentially opening up new venues for the book.

RICHMOND

Also, James Loewen will be speaking in Richmond, Virginia on Oct. 7, 2010 at an event of the Richmond Diversity Network and the Virginia Commonwealth University. It will be 10:00 am to 3pm at St. Catherine's School. The topic is "Lies My Teacher Told Me and How to Do Better."

http://www.virginiadiversitynetwork.org/

Vermont Secession blogging again

Vermont Secession, which had been on hiatus, is blogging again. The neo-Confederates are evidently at it again in Vermont, so he has taken up blogging again to expose their nonsense.

The blog is at:

http://vermontsecession.blogspot.com/

Addendum: Actually the Vermont 2nd Republic people would be more accurately described as neo-Confederates, reactionaries of various types who write for Chronicles magazine or are reactionaries written about in Chronicles magazine, or other miscellaneous reactionaries who have written for Southern Partisan.

http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org

"Fighting Neo-Confederacy" on SeeingBlack.com

James Loewen was interviewed on WPFW, Pacific Station, in Washington D.C. for show, "What's At Stake."

The website http://www.seeingblack.com/ has a notice here about the interview with a link to the interview.

James Loewen's schedule of appearances is at this blog post:

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2010/09/james-loewen-radio-schedule-for.html

Republican Party party photos that nearly leave you speechless

It has been reported that at a board meeting of the National Federation of Republican Women Board of Directors in Charleston, South Carolina there was a social event called "A Southern Experience." The South Carolina State Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell was in a Confederate uniform at the event. However, what has gotten the Internet buzzing is the photos of McConnell with two African Americans with rustic costumes. It has become a story on Gawker also.

You really need to look at the photos here:

http://www.wltx.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=98036&catid=2

http://www2.counton2.com/news/2010/sep/14/photos-southern-experience-gop-womens-meeting-caus-ar-830655/

The Gawker.com story is here:

http://gawker.com/5638087/why-is-this-south-carolina-senate-president-playing-confederate-dress+up-with-slaves

And the other photos here:

http://www.scfrw.org/images/albumSouthern/album/index.html

These are the photos of particular interest.

http://www.scfrw.org/images/albumSouthern/album/slides/McConnellMurrays168.html

http://www.scfrw.org/images/albumSouthern/album/slides/McConnellMurrays170.html

James Loewen on "Culture Shock" a media production of

You can listen to James W. Loewen on "Culture Shock," a media production of American United, being interviewed by Barry Lynn, about the book, "A Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader."

http://www.cultureshocks.com/shows/2010/09/13/james-loewen/

You can read about them at:

http://www.cultureshocks.com/about/

Jack Kershaw, Segregationist, eulogized by League of the South

Jack Kershaw is eulogized by the League of the South (LoS) here:

http://dixienet.org/New%20Site/jackkershawobit.shtml

However, they "forgot" a few details. Jack Kershaw was a major figure in the Tennessee Federation for Constitutional Government which campaigned for segregation in Tennessee attempting to reverse Brown vs. Brown.

The book, "Where No Flag Flies," a biography by Southern Partisan writer Mark Royden Winchell, about Donald Davidson details both Davidson's and Kershaw's activities against integration.

This article will tell you something about Kershaw during the Civil Rights Era, schools being blown up and Jack Kershaw in Clinton, Tennessee working with extremists.

http://www.southernspaces.org/2009/walking-history-beginning-school-desegregation-nashville

Kershaw's "notable" sculpture can be seen here. http://www.tennessee-scv.org/camp28/project7.htm. Look at the 2nd picture down. The statue is made of resin, but a merry-go-round isn't missing a pony.

Oddly enough, the fact that Jack Kershaw was James Earl Ray Jr.s' lawyer isn't brought up, one of Kershaw's most notable roles. Everyone deserves a lawyer, so I don't count that against Kershaw, but it seems the LoS has sanitized Kershaw's biography to be "politically correct," a phrase they are so fond of using. [James Earl Ray Jr. assassinated Martin Luther King.]

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

James Loewen Radio Schedule for the "Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader," 18 radio engagements in two months.

This is the complete Radio Schedule for interviews with James Loewen about our new book, "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader." These speaking engagements are all over the nation, many in major cities, some are syndicated. Radio stations often now days broadcast online in real time, and often have shows stored online.

http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/1338

1. Sunday, Sept 12, 8:30 a.m. ET

1/2 hr. taped interview
WFNY “The WFNY Free Forum”; NYC

2. Sun. Sept 12, 10:30 a.m. ET

30-40 min live interview
“Radio with a View” - WMBR
Cambridge, MA

3. Mon. Sept 13, 11 a.m. ET

20 min. live phone interview
WASN “The Louie Free Show”
Youngstown, OH and the web

4. Mon. Sept 13, 2:00 p.m. ET

40 min taped interview
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State "Culture Shocks"
- syndicated to 6 stations

5. Mon. Sept 13, 3:20 p.m. ET

30 min. taped interview
“Issues & Ideas”
KCBX - FM, (NPR) San Luis Obispo

6. Mon. Sept 13, 4:00 pm ET

25-30 min. taped phone interview
KSFR "Santa Fe Radio Cafe"
Santa Fe, Santa Fe Public Radio,
Airs in the entire State of New Mexico

7. Tues. September 14, 9:10 a.m. ET

20 min. live interview
The 8:00 Buzz – WORT-FM
Madison, WI

8. Tues. September 14, 10:00 a.m. ET

20-30 min. taped phone interview
KVON-AM, “Late Mornings” Napa, CA

9. Tues. Sept 14, Noon ET

12-20 min. taped interview
WTIP-FM, Grand Marais, Minnesota

10. Thurs. Sept 16, 8:00 p.m. ET

30-40 min. live interview
KPFT “The Progressive Forum”
Houston, TX (Pacifica)

11. Mon. Sept 20, 8:40 AM ET

10 min. live interview
WCBQ--Oxford, NC; WHNC--Henderson, NC

12. Mon, Sept. 20, 10:30 a.m. ET

15 min. live interview
KPOJ “The Morning Show w/ Carl Wolfson”
Portland OR

13. Mon., Sept. 20, 4:00 pm ET

50 min. live phone interview
WBAI "Talk Back"
New York, NY

14. Tues. Sept 28, 3:00 p.m. ET

30 min. taped interview
“Open Mind”
Michigan Public Radio (NPR)

15. Tues. Sept 28, 7 p.m. ET

20 min taped phone interview
Beneath the Surface – KPFK, N. Hollywood

16. Wed. Sept 29, 10:30 a.m. ET

10 min. taped phone interview
KAXE (100,000 watt NPR affiliate)
Grand Rapids, MN

17. Friday Oct. 1, 3:00 p.m. ET

45 min live phone interview w/breaks
Civil War Talk Radio
http://www.voiceamerica.com/worldtalkradio/vshow.aspx?sid=865

18. Wed. Oct 20, 11 a.m. ET

20-25 min. taped interview
Voices of Our World
Nationally syndicated to over 100 stations
(programming run by the Maryknoll, progressive religious community)

Uprising Radio Program with James Loewen discussing "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" is online

The web page for the interview with James Loewen about the book "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" is:

http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=15595

And you can listen to the interview at this link:

http://www.archive.org/download/DailyDigest-090710/2010_09_07_loewen.mp3

From the web page:

"Ask Americans about why Southern states ceded in 1861 to form the Confederate States of America, and chances are, they will describe it as a battle over states’ rights. That’s what author and historian James Loewen has found in his travels across the country. But in delving into the actual documents of the time, Loewen shows that the cessation of 11 Southern states centered on the institution of slavery. In his new book The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The “Great Truth” About the “Lost Cause,” Loewen sets the historical record straight about a time in American history that is often invoked by conservatives today. Nearly 150 years after the Civil War he makes the definitive case that cessation and the Confederacy were about preserving slavery and white supremacy. "

James Loewen on Pacifica Radio

James Loewen will be on Pacifica Radio right now.

Sorry about the very short notice.

http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=15590

He will be speaking on the "Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader." The show is syndicated across the Pacifica network.

Jim tells me that he is doing two radio shows per day, so we are getting the word out.

Treaty of Paris, getting it right

Neo-Confederates like to quote Article 1 of the Treaty of Paris of 1783 in odd ways.

This is the actual text.

Article I

His Britannic Majesty, acknowledges the said United States, viz. New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent States; that he treats them as such; and for himself, his heirs and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety and territorial rights of the same, and every part thereof.

You can read it online as it was printed in the Statues-at-Large here at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html and go to the Statues at Large, Vol. 8, page 80. On page 81 is Article 1.

First note that it is "independent States," and that "States" is capitalized. It is a proper noun and is not referring to states in general. "States" is short for United States. If you take the viz. clause out, the sentence is:

His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States to be free, sovereign and independent [United] States; ....

The treaty is saying the United States is an independent [United] States. "States" is short for United States. The viz. is just explaining of which former colonies these States are. It wouldn't do to have the United States be declared independent while his Britannic majesty was still claiming one of the former colonies.

Neo-Confederates sometimes like to have the Article 1 in capital letters so that the meaning of the text is obscured or have "States" with a lower case "s" to obscure its meaning.

Article 1 is merely saying, the United States is independent and making sure that all the former colonies are included.

Finally, when does the King of Britain define what American government would be, or a peace treaty with a formerly hostile power define what American government is? What the King of Britain thinks American government is or is not is irrelevant. That is what independence was all about. The first constitution of the United States was The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.

It the intention was that each state was an independent sovereign state individually, the word "each" would be used and "States" not capitalized.

The rest of the treaty implies that it is one sovereign nation involved. For example, the boundary described in the treaty is for the United States as a whole, and the boundaries of the individual states are not described.

The mind of neo-Confederacy is constantly straining to grasp straws. When they are contradicted they resort to name calling.

James Loewen will speak at book store Busboys and Poets Sept. 20th

James Loewen will speak on the book "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" at Busboys and Poets, Sept. 20th, at 6:30 pm, at their 14th and V location in Washington, D.C.

The web page for the bookstore is at:

http://www.busboysandpoets.com/

I plan to blog a notice for each speaking engagement by James Loewen concerning the book.

"Jackson Free Press" editor has column on my website about the Citizens Councils

The web page http://www.citizenscouncils.com/ has gotten coverage in the Jackson Free Press.

The editor's column on the web site is here:

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/editors_note_wait_ive_heard_this_before_081810/

James Loewen will speak at Sankofa Video, Books and Cafe', Sept. 4th

Sept. 4, at 2 P.M. Sociologist James W. Loewen discusses the new anthology "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The 'Great Truth' about the 'Lost Cause' " (edited with Edward H. Sebesta) at Sankofa Video, Books & Café, 2714 Georgia Ave. NW, 202-234-4755.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/27/AR2010082705249.html?wprss=rss_print/bookworld

"Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" banner ad at www.civilwarinteractive.com

The ad for the "Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" is a banner ad online at:

http://www.civilwarinteractive.com/

It is the daily newspaper of the Civil War since 1996.

They have 1.5 million hits per month. (Ref. http://www.civilwarinteractive.com/advertising3.htm)

Ta-Hehisi Coates on Robert E. Lee

Very informative blog at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/08/arlington-bobby-lee-and-the-peculiar-institution/61428/

Our new book, "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" has the Robert E. Lee's letter which Coates discusses.

Interesting column in the "Washington Post" about the Republican party's effort to repeal the 14th Amendment

The article is here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/10/AR2010081004586.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Incidentally, Lindsay Graham interviewed in Southern Partisan.

Pseudo-scientific racism was promoted by the Confederacy to justify itself.

During the Civil War the Confederate government published The Index in London to garner support for itself, proposing that the Confederacy was defending a system of white supremacy supported by pseudo-scientific racism.

One of these pseudo-scientific racist articles, is in the book, "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader," and another is online at:

http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87:qthe-natural-history-of-manq-heny-hotze-july-23-1863&catid=39:civil-war-

It is not surprising that the Confederacy opted to promote pseudo-scientific racism, since Jefferson Davis himself wrote a letter to endorse a pamphlet by white supremacist Van Evrie which advanced various pseudo-scientific crackpot ideas which argued that sub-Saharan Africans were a separate species intermediate between white people and orangutans. Davis's letter of endorsement and an extract of the pamphlet are also in the book "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader."

"United Daughters of the Confederacy Magazine" Against the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s

I am going to be putting at http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/ more articles from the UDC Magazine in the 1950s in opposition to civil rights.

I will update this blog entry as I put more articles online.

This is one article. It starts out with a biographical sketch of Jefferson Davis and Constitutional reasoning but quickly leads to the author's obsession with interracial relations and a "mongrelized" people. The UDC ran hysterical articles against civil rights in the 1950s.

http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86:jefferson-davis-the-man-america-needs-today&catid=36:the-civil-rights-era

Update: I have now have seven UDC articles attacking civil rights in the 50s. You can read them here.

http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=36&Itemid=54

Tennessee UDC praises the KKK and Anglo-Saxonism

I am finally getting around to populating the website http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/ with documents about the Confederates and Neo-Confederates.

http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85:tennessee-division-united-daughters-of-the-confederacy-praise-the-ku-klux-klan-and-anglo-saxon-purity&catid=37:the-nadir-of-race-relations

The web site will mostly be material that couldn't fit into the book. We only needed one example of the UDC praising the KKK, and there was so much material of the UDC praising the KKK.

Some of the material in the book will be on the website, but not much. Mostly it will be just a few examples of what is in the book. The web site is a supplement of what is in the book.

Update: 7/24/10:

There has been this response from the League of the South to this new entry.

http://lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2010/07/another-sebesta-opus.html

It is too bad http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/ doesn't have permission to have the League of the South articles online.

Excellent Paper on William Stewart Simkins

The paper is online and you can download a .pdf of it at this blog.

http://www.houseofrussell.com/Site/Simkins_Blog/Simkins_Blog.html

Professor Russell is to be commended for this paper.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, Senior Editor for "The Atlantic" blogs on "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader"

Ta-Nehisi Coates, Senior Editor of The Atlantic had this very interesting blog regarding our book, The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/07/primary-sources/59102/

For those of you interested in the book the web page for the book at the University Press of Mississippi is:

http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/1338

Updated: James Loewen will be key note speaker for “Secessions" Conference in Louisville at Filson Institute

I just got word from James Loewen of the following:

"Also, I have an additional topic I'll be speaking on frequently in the future: Confederate secession and how we (mis)remember it and the Civil War in general. I'll keynote the "Secessions Conference" in Louisville, held just before the 150th anniversary of secession itself, and on August 1, my new book (with Ed Sebesta) debuts: The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader."

“The ‘Secessions Conference’ In Louisville will be 10/21-21, details forthcoming. The Filson Historical Society website announcement of the forthcoming conference is at: http://www.filsonhistorical.org/programs-and-publications/the-filson-institute.aspx

Of course, James Loewen is always happy to autograph a copy of The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader at any conference or event he is attending.

The publishers page for the book is at http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/1338.

I think this is a great way to start the Sesquincentennial.

University of Mississippi publishes "The Confederate & Neo-Confederate Reader" edited by James Loewen and Edward H. Sebesta, Updated

I am pleased to say that the University Press of Mississippi has published "The Confederate & Neo-Confederate Reader: The 'Great Truth' About the 'Lost Cause' edited by James Loewen and Edward H. Sebesta.

The University Press of Mississippi link is: http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/1338

It is at Amazon.com at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Confederate-Neo-Confederate-Reader-Great-Truth/dp/1604732180/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0

and at Barnes & Nobles at this link:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Confederate-and-Neo-Confederate-Reader/James-W-Loewen/e/9781604732184/?itm=2&USRI=sebesta+loewen


There is a website for the book http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/ in which we have additional material not found in the book. We didn't want the book to be 600 pages, and so the extra material is online at this website. AT THIS time there is only one item at the website, but during the summer I will be adding material in time for the forthcoming school year.

We would also like to thank some of the people who helped us. The following our thanks quoted from the book itself.

"The editors would like to thank the following readers for comments and suggestions that were of extraordinary value: John Coski, John Dittmer, James O. Horton, Dwight Pitcaithley, Gregory Urwin, David Williams, and an anonymous reviewer."

John Coski is at the Museum of the Confederacy but was a great help on sources for the book.

The target audience, besides historians and persons who like reading about history, is school teachers, college history classes, and other educational and institutional venues.

2010 Letter to Obama concerning the Arlington Confederate memorial on History News Network web site

The 2010 Letter to Obama is online at the History News Network website in the "Historians and History" section at this link:

http://www.hnn.us/articles/126704.html

Additionally, they have the 2009 Letter to Obama online also in the "HNN Hot Topics: Memorial Day" page as the 2nd item in the list.

http://hnn.us/articles/12140.html

"Southern Partisan" -- Alive or Dead, Part 2

Well, I think Southern Partisan is truly dead. The last issue came out in April 2009. The issue prior to that came out about a year earlier in Spring 2008. So in the last two years, one issue has been published.

The publisher has passed away as reported at the Southern Partisan web site: http://www.southernpartisan.net/2010/05/05/southern-partisan-publisher-passes-away-at-72/. He passed away March 1, 2010, and the funeral was March 7, 2010, but the web site didn't announce it until May 5, 2010.

So unless someone else decided to fund the Southern Partisan, I think it is dead. Good riddance!

I have blogged on whether Southern Partisan was defunct earlier.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2009/03/maybe-southern-partisan-is-dead.html

Asa Gordon on the Electoral System and disenfranchisement of African Americans

Asa Gordon has a website regarding his campaign to reform the electoral college.

www.electors.us

I have never liked the winner take all system in the Electoral College. The state may have voted 51% for candidate A and 49% for candidate B, but candidate A takes all the Electoral votes.

The presidential candidates neither campaign in states where they feel fairly confident that they will get the majority nor in states where they think they don't have any chance.

I do like the Electoral college though. If some state is lack about fraudulent voting, it can only impact their Electoral votes, whereas, if it was decided on a national vote count, the fraudulent voting of one state would not be contained.

[White] Citizens' Council newspaper available online

The entire run of the [White] Citizens Council newspaper is available online at:

www.citizenscouncils.com

I recommend thumbnail mode and then select the page you wish to view.

The members of the Citizens' Councils newspaper makes it quite clear that Confederate symbols were commonly understood as symbols of white supremacy and this view was held by members in mainstream society in the South and elsewhere.

The assertion by Shelby Foote and others that the KKK ran away with the meaning of Confederate symbols during the Civil Rights Era is shown to be nonsense.

Obama vs. McDonnell

There seems to be a bit of controversy over McDonnell's declaration of April history month, with the Democrats in an uproar.

You can read McDonnell's declaration and the controversy at this URL.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/04/post_666.html

This is my letter to Obama about the Arlington Confederate monument.

http://www.templeofdemocracy.com/2009ObamaLetter.pdf

What is the difference I would like to know? Why are the people in the article linked to by the following URL upset with McDonnell and not Obama?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040604416.html

Leon F. Litwack and David W. Blight co-sign letter to President Obama

Leon F. Litwack co-signed the letter to President Obama and sent me a letter thanking me for undertaking the effort to write Obama.

His historical writing is of landmark importance in the history of America. If you haven't read his books, I recommend you do. Been in the Storm So Long and Trouble in Mind are two of his books that I strongly recommend.

David W. Blight is also an author of great importance. If you haven't read his books, I recommend that you do. Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory and Frederick Douglass' Civil War: Keeping Faith in Jubilee are two books I strongly recommend.

I will comment more at http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/.

Neo-Confederacy in Texas Education

First a Texas governor that talks about secession and now this with the Texas State Board of Education.

From a March 10, 2010 article in the New York Times:

There have also been efforts among conservatives on the board to tweak the history of the civil rights movement. One amendment states that the movement created “unrealistic expectations of equal outcomes” among minorities. Another proposed change removes any reference to race, sex or religion in talking about how different groups have contributed to the national identity.

And;

References to Ralph Nader and Ross Perot are proposed to be removed, while Stonewall Jackson, the Confederate general, is to be listed as a role model for effective leadership, and the ideas in Jefferson Davis’s inaugural address are to be laid side by side with Abraham Lincoln’s speeches.

The following is the link to the article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/us/politics/11texas.html?src=me

Neo-Confederacy continues to advance and Obama continues to do nothing.

Neo-Confederate Mainstreaming, full speed ahead in the conservative movement

Here is the agenda for CPAC on Thursday.

http://66.147.244.188/~conserz8/cpac/

There is an article on CPAC and the neo-Confederate extremists by Max Blumenthal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/feeling-the-hate-at-cpac_b_474077.html

At CPAC there was Thomas DiLorenzo on Lincoln. Thomas Woods, leading neo-Confederate, had a session on nullification. Andrew Napolitano was their also.

Ron Paul, of the Libertarian wing of the neo-Confederate moment won the straw poll, though it is questioned what this straw poll represents. However, the fact that Ron Paul could win any poll at a political event says something about the event.

The 2010 Letter to President Obama is online now.

The contents of the letter can be reached through the Arlington Confederate Monument blog at this URL.

http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/

Look for it at the side bar on the blog as well as a blog entry.

New post at the Arlington Confederate Monument blog

http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/

It is about an excellent book that I am about finished reading.

Was Lincoln a Communist? SCV Neo-Confederates think so.

The Southern Mercury was published by FPAC, "the educational foundation of the Sons of Confederate Veterans." They stopped publishing since they ran out of funds to do so. The Southern Mercury published many extremist articles. The material they published in this periodical was material they thought would educate their members.

One of the cover articles for the March/April 2008 issue of the Southern Mercury is "Republican Party: Red From the Start," by Alan Stang, ( http://www.alanstang.com/), and the article asserts that the Republican party was a communist conspiracy from the beginning. [Southern Mercury, Vol. 6 No. 2, March/April 2008, pages 26-29.]

The article is a review of "Red Republicans: Marxism in the Civil War and Lincoln's Marxists," by Al Benson and Walter D. Kennedy, leading neo-Confederate. (http://olesouthbooks.com/kennedy_brothers/red_republicans.php) or (http://www.newswithviews.com/Stang/alan30.htm). It is a book that asserts that there was some type of communist conspiracy. As Stang explains [Page 27]:

"Even a brief perusal through Red Republicans will verify the idea that the Republican party has been Communist since its inception."

Another excerpts from page 27:

"... Lee and Jackson did not fully comprehend what they were fighting. Had this really been a 'Civil' War, rather than a secession, they would and could easily have seized Washington after Manassas and hanged our first Communist President and the other war criminals."

We learn on page 28 that "The GOP Convention of 1860 took place in Chicago, a flaming center of German Communism."

On page 29 Stang explains that:

"So again, the Republican Party did not 'go wrong.' It was rotten from the start. It has never been anything else but red. The the characterization of Republican states as 'red states' is quite appropriate"

Somehow this leads to Alan Stang discussing that Ron Paul isn't a communist, but has to run as a Republican and but that Ron Paul is against Red Republicanism. Dr. Paul is alleged to be a true Democrat but not a modern communist Democrat as he explains on page 29.

"Dr. Paul is much more a traditional Democrat. I refer of course to the Democrat Party before the Communist takeover, which began with the election of Woodrow (Federal Reserve -Income Tax-World War I) Wilson and was consummated with the election of liar, swindler, thief, traitor, and mass murderer Franklin Delano Roosevelt."

In the end notes for the article, the reader is urged to visit http://www.alanstang.com/ for additional articles.

So I did and looked at the books he writes and has for sale.

Alan Stang sees many conspiracies in the Republican party and is the author of a book, "Not Holier Than Though" (http://alanstang.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=15&zenid=8345353ecd6ab41c78def320548c1822) which asserts that George W. Bush and Karl Rove "have colluded to make the Republican Party a sodomite organization from the top down."

Sons of Confederate Veterans on Obama as a candidate

The Southern Mercury was published by FPAC, "the educational foundation of the Sons of Confederate Veterans." They stopped publishing since they ran out of funds to do so. The Southern Mercury published many extremist articles. The material they published in this periodical was material they thought would educate their members.

One of these articles is, "Americans Face The Worst Presidential Candidate in History," by Robert Slimp [Southern Mercury, Vol. 6 No. 3, May/June 2008, pages 28-33]. Robert Slimp is a leading figure in the Council of Conservative Citizens, http://www.cofcc.org/.

In the article Slimp is dismayed by all three then presidential contenders, McCain, Clinton and Obama, as he he states towards the conclusion, "I will not attempt here to suggest for whom we should vote in this truly horrible choice of candidates."

Slimp's comments on Obama from pages 32-33 give you an idea of the temper of the whole article. [Errors in the original]

"It is very clear to me that if Barack Obama should be elected President, he would be extremely anti-white and would demand reparations for slavery and press hard for affirmative action to the degree that it would hurt young whites who were seeking jobs or admission to College and Graduate Schools. Even if he were elected, I would think he would be a one term President and the Congressional Republicans with a "corporal's guard' of Democrats would stop most of the radical and unjust laws he would propose. However, I believe that his rhetoric and anti-white legislative proposals would stir up racial riots. If he were running for re-election, these riots would turn into an extremely violent nature that would seriously damage race relations in America, and leave entire sections of some of our cities in ruins."

The article concludes with an exhortation to the reader to hold true to the values of Southern heritage which for Slimp includes racial purity as follows in these two excerpts. [Page 33]

"We who have a Southern heritage cannot afford to surrender our history and symbols. One of our greatest United States Senators, Richard Russell of Georgia, said during the debate over the 1964 Civil Rights Act. "I believe that we should love all people, regardless of race. We must respect one another. However, we must all be proud of our race and will fight to preserve it. I am not ashamed of my beloved Southland. If there has ever been a land worth saving, in Dixieland, I'll take my stand to live or die for Dixie." [Russell was an opponent of civil rights legislation.]

"'There is a race,' cried Giradeau 'which coming down through the centuries enveloped with antagonistic influences and hostile nationalities, has stood out in perpetual protest against surrendering our principles by amalgamating with other peoples.'" [Giradeau was a famous pro-slavery antebellum theologian.]

This article was followed by another article in the Southern Mercury by Robert Slimp, titled, "Will the 2008 Election Bring the End of the America We Know?" [Southern Mercury, Vol. 6 No. 4, July/August 2008, pages 34-37]

A notable excerpts [page 34]:

"Behind the scenes, the insiders who are paying for the election of both the Republican and Democratic candidates for president and some of the members of Congress, are One Worlders. These are the big international bankers, members of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Tri-Lateral Commission, the Bilderbergers, and others who believe that the quickest way to achieve their aims ..."

Also, unlike the previous article, where Obama is referred to as Senator Obama or Barack Obama, in this article it is always Barack Hussein Obama. Maybe there are two Barack Obama's in the Chicago phone book and Slimp wanted to be clear. The rest of the article is the promotion of other third party Presidential candidates, such as Bob Barr with the libertarians, an extensive discussion of Ron Paul, and Charles Baldwin of the Constitutional Party.

'"You Lie!' United States Congressman Joe Wilson" Confederate Veteran article

Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) Lt. Commander-in-Chief R. Michael Givens, in his "Report of the Lt. Commander-in-Chief," has an article in the Jan./Feb. 2010 issue of Confederate Veteran, their official publication, on page 8-9, titled"

"You Lie!": United States Congressman Joe Wilson.

The introduction to the article is as follows:

"Two words heard around the world. Former SCV Compatriot Joe Wilson may been correct in his assessment of President Obama's statements concerning health insurance for immigrants, but that is a discussion for another place and time. What interests me is the consternation caused by someone even pointing out a possible falsehood. One might have thought, by all the fuss that was made, that the Congressman had failed to notice the beautiful garments with which the emperor was clothed. But isn't it really our ancestors, and we their proud progeny, that have been the subjects of the most outlandish lies perpetrated in American history?"

The rest of the article goes on to complain that American history that disagrees with their view point is a lie and discusses Orwell and Hitler and etc.

Of course it goes without saying that the condemnation of Rep. Joe Wilson's behavior during the State of the Nation address is that it is poor manners, out of turn, and inappropriate. The U.S. Congress is where there is supposed to be deliberative discussion, and not a shouting match.

Clearly the SCV is sympathetic to Joe Wilson's action.

This is an earlier post of mine on Joe Wilson's action and what it might portend for Obama's next State of the Union speech. (Check the update where I discuss Joe Wilson's behavior.)

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2009/10/gop-party-going-neo-confederate.html

On Jan. 27, 2010 we will see how the next State of the Union Speech goes, as I posted before, since Joe Wilson's outburst resulted in him getting a torrent of campaign cash, this year there might be multiple outbursts as Republican representatives seek to establish radical credentials and raise campaign cash.

Lincoln re-enactors being harrassed by the SCV

I have come across two photos and captions in my research of neo-Confederate literature which indicate that the neo-Confederate hostility towards Lincoln is being acted out at public events. In one case with a gun.

In the Jan.-Feb. 2010 issue of the Confederate Veteran, official publication of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, (SCV).

On page 29 is a picture of a elderly Lincoln re-enactor surrounded by SCV re-enactors at the annual Blackstone, Virginia Arts and Crafts and Heritage event. The picture shows the SCV re-enactors giving the Lincoln re-enactor some tickets. The re-enactors are physically much larger than the re-enactor.

The caption explains, "Shown are members of the camp presenting Lincoln with two complimentary tickets to Ford's Theater." The picture is small, but it doesn't look like the Lincoln re-enactor is smiling. Ford's Theater is where Lincoln was assassinated.

On page 31 is a picture of an elderly Lincoln re-enactor sitting in a chair, seemingly unaware that a SCV member is standing behind him in Confederate uniform, with his right arm fully extended with a pistol pointed at the head of the Lincoln re-enactor.

The caption reads, "2nd Lieutenant Reece Clark Craven Camp 1966, Asheboro, NC, participated in a living history at Sunny Slopes Farm Heritage Day on May 2, 2009, where you could have had your picture made with Abe Lincoln (aka Ed Kirkman), Camp Adjutant P. Dwain Roberts stands behind 'Lincoln'!"

Beyond the incidents themselves is the fact that the persons doing these events want them to be known and published and that the editors of the magazine thought they were worthy of being published.

I don't remember seeing pictures like these in earlier issues. Perhaps it is some campaign against Lincoln re-enactors that has just started or perhaps it is just two isolated incidents. However, since these photos were published, I think that other SCV camps will look to emulate them.

I call it harassment since I doubt Lincoln re-enactors really appreciate this.

Co-signatures for letter to Obama beginning to come in.

For the rest of the 2010 campaign, I am going to mostly be blogging on the letter to President Obama at http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/. I will only occasionally be blogging on the topic at this blog, and mostly just to refer the reader to the other blog.

People are beginning to co-sign my letter to President Obama. I am not going to have it online right away for reasons that will become obvious later.

Last year the letter campaign was rushed, so we just got co-signers of professors and prominent academics. This year I am broadening it to include community leaders, journalists, and others.

Already some very prominent people have co-signed. As each person signs, I ask for referrals to other persons that they think might sign and also encourage the invididual to forward the letter to those they think might be interested.

The co-signature campaign is on a roll now, and I think we should be able to gather a remarkable number of signatures.

Update: 2010 Letter to Obama concerning the Arlington Confederate memorial almost ready

We have been going over the 2010 letter to Obama about the Arlington Confederate memorial for the last two weeks and it is going to be ready this week, maybe Tuesday might. I will be gathering signatures starting Wednesday, January 6, 2010. Getting started on this in January should provide us with the opportunity to gather many more signatures than last year.

The letter isn't a repeat of last years letter either, but a whole new approach to the issue.


For those of you who didn't see last year's letter to Obama I have it at the URL below. It mostly concerns itself with the history and meaning of the memorial.

http://www.templeofdemocracy.com/ObamaLetterNR.pdf

Also, this is the report on the 2009 letter to Obama.

http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/2009/10/final-report-on-2009-letter-to.html

I will be tracking developments at this blog.

http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/

UPDATE:

The letter has been finished and is being distributed for signatures. It currently isn't online though. I am circulating privately and in listserves before posting it. It won't be posted in this blog, but on the Arlington Confederate Monument blog, URL given above.

United Daughters of the Confederacy on Christmas Carols that aren't PC, (Politically Confederate)

One of the cover articles of the Nov. 2007, UDC Magazine, the official publication of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is "Christmas Songs as Union Propaganda." On page 12, Sybil R. Willingham, Historian General of the UDC 2007-2008, has an article titled on that page, "Christmas Songs as Propaganda."

As Willingham explains:

"New Songs have been added over the years, and sometimes writer put their own words, opinions and political views to the Christmas story in an effort to influence the public. Some of our favorite hymns that we enjoy singing today contained controversial verses that have since been removed. Such was the case with the issue of slavery and the looming conflict that threatened to erupt between the North and the South."

Imagine that, someone might think the Christmas spirit is incompatible with slavery!

So what are these Christmas songs with their 'insidious' "Propaganda"?

One is it seems, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," published by a Dr. Edmond Sears in 1849 which Willingham claims out has an anti-slavery message in the 2nd verse which is no longer sung as follows:

"Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world hath suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!

If this is an anti-slavery message, so much the better I would say. Exactly what is controversial about this verse and who would find it controversial?

Another Christmas carol which Willingham sees as Abolitionist propaganda, is "O Holy Night." Willingham refers to a 3rd verse of the song as follows:

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel peace.
Chain shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!

If we aren't singing this verse, we should, in my thinking, that is, if you a Christmas singing person. Again, to whom would this be a controversial verse?

Then Willingham moves on to the song "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" with words written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and set to music by John Baptiste Calkin. The verses she quotes are:

Then from each black, accursed mouth
the cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn the house-holds born
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men

Then in a section of the article titled "The Songs We Loved" Willingham tells us that the previously mentioned songs were not likely to have been sung in the South during the Civil War, (Especially the one that hadn't been set to music until 1872). She then gives brief histories of songs that didn't have abolitionist backgrounds and suggests.

"As you gather 'round with friends and family this Christmas, perhaps you will join in singing some of the old favorites that our Confederate ancestors sang, too."

Which would exclude Christmas songs written by abolitionists.

Well, if you listen to Christmas carols, try to make these Christmas carols that Willingham calls propaganda to those that you listen to. See if you can find complete versions.