There has been a fair amount of excitement amongst neo-Confederates recently about proposed secessions from states that are members of the European Union. This is an example from the League of the South blog, "Rebellion." http://www.lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2012/10/secession-fever-sweeping-europe.html.
The fact is that many of these "secession" movements, such as Scotland, propose that their newly independent nations will become members of the European Union. It would be really secession if Scotland proposed to be a separate nation outside of the European Union. With a European Union providing a free trade zone and a common currency it may be that the nation state is being obsoleted by a larger state, the European Union, and in which case secession from the superseded nation state is possible.
Also, whether there is really a secession movement going needs to be questioned. In some cases there really is a sizable movement, but in other cases it is just a few people living Ruritanian fantasies. For example in Vermont the secession movement is just a few cranks that have no real following.
Also, it isn't considered by Vermont secessionists that Vermont has it fairly good in the U.S.A. As a small state with a very small population Vermont gets two U.S. Senators with its 600,000 some inhabitants. Given that the average state has 6.4 million people (320 million divided by 50) this is significant over representation in both the U.S. Senate and the Electoral College for the election of the president by a factor of 10. This has some very real benefits.
This is one: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/legislation/issue/?id=90c28ee4-5607-4eaf-90b4-1e400d5458d3
As an independent nation Vermont wouldn't have two U.S. Senators pushing for higher milk prices for the rest of the nation. In fact they would have a lot of milk and no price supports. I am sure there are probably other instances where Vermont finds it very advantageous to have this 10X over representation.
In fact, Vermont should be careful not to discuss secession too much. Has anyone looked at the Constitution in regards to state being expelled? What if the American consumers realized that milk would be cheaper if Vermont was an independent nation?
For those enamoured of having their very own small toy nation, I suggest they look at the fate of the peoples in the Unted States of Central America who opted for being independent nations of Central America. Like many small states they ended up as victims of more powerful forces, in this case companies raising bananas, acquiring the nickname banana republics as term of contempt.
Some small nations do get along reasonably well. They have special circumstances remote like Iceland or they are in mountaineous regions like Switzerland and do not present great prizes for conquest or otherwise interest powerful nations. However, a great many other small nations find themselves dealing with adverse circumstances. They are dependent on more powerful states for support or find themselves dominated in various ways by more powerful neighbors when they are not actually invaded.
Is there really secession movement to form a new small nation state that wouldn't be a part of a larger state or framework of states in the Western world? No.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Monday, October 08, 2012
Creepy Plus - The Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Great Hanging in Gainesville.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans are just creepy in this story.
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/10/07/4318432/after-150-years-a-dark-chapter.html
Thursday, September 20, 2012
More Mildred Rutherford
I have added more Mildred Rutherford speeches at www.confederatepastpresent.org. Her racism and historial reasoning are just delusional. The neo-Confederates don't think so and republish her works as being instructive, but then again the delusional would find reasonable the delusional.
Just use the search function for Mildred or Rutherford and they will all show up.
This will tell you what Confederate "heritage" is all about.
Just use the search function for Mildred or Rutherford and they will all show up.
This will tell you what Confederate "heritage" is all about.
Saturday, September 01, 2012
"War Between the States" expression used in "Scientific American"
I was reading a Special Issue of Scientific American with the theme "Beyond the Limits of Science" which is really about going beyond the limits of current science. It is the Sept. 2012 Vol. 307 No. 3 issue.
I was reading an article, "Mind in Motion," (pages 58-63) by Miguel A. L. Ncolelis, which is about the developments in Prosthetics and a goal of ultimately being able to create prosthetics such that the paralyzed could run or do other things just by thinking it. This by the way is not far fetched. The one thing that has amazed me about science is how it is speeding up faster and faster over the decades.
On page 61 there is a side bar for the article about the history of prosthetics, such as the first historical record of an artificial limb, other items such as the invention of gun powder which resulted in a greatly increased need for prosthetics. Under the title Civil War the entry states with the following sentence:
"The War Between the States resulted in many amputations."
Increasing the representation of under represented minorities in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) progressions is a major effort by all the professional societies and we have a leading science publication publish something like this. The term Civil War is the generally accepted term by history professionals and all those who aren't neo-Confederate cranks.
Did Nicolelis think that there was some neo-Confederate readership he had to placate by making sure he used both terms. He is a professor at Duke University, and maybe there in North Carolina that type of pandering might be necessary, but certainly not for the global educated audience of Scientific American.
I am going to write the editors.
I was reading an article, "Mind in Motion," (pages 58-63) by Miguel A. L. Ncolelis, which is about the developments in Prosthetics and a goal of ultimately being able to create prosthetics such that the paralyzed could run or do other things just by thinking it. This by the way is not far fetched. The one thing that has amazed me about science is how it is speeding up faster and faster over the decades.
On page 61 there is a side bar for the article about the history of prosthetics, such as the first historical record of an artificial limb, other items such as the invention of gun powder which resulted in a greatly increased need for prosthetics. Under the title Civil War the entry states with the following sentence:
"The War Between the States resulted in many amputations."
Increasing the representation of under represented minorities in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) progressions is a major effort by all the professional societies and we have a leading science publication publish something like this. The term Civil War is the generally accepted term by history professionals and all those who aren't neo-Confederate cranks.
Did Nicolelis think that there was some neo-Confederate readership he had to placate by making sure he used both terms. He is a professor at Duke University, and maybe there in North Carolina that type of pandering might be necessary, but certainly not for the global educated audience of Scientific American.
I am going to write the editors.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
The meaning of "Neo" in words.
The Neo-Confederates are currently complaining (whining) about the term Neo-Confederate. This is an ongoing complaint with the Neo-Confederates. A typical example of what passes for reasoned commentary is at this blog.
http://www.lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2012/07/are-we-neo-confederates.html
The claim that the term "Neo-Confederate" is an accusation. "Neo" merely means new. The term was first used in Southern Partisan magazine by its editor Richard Quinn. (Vol. 8 No. 1 Spring 1988).
There are terms such as neo-classical and neo-baroque for either architects or musical composers working in the style of the Classical and Baroque eras. Politically there are neo-liberals and neo-conservatives and they are simply terms. Calling something neo-Baroque isn't derogatory.
The use of "neo" would be to differentiate a new group separate or distinct from the prior group from which the new group is derived or revived.
You know with the adjective neo-classical that the building or piece of music isn't from the classical period, but is a later building or piece of music done in a style or form derived from the classical period in some later period distinct and separate from the original period. When a period is long but continuous we might say early, middle or late to further differentiate the period.
The Confederacy ceased to exist some time ago. The new movement for secession of course intently studies the Confederacy and interprets its meaning and asserts an ideological belief that they hold to be derived from the Confederacy, but they are not of the period of the Confederacy. They are a later revival. They are neo-Confederate.
http://www.lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2012/07/are-we-neo-confederates.html
The claim that the term "Neo-Confederate" is an accusation. "Neo" merely means new. The term was first used in Southern Partisan magazine by its editor Richard Quinn. (Vol. 8 No. 1 Spring 1988).
There are terms such as neo-classical and neo-baroque for either architects or musical composers working in the style of the Classical and Baroque eras. Politically there are neo-liberals and neo-conservatives and they are simply terms. Calling something neo-Baroque isn't derogatory.
The use of "neo" would be to differentiate a new group separate or distinct from the prior group from which the new group is derived or revived.
You know with the adjective neo-classical that the building or piece of music isn't from the classical period, but is a later building or piece of music done in a style or form derived from the classical period in some later period distinct and separate from the original period. When a period is long but continuous we might say early, middle or late to further differentiate the period.
The Confederacy ceased to exist some time ago. The new movement for secession of course intently studies the Confederacy and interprets its meaning and asserts an ideological belief that they hold to be derived from the Confederacy, but they are not of the period of the Confederacy. They are a later revival. They are neo-Confederate.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Michael Hill, president of the League of the South explicit racism
When I first started tracking the League of the South there were people who really didn't want to acknowledge that they were racists and came up with all sorts of rationalizations to deny it. I think however, this essay by Michael Hill will settle this question once and for all:
http://dixienet.org/rights/our_survival_as_a_people.php
Hill's essay both makes it clear and explains at length his racist ideas. He believes that the races, as popularly thought of, come from the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japeth, from his interpretation of the bible. White people are held to be the sons of Japeth. Hill believes that God favors white people.
After his biblical arguments for racial separation he has a fairly elaborate exposition of his racist views. The following is a sample quote:
"Our white European-American ancestors had no trouble enunciating the obvious truth that Western Christian civilization was superior to all others. Moreover, they had no hesitation about defending it, as their God-given patrimony, against those who would denigrate or destroy it. Just a century ago, our civilization was still distinguished by a robustness and self-confidence born out of a realization of the natural superiority of the West and its ways. None but the most crack-brained utopians believed in social, political, economic, and cultural equality, nor did they believe in the equality of the races in intellect and accomplishment. Unfortunately, the present century has witnessed the old order turned upon its head."
http://dixienet.org/rights/our_survival_as_a_people.php
Hill's essay both makes it clear and explains at length his racist ideas. He believes that the races, as popularly thought of, come from the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japeth, from his interpretation of the bible. White people are held to be the sons of Japeth. Hill believes that God favors white people.
After his biblical arguments for racial separation he has a fairly elaborate exposition of his racist views. The following is a sample quote:
"Our white European-American ancestors had no trouble enunciating the obvious truth that Western Christian civilization was superior to all others. Moreover, they had no hesitation about defending it, as their God-given patrimony, against those who would denigrate or destroy it. Just a century ago, our civilization was still distinguished by a robustness and self-confidence born out of a realization of the natural superiority of the West and its ways. None but the most crack-brained utopians believed in social, political, economic, and cultural equality, nor did they believe in the equality of the races in intellect and accomplishment. Unfortunately, the present century has witnessed the old order turned upon its head."
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Advertising the article exposing the Museum of the Confederacy at Black Commenator on the History News Network
I placed a small ad on the History News Network, www.hnn.us, to let people know about the expose' of the Museum of the Confederacy at www.blackcommentator.com. For those interested in the article the free links to all four installments are at: http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html.
The ad is up, they are adding the link from the ad to the web page this evening.
I am been very busy, but I thought it was time to let a wider audience know about this article.
The ad is up, they are adding the link from the ad to the web page this evening.
I am been very busy, but I thought it was time to let a wider audience know about this article.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
2012 Letter to Obama about the Arlington Confederate monument
http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/2012/05/2012-letter-to-obama.html
The letter can be found through the above link.
The letter can be found through the above link.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
"Anderson Independent Mail" runs major article on Ron Wilson, former Commander-in-Chief of the SCV
The Anderson Independent Mail has published a major article on Ron Wilson, former Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) about his past history. For those who haven't seen my earlier post on this topic, Ron Wilson has been charged with running a Ponzi scheme which has cost unwary investors tens of millions of dollars.
The major article is online at:
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/may/19/the-tarnishing-of-ron-wilson/
There is additionally another short article about his writing in the Citizen Informer, the official publication of the Council of Conservative Citizens (www.cofcc.org).
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/may/19/proto-tea-partier-ron-wilson-wrote-about-debt-20/
I am mentioned in both articles and helped supply a lot of documentation for the articles.
Maintaining and indexing archives of neo-Confederate materials takes a lot of time, but it is all worthwhile when I can help out reporters and others and get the information to those who need it.
The major article is online at:
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/may/19/the-tarnishing-of-ron-wilson/
There is additionally another short article about his writing in the Citizen Informer, the official publication of the Council of Conservative Citizens (www.cofcc.org).
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/may/19/proto-tea-partier-ron-wilson-wrote-about-debt-20/
I am mentioned in both articles and helped supply a lot of documentation for the articles.
Maintaining and indexing archives of neo-Confederate materials takes a lot of time, but it is all worthwhile when I can help out reporters and others and get the information to those who need it.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Sons of Confederate Veteans promotes Anglo-Saxon superiority over European white immigrants, Asian Americans and African Americans
I came across a pamphlet published by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 1914. It was first a speech at the Convention of the United Confederate Veterans and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, then they asked for it to be published in a national publication and it was, and then they had it printed up as a pamphlet for distribution. I managed to acquire one of them.
It is revealing in that they don't consider some European immigrants white enough, and they seek alliances with those who have antipathy to Asian immigrants in the West, and of course there is that old standby in Confederate heritage, white supremacy over African Americans.
To show what Confederate heritage is really about I have put the entire text online at my web site and you can read it at this link.
http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=188:anglo-saxon-supremacy-over-other-european-whites-asian-americans-and-african-americans-promoted-by-the-sons-of-confederate-veterans&catid=37:the-nadir-of-race-relations
When the book "Politics and the History Curriculum: The Struggle over Standards in Texas and the Nation," comes out there will in my biographical note will be a reference to www.confederatepastpresent.org and thousands of students and educators will have access to this website and the resources in it and including the above referenced document.
Additionally there is the website www.citizenscouncils.com which is also referenced in the biographical note. I am going to have www.confederatepastpresent.org reference it.
It is revealing in that they don't consider some European immigrants white enough, and they seek alliances with those who have antipathy to Asian immigrants in the West, and of course there is that old standby in Confederate heritage, white supremacy over African Americans.
To show what Confederate heritage is really about I have put the entire text online at my web site and you can read it at this link.
http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=188:anglo-saxon-supremacy-over-other-european-whites-asian-americans-and-african-americans-promoted-by-the-sons-of-confederate-veterans&catid=37:the-nadir-of-race-relations
When the book "Politics and the History Curriculum: The Struggle over Standards in Texas and the Nation," comes out there will in my biographical note will be a reference to www.confederatepastpresent.org and thousands of students and educators will have access to this website and the resources in it and including the above referenced document.
Additionally there is the website www.citizenscouncils.com which is also referenced in the biographical note. I am going to have www.confederatepastpresent.org reference it.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
www.confederatepastpresent.org loaded with primary documents
After a long time, I have finally gotten around to working on my website www.confederatepastpresent.org. I want to have it done by the time the book on the Texas teaching standards comes out and have it serve as a reference source for teachers in Texas and elsewhere. I have added about 150 documents to it. They go from 1783 to the 1950s.
My biographical note in the book both mentions my other books, and the websites www.confederatepastpresent.org and www.citizenscouncils.com. So I needed to make sure that the website was done before the book came out.
I have a tremendous amount of documents to put on the website www.confederatepastpresent.org. I have only done the initial set.
The original manuscript for the book was nearly 900 pages of single spaced type. Jim Loewen pointed out that would be a reference book that would sit on the shelf, and so we cut the manuscript down to a book that could be used in the class. The understanding was that the material not used would go on a website.
As time has gone on since then I have run across a lot of material which should go on the website. Such as a pamphlet published by the Sons of Confederate Veterans seeking to deny African Americans' civil rights and interesting enough seeing allies in those on the West Coast of the United States who would deny civil rights to Asian Americans.
Did you know that counties in Georgia and Virginia passed resolutions for secession and the causes given were to preserve slavery? I am going to put them online.
I have a ten volume set of books of the speeches and writings of Jefferson Davis. There are many documents which show Davis's broad racism and pro-slavery ideology and in particular his attitudes towards Latin Americans.
I have accumulated a great deal of material over the years and I want to share it as a primary document resource for students, teachers, and others.
Once I get done with this, I am going back to finishing up a couple books which are nearly finished.
My biographical note in the book both mentions my other books, and the websites www.confederatepastpresent.org and www.citizenscouncils.com. So I needed to make sure that the website was done before the book came out.
I have a tremendous amount of documents to put on the website www.confederatepastpresent.org. I have only done the initial set.
The original manuscript for the book was nearly 900 pages of single spaced type. Jim Loewen pointed out that would be a reference book that would sit on the shelf, and so we cut the manuscript down to a book that could be used in the class. The understanding was that the material not used would go on a website.
As time has gone on since then I have run across a lot of material which should go on the website. Such as a pamphlet published by the Sons of Confederate Veterans seeking to deny African Americans' civil rights and interesting enough seeing allies in those on the West Coast of the United States who would deny civil rights to Asian Americans.
Did you know that counties in Georgia and Virginia passed resolutions for secession and the causes given were to preserve slavery? I am going to put them online.
I have a ten volume set of books of the speeches and writings of Jefferson Davis. There are many documents which show Davis's broad racism and pro-slavery ideology and in particular his attitudes towards Latin Americans.
I have accumulated a great deal of material over the years and I want to share it as a primary document resource for students, teachers, and others.
Once I get done with this, I am going back to finishing up a couple books which are nearly finished.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Cinco de Mayo and the Civil War in the news, Update More articles
The press is reporting on the Civil War origins of the holiday Cinco de Mayo and its anti-Confederate origins. The following are some links which I will add to.
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_20517077/marcela-davison-aviles-link-between-cinco-de-mayo
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/04/18/2313672/author-explains-cinco-de-mayo.html
http://latinola.com/story.php?story=10645
The coverage of Dr. Hayes-Bautista's new book has been tremendous.
Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jiNynw9VAxhp03X5ZLByq3iUEyXQ?docId=393b41297baf4cd48bbee011364c805e
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/cinco-de-mayo-_-not-mexican-independence-day-_-holiday-with-us-civil-war-civil-rights-roots/2012/05/02/gIQAgJXpwT_story.html
This is from the LA Weekly:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/05/cinco_de_mayo_history_california.php
This is from CNN
http://articles.cnn.com/2012-05-05/us/us_cinco-de-mayo-origins_1_mexican-army-french-army-california-and-oregon?_s=PM:US
This is from UPI
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2012/05/05/Historian-Cinco-de-Mayo-has-roots-in-US/UPI-35091336228138/?spt=hs&or=on
From Tuscon
http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/arts/report/050512_cinco_de_mayo/the-facts-cinco-de-mayo/
From the New York Times, Hayes-Bautista is mentioned as a source for this article.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/remember-remember-the-fifth-of-may/
From the Wall Street Journal,
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP393b41297baf4cd48bbee011364c805e.html
It was on numerous other media and their have been bloggers commenting on it.
It is making the Spanish language press also.
http://www.hoylosangeles.com/news/2012/may/04/cinco-de-mayo-tradicion-americana/
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_20517077/marcela-davison-aviles-link-between-cinco-de-mayo
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/04/18/2313672/author-explains-cinco-de-mayo.html
http://latinola.com/story.php?story=10645
The coverage of Dr. Hayes-Bautista's new book has been tremendous.
Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jiNynw9VAxhp03X5ZLByq3iUEyXQ?docId=393b41297baf4cd48bbee011364c805e
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/cinco-de-mayo-_-not-mexican-independence-day-_-holiday-with-us-civil-war-civil-rights-roots/2012/05/02/gIQAgJXpwT_story.html
This is from the LA Weekly:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/05/cinco_de_mayo_history_california.php
This is from CNN
http://articles.cnn.com/2012-05-05/us/us_cinco-de-mayo-origins_1_mexican-army-french-army-california-and-oregon?_s=PM:US
This is from UPI
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2012/05/05/Historian-Cinco-de-Mayo-has-roots-in-US/UPI-35091336228138/?spt=hs&or=on
From Tuscon
http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/arts/report/050512_cinco_de_mayo/the-facts-cinco-de-mayo/
From the New York Times, Hayes-Bautista is mentioned as a source for this article.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/remember-remember-the-fifth-of-may/
From the Wall Street Journal,
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP393b41297baf4cd48bbee011364c805e.html
It was on numerous other media and their have been bloggers commenting on it.
It is making the Spanish language press also.
http://www.hoylosangeles.com/news/2012/may/04/cinco-de-mayo-tradicion-americana/
Thursday, April 26, 2012
"Civil War Monitor" reviews favorably "Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader."
The glowingly positive review is online at this link:
http://civilwarmonitor.com/book-shelf/loewen-sebesta-eds-the-confederate-and-neo-confederate-reader-2010
To quote from the review:
"For those of us that study and teach issues of Civil War memory, one of our great frustrations has been the lack of easily attainable primary source material to thoroughly discredit and dismantle the mythological claims of Confederate and neo-Confederate revisionists. Loewen and Sebesta’s exceptional new text The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader is the first collection of primary sources focused exclusively on such documents, as the authors note, that have somehow remained hidden “in plain sight” since the end of the Civil War. The book provides teachers and researchers alike with an invaluable archive of speeches, images, political papers, and memoirs that graphically reveal what the Confederacy and its post-war nostalgists actually believed about slavery, secession, race relations, and the whitewashing of the southern past."
http://civilwarmonitor.com/book-shelf/loewen-sebesta-eds-the-confederate-and-neo-confederate-reader-2010
To quote from the review:
"For those of us that study and teach issues of Civil War memory, one of our great frustrations has been the lack of easily attainable primary source material to thoroughly discredit and dismantle the mythological claims of Confederate and neo-Confederate revisionists. Loewen and Sebesta’s exceptional new text The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader is the first collection of primary sources focused exclusively on such documents, as the authors note, that have somehow remained hidden “in plain sight” since the end of the Civil War. The book provides teachers and researchers alike with an invaluable archive of speeches, images, political papers, and memoirs that graphically reveal what the Confederacy and its post-war nostalgists actually believed about slavery, secession, race relations, and the whitewashing of the southern past."
Monday, April 23, 2012
Finished Reading Dr. Hayes-Bautista's "Cinco de Mayo"
I just finished reading "El Cinco de Mayo: An American Tradition," by Dr. Hayes-Bautista of UCLA. It is a good read. It provides some background of the history of Latinos in California as context for the development of Cinco de Mayo as a holiday in California.
Cinco de Mayo was developed in California, though over time it has been picked up by other regions.
Its origins come from the Civil War where Latinos saw fighting the Confederacy and the French invaders of Mexico as part of one common struggle for democracy and against slavery, for the republican form of government and against aristocracy and oligarchy and racism.
In the original Cinco de Mayo celebrations in the 19th century pictures of Lincoln and Juarez were carried in processions. The American flag and Mexican flag were always paraded together as symbolic of the struggle for freedom in both countries.
Hayes-Bautista also explains how the meaning of Cinco de Mayo was lost as subsequent immigrant groups adopted it as a popular holiday but weren't connected to its past tradition in the past when there wasn't a developed body of Latino intellectuals as today.
The concluding paragraph of the book is very interesting as Hayes-Bautista speculates what a future Cinco de Mayo might be like. I quote as follows:
"It is interesting to speculate about what form future celebrations of the holiday might take, should its true origins and heritage become better understood. Naturally, the blatantly commercial aspects will not disappear; by now, virtually no American holiday has escaped some degree of commercialization. But future celebrations might also include California mission-era songs, dances, and costumes; uniformed Civil War reenactments featuring the Native California Cavalry and the unofficial Latino militias; images of Abraham Lincoln, Benito Juarez, and Ignacio Zaragoza; and of course liberal displays of American and Mexican flags side by side. Likewise, there might be uniformed reenactors of the French Intervention, including the Californios and Latino immigrants who traveled to fight for freedom and democracy in Mexico. In addition to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," one might hear Mexican soldiers' songs of the 1860s, such as "Adios, Mama Carlota" or "Batalla del Cinco de Mayo.' It might be fitting as well to remember the Latinos who, in the same spirit, fought for the United States in the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and subsequent conflicts. As in the nineteenth century, there might be speeches and pageants recalling these historical events, reminding listeners of the motivating values they share, showing the continuing relevance of those events to modern-day issues."
Such a Cinco de Mayo would have revolutionary impact in Texas. Also, would the Jefferson Davis highway be able to persist in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas with such a historical consciousness amongst the Latinos in those states?
Cinco de Mayo was developed in California, though over time it has been picked up by other regions.
Its origins come from the Civil War where Latinos saw fighting the Confederacy and the French invaders of Mexico as part of one common struggle for democracy and against slavery, for the republican form of government and against aristocracy and oligarchy and racism.
In the original Cinco de Mayo celebrations in the 19th century pictures of Lincoln and Juarez were carried in processions. The American flag and Mexican flag were always paraded together as symbolic of the struggle for freedom in both countries.
Hayes-Bautista also explains how the meaning of Cinco de Mayo was lost as subsequent immigrant groups adopted it as a popular holiday but weren't connected to its past tradition in the past when there wasn't a developed body of Latino intellectuals as today.
The concluding paragraph of the book is very interesting as Hayes-Bautista speculates what a future Cinco de Mayo might be like. I quote as follows:
"It is interesting to speculate about what form future celebrations of the holiday might take, should its true origins and heritage become better understood. Naturally, the blatantly commercial aspects will not disappear; by now, virtually no American holiday has escaped some degree of commercialization. But future celebrations might also include California mission-era songs, dances, and costumes; uniformed Civil War reenactments featuring the Native California Cavalry and the unofficial Latino militias; images of Abraham Lincoln, Benito Juarez, and Ignacio Zaragoza; and of course liberal displays of American and Mexican flags side by side. Likewise, there might be uniformed reenactors of the French Intervention, including the Californios and Latino immigrants who traveled to fight for freedom and democracy in Mexico. In addition to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," one might hear Mexican soldiers' songs of the 1860s, such as "Adios, Mama Carlota" or "Batalla del Cinco de Mayo.' It might be fitting as well to remember the Latinos who, in the same spirit, fought for the United States in the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and subsequent conflicts. As in the nineteenth century, there might be speeches and pageants recalling these historical events, reminding listeners of the motivating values they share, showing the continuing relevance of those events to modern-day issues."
Such a Cinco de Mayo would have revolutionary impact in Texas. Also, would the Jefferson Davis highway be able to persist in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas with such a historical consciousness amongst the Latinos in those states?
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Article about Otto Scott titled "Fool as Biographer"
A blog about John Brown has published an essay about Otto Scott titled, "Fool as Biographer," referring to Otto Scott. It is online at:
http://abolitionist-john-brown.blogspot.com/2012/04/essay-fool-as-biographer-john-hendrix.html
I supplied them with the Otto Scott neo-Confederate articles.
http://abolitionist-john-brown.blogspot.com/2012/04/essay-fool-as-biographer-john-hendrix.html
I supplied them with the Otto Scott neo-Confederate articles.
Monday, March 26, 2012
"Politics and the History Curriculum" is now available for advance sales
The Palgrave Macmilian website has this listing which isn't very informative:
http://us.macmillan.com/politicsandthehistorycurriculum/KeithAErekson
Amazon has this listing which tells a little bit more:
http://www.amazon.com/Politics-History-Curriculum-Struggle-Standards/dp/1137008938/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332812307&sr=1-1
And this is the link at Barnes & Nobles:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/politics-and-the-history-curriculum-keith-a-erekson/1107885815
However, Keith Erekson's page is the most informative I have found so far:
http://www.keitherekson.com/books/politics-and-the-history-curriculum/
There is also this flyer for the book which describes the contents.
http://www.keitherekson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PHC_Flyer.pdf
You will notice in the flyer that yours truly is the author of the chapter on the teaching of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
The following are the book blurbs by distinguished scholars:
"What's the matter with Texas? Outsiders too often dismiss it as an overgrown and ignorant child, shrouded in right-wing politics and fundamentalist religion. But that view is itself a gross caricature, as this close study of history and myth-making in Texas demonstrates. Rooting their story firmly in the social and political history of the Lone Star State, Keith A. Erekson and his colleagues bust a few big myths themselves. Read this book if you want to understand why Texans continue to contest their shared past, and why the rest of us should stop condescending to them." --Jonathan Zimmerman, professor of Education and History, New York University
"In these behind-the-scene essays, history educators and all citizens interested in history education will find chilling accounts of how the conservative Christian right played power politics to ensure that young Texans learn a largely white-washed U.S. history while remaining uneducated about world history. The essays in this important book give voice to teachers and history professors who were steamrollered by the Texas Board of Education."--Gary Nash, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, UCLA; Director, National Center for History in the Schools
"Politics and the History Curriculum offers the most comprehensive, thought-provoking, and timely examination yet of the ongoing controversy over history standards in Texas and across the nation. As an historian and textbook author, I especially appreciate the range and analytical quality of the essays collected here. This book is a must-read for any teacher, administrator, or citizen engaged with these issues." --Daniel Czitrom, co-author, Out of Many: A History of the American People
The book is to be released June 2012.
http://us.macmillan.com/politicsandthehistorycurriculum/KeithAErekson
Amazon has this listing which tells a little bit more:
http://www.amazon.com/Politics-History-Curriculum-Struggle-Standards/dp/1137008938/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332812307&sr=1-1
And this is the link at Barnes & Nobles:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/politics-and-the-history-curriculum-keith-a-erekson/1107885815
However, Keith Erekson's page is the most informative I have found so far:
http://www.keitherekson.com/books/politics-and-the-history-curriculum/
There is also this flyer for the book which describes the contents.
http://www.keitherekson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PHC_Flyer.pdf
You will notice in the flyer that yours truly is the author of the chapter on the teaching of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
The following are the book blurbs by distinguished scholars:
"What's the matter with Texas? Outsiders too often dismiss it as an overgrown and ignorant child, shrouded in right-wing politics and fundamentalist religion. But that view is itself a gross caricature, as this close study of history and myth-making in Texas demonstrates. Rooting their story firmly in the social and political history of the Lone Star State, Keith A. Erekson and his colleagues bust a few big myths themselves. Read this book if you want to understand why Texans continue to contest their shared past, and why the rest of us should stop condescending to them." --Jonathan Zimmerman, professor of Education and History, New York University
"In these behind-the-scene essays, history educators and all citizens interested in history education will find chilling accounts of how the conservative Christian right played power politics to ensure that young Texans learn a largely white-washed U.S. history while remaining uneducated about world history. The essays in this important book give voice to teachers and history professors who were steamrollered by the Texas Board of Education."--Gary Nash, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, UCLA; Director, National Center for History in the Schools
"Politics and the History Curriculum offers the most comprehensive, thought-provoking, and timely examination yet of the ongoing controversy over history standards in Texas and across the nation. As an historian and textbook author, I especially appreciate the range and analytical quality of the essays collected here. This book is a must-read for any teacher, administrator, or citizen engaged with these issues." --Daniel Czitrom, co-author, Out of Many: A History of the American People
The book is to be released June 2012.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Former Sons of Confederate Veterans Commander-in-Chief accused of defrauding investors, Updated
Ron Wilson, one time columnist for the Council of Conservative Citizens and former Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is accused of defrauding investors according to two news articles at the Independent Mail of Anderson, SC in an article titled, "Attorney general: Ron Wilson defrauded silver customers."
The articles are online at:
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/mar/14/attorney-general-ron-wilson-defrauded-silver-custo/
And another is online at:
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/mar/15/confederate-history-buffs-shocked-silver-fraud-all/
Quoting from the first article:
Former Anderson County Council member Ron Wilson told securities investigators he had at least $16.9 million of his customers’ silver in a Delaware depository, according to a complaint from the state attorney general.
But the complaint says the depository had no records of Wilson, his company or the silver.
The complaint says that Wilson and his company, Atlantic Bullion & Coin, collected millions of dollars from customers who thought they were buying silver but when customers wanted to cash out there was no silver in their accounts or the accounts had been altered.
A Complaint has been filed by the Attorney General's office. According to the article:
Five violations of the state’s security laws are alleged in the complaint, including making false claims under oath and the fraudulent sale of securities.
And
State Senior Assistant Attorney General Tracy Meyers requested Monday that prosecutors or a state grand jury take up a case against Wilson, according to a criminal referral request provided by the state attorney general’s office.
Evidently this isn't a new problem with Ron Wilson, the article reports:
Wilson kept selling the investments in South Carolina, and 24 other states, after agreeing in writing in 1996 to stop selling securities or similar investments because he was not a licensed broker or agent, according to state documents he signed.
The 1996 consent order signed by Wilson says he and any successors or representatives “are prohibited from making or causing to be made to any person or entity in South Carolina any offers or sales of securities by means of any false or fraudulent sales practices.”
In the second article one of the United Daughters of the Confederacy officer quips, "There is no silver lining in this." I always love a good humorist. Good for her.
Wilson used to run full page ads for his firm "Atlantic Bullion and Coin" in neo-Confederate publications.
It will be interesting what Wilson will say to his defrauded customers. Will he claim that an evil cabal of DC empire builders stole it, or it was a frame up by Obama and his minions?
The interesting thing about people in these right wing organizations is that they seem to be the targets of people selling investments. When they aren't being sold something as an investment to evade the New World Order or some imagined nemesis, they are being sold various quack health remedies. Some conspiracy is suppressing some health remedy and the persons advocating the conspiracy advocate some thing or food that you can purchase to cure what ails you. (Update: One website I am monitoring is selling a machine which generates electricity without inputs, essentially a perpetual motion machine, and also offering to sell gold wholesale.)
One thing that has to be asked is why it took 16 years for the South Carolina Attorney General's office to realize that Ron Wilson was violated an agreement to desist from selling securities. Lots of people suffering heavy losses.
Update:
I will update this as information becomes available.
More on this scandal:
http://www2.wspa.com/news/2012/mar/15/16/anderson-co-councilman-accused-running-scam-25-sta-ar-3411539/
http://www.wyff4.com/news/30676173/detail.html
Secret Service hauling off boxes of records.
http://www2.wspa.com/news/2012/mar/16/20/anderson-co-councilman-accused-running-scam-25-sta-ar-3411539/
Another article on the scamming.
http://thewilliamstonjournal.com/2012/03/15/sc-attorney-general-files-complaing-against-wilson-atlantic-bullion/#more-3122
Legislature decides to close barn door after horses have left department.
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/mar/17/anderson-legislators-react-investigation-ron-wilso/
Class-action suit: Lawyer conned by Wilson thinking of class action suit.
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/mar/16/class-action-lawsuit-proposed-against-ron-wilson/
The articles are online at:
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/mar/14/attorney-general-ron-wilson-defrauded-silver-custo/
And another is online at:
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/mar/15/confederate-history-buffs-shocked-silver-fraud-all/
Quoting from the first article:
Former Anderson County Council member Ron Wilson told securities investigators he had at least $16.9 million of his customers’ silver in a Delaware depository, according to a complaint from the state attorney general.
But the complaint says the depository had no records of Wilson, his company or the silver.
The complaint says that Wilson and his company, Atlantic Bullion & Coin, collected millions of dollars from customers who thought they were buying silver but when customers wanted to cash out there was no silver in their accounts or the accounts had been altered.
A Complaint has been filed by the Attorney General's office. According to the article:
Five violations of the state’s security laws are alleged in the complaint, including making false claims under oath and the fraudulent sale of securities.
And
State Senior Assistant Attorney General Tracy Meyers requested Monday that prosecutors or a state grand jury take up a case against Wilson, according to a criminal referral request provided by the state attorney general’s office.
Evidently this isn't a new problem with Ron Wilson, the article reports:
Wilson kept selling the investments in South Carolina, and 24 other states, after agreeing in writing in 1996 to stop selling securities or similar investments because he was not a licensed broker or agent, according to state documents he signed.
The 1996 consent order signed by Wilson says he and any successors or representatives “are prohibited from making or causing to be made to any person or entity in South Carolina any offers or sales of securities by means of any false or fraudulent sales practices.”
In the second article one of the United Daughters of the Confederacy officer quips, "There is no silver lining in this." I always love a good humorist. Good for her.
Wilson used to run full page ads for his firm "Atlantic Bullion and Coin" in neo-Confederate publications.
It will be interesting what Wilson will say to his defrauded customers. Will he claim that an evil cabal of DC empire builders stole it, or it was a frame up by Obama and his minions?
The interesting thing about people in these right wing organizations is that they seem to be the targets of people selling investments. When they aren't being sold something as an investment to evade the New World Order or some imagined nemesis, they are being sold various quack health remedies. Some conspiracy is suppressing some health remedy and the persons advocating the conspiracy advocate some thing or food that you can purchase to cure what ails you. (Update: One website I am monitoring is selling a machine which generates electricity without inputs, essentially a perpetual motion machine, and also offering to sell gold wholesale.)
One thing that has to be asked is why it took 16 years for the South Carolina Attorney General's office to realize that Ron Wilson was violated an agreement to desist from selling securities. Lots of people suffering heavy losses.
Update:
I will update this as information becomes available.
More on this scandal:
http://www2.wspa.com/news/2012/mar/15/16/anderson-co-councilman-accused-running-scam-25-sta-ar-3411539/
http://www.wyff4.com/news/30676173/detail.html
Secret Service hauling off boxes of records.
http://www2.wspa.com/news/2012/mar/16/20/anderson-co-councilman-accused-running-scam-25-sta-ar-3411539/
Another article on the scamming.
http://thewilliamstonjournal.com/2012/03/15/sc-attorney-general-files-complaing-against-wilson-atlantic-bullion/#more-3122
Legislature decides to close barn door after horses have left department.
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/mar/17/anderson-legislators-react-investigation-ron-wilso/
Class-action suit: Lawyer conned by Wilson thinking of class action suit.
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/mar/16/class-action-lawsuit-proposed-against-ron-wilson/
Thursday, March 08, 2012
4th and Final Installment on the article on the Museum of (for) the Confederacy published on Black Commentator
The 4th and final installment of of a series of articles on the Museum of(for) the Confederacy (MOC) is now online at:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/462/462_museum_confederacy_4_sebesta_guest_share.html
This article revisits critically the exhibit Before Freedom Came and the book associated with it. It recounts a visit by a distinguished person with museum expertise to the MOC. It examines how trivia and artifacts are used to obscure the story of the Confederacy. It examines how the MOC has co-opted the history profession.
This last installment also asks that the history profession in the future not accept awards from the MOC and those who have received repudiate them. Whether many or even a few historians in the future repudiate or refuse an award from the MOC isn't so important as the fact from now on when a historian accepts or retains an award from the MOC this historian is taking a stand and revealing their identity.
All the previous installments can be seen at:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
http://www.blackcommentator.com/462/462_museum_confederacy_4_sebesta_guest_share.html
This article revisits critically the exhibit Before Freedom Came and the book associated with it. It recounts a visit by a distinguished person with museum expertise to the MOC. It examines how trivia and artifacts are used to obscure the story of the Confederacy. It examines how the MOC has co-opted the history profession.
This last installment also asks that the history profession in the future not accept awards from the MOC and those who have received repudiate them. Whether many or even a few historians in the future repudiate or refuse an award from the MOC isn't so important as the fact from now on when a historian accepts or retains an award from the MOC this historian is taking a stand and revealing their identity.
All the previous installments can be seen at:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
Sunday, March 04, 2012
The Museum of the Confederacy as a shrine and creator of Confederate identity
The third installment of my 4-part article on the Museum of the Confederacy has been published.
The URL for the guest copy which is free is:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/461/461_museum_confederacy_3_sebesta_guest_share.html
The 1st installment covered the take over of the MOC by pro-Confederates and how the MOC works with neo-Confederate organizations. The 2nd installment covers how the MOC glorifies Confederate leaders. The 3rd installment covers how the MOC creates Confederate identification amongst its supporters, visitors, and others by being a shrine and reliquary.
The links to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd installments are in this blog posting:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
In the above blog posting I will have links to all four installments after they all come out. I expect the 4th installment to be published fairly soon. The installment is with the publisher.
The 4th installment discusses the exhibit and book "Before Freedom Came" and shows how the book and show is deeply flawed and how it avoids connecting slavery to the Confederacy. It shows how the MOC represents itself differently to different audiences acting professional before professional audiences and being neo-Confederate acting towards other audiences.
It discusses how the MOC tries to co-opt the history profession and is rather successful in doing so, and ends with a call for previous winners of the MOC awards to repudiate them and for historians in the future to reject them.
The URL for the guest copy which is free is:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/461/461_museum_confederacy_3_sebesta_guest_share.html
The 1st installment covered the take over of the MOC by pro-Confederates and how the MOC works with neo-Confederate organizations. The 2nd installment covers how the MOC glorifies Confederate leaders. The 3rd installment covers how the MOC creates Confederate identification amongst its supporters, visitors, and others by being a shrine and reliquary.
The links to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd installments are in this blog posting:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
In the above blog posting I will have links to all four installments after they all come out. I expect the 4th installment to be published fairly soon. The installment is with the publisher.
The 4th installment discusses the exhibit and book "Before Freedom Came" and shows how the book and show is deeply flawed and how it avoids connecting slavery to the Confederacy. It shows how the MOC represents itself differently to different audiences acting professional before professional audiences and being neo-Confederate acting towards other audiences.
It discusses how the MOC tries to co-opt the history profession and is rather successful in doing so, and ends with a call for previous winners of the MOC awards to repudiate them and for historians in the future to reject them.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Frum Forum understands what neo-Confederacy is all about.
Very interesting article at:
http://www.frumforum.com/its-hamilton-vs-jefferson-all-over-again
More and more people are beginning to grasp what a neo-Confederate historical consciousness is about. The following is from the article:
Now we have fielded a Republican Congress which is determined to burn down the Hamiltonian Republic that has emerged since the war and return to a “simpler” time. Along the way they would damage (or even destroy) the benefits we’ve gained from our reluctant capitalism. If you want to know what a Neo-Confederate political model looks like in a modern country, try to find a good public school for your kids in Mexico.
We may not think that’s what we voted for. No one can say out loud that they are fighting for the Confederate way of life, and some who embrace it may not even recognize it. You can get some hints at what’s going on if you probe Ron Paul’s fans for their thoughts on Lincoln. The weird AM radio and Tea Party rhetoric of fighting “socialism” sounds absurd, but only if you take it literally. We want to relive a fleeting moment of Jeffersonian simplicity.
The rebellion against the Neo-Confederate Revolution must start inside the Republican Party. If we fail to manage the complexity of our age, there are horrors that await. Jefferson’s world is gone, but we can still have a banana republic if we so insist.
Related post.
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/08/michael-lind-on-tea-party-caucus-in.html
http://www.frumforum.com/its-hamilton-vs-jefferson-all-over-again
More and more people are beginning to grasp what a neo-Confederate historical consciousness is about. The following is from the article:
Now we have fielded a Republican Congress which is determined to burn down the Hamiltonian Republic that has emerged since the war and return to a “simpler” time. Along the way they would damage (or even destroy) the benefits we’ve gained from our reluctant capitalism. If you want to know what a Neo-Confederate political model looks like in a modern country, try to find a good public school for your kids in Mexico.
We may not think that’s what we voted for. No one can say out loud that they are fighting for the Confederate way of life, and some who embrace it may not even recognize it. You can get some hints at what’s going on if you probe Ron Paul’s fans for their thoughts on Lincoln. The weird AM radio and Tea Party rhetoric of fighting “socialism” sounds absurd, but only if you take it literally. We want to relive a fleeting moment of Jeffersonian simplicity.
The rebellion against the Neo-Confederate Revolution must start inside the Republican Party. If we fail to manage the complexity of our age, there are horrors that await. Jefferson’s world is gone, but we can still have a banana republic if we so insist.
Related post.
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/08/michael-lind-on-tea-party-caucus-in.html
A Mexican Immigrant's Badge of Honor
Great story at the New York Times at this link.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/a-mexican-immigrants-act-of-honor/
It is about a Mexican immigrant to the then Arizona territory who was a successful business person and was loyal to the United States of America even though the Confederate sympathizers confiscated all his property when he refused to pledge loyalty to the Confederacy.
I think it will be a great story for Cinco de Mayo.
See my earlier blog on Cinco de Mayo here:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2012/02/cinco-de-mayo-as-anti-confederate.html
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/a-mexican-immigrants-act-of-honor/
It is about a Mexican immigrant to the then Arizona territory who was a successful business person and was loyal to the United States of America even though the Confederate sympathizers confiscated all his property when he refused to pledge loyalty to the Confederacy.
I think it will be a great story for Cinco de Mayo.
See my earlier blog on Cinco de Mayo here:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2012/02/cinco-de-mayo-as-anti-confederate.html
The hysterical stupidity of the Council of Conservative Citizens
I use the term "hysterical stupidity" to mean those who might otherwise have intelligence, are stupid because some hysteria they have over some topic. The hysterical are not thinking.
This comes to mind with a posting on the Council of Conservative Citizens website at http://cofcc.org/2012/02/black-history-month-myth-of-the-day-ice-cream/
They are upset that it is asserted that Augustus Jackson was the inventor of ice cream as part of African American history month.
I am focusing on this posting since as an engineer and a person who reads about the history of technological innovation I am better qualified to comment on it.
Most importantly, I am focusing on this, since it is simple and straightforward and clearly shows the credibility of http://www.cofcc.org/ postings in general. I am sure that most of the other postings are of the same nature as this posting.
Before I go forward, for those unfamiliar with the history of science and technology, I would like to explain that many technological innovations are not discrete events, but often the accumulation of many incremental changes leading to a working technology. Often the "inventor" is the person who contributes the critical development which led to the technology either being much more affordable or effective or available. Edison made many lightbulbs, but it wasn't until he figured to use a tungsten filament in an inert atmosphere that they really were practical. This was nice, but until someone figured out how to mass produce the delicate glass envelops blowing them from molten glass and systems to handle them without them breaking would light bulbs be practical.
Many people besides the Wright brothers were making flying machines while they were working on theirs. Did the Wright brothers invent the airplane or were they the first ones to figure out that you needed a gasoline engine to supply the power without excessive weight? Many hands go into technological development and there are many inventors.
So back to the stupidity of the post about ice cream.
First as an argument the CofCC says, "The practice of eating chilled desserts containing flavored ice dates back thousands of years to Mesopotamia royalty." Well that is true, I know Roman emperors had flavored ice. However, flavored ice isn't ice cream any more than oil or pitch is gasoline or polyethylene plastic.
Then further is the argument, "A reference book on the English in 1744 states “it is a chilled dessert made from cream, milk, and fruit.” Matching the modern definition of ice cream." Well modern ice cream is a frozen dessert so it doesn't match. Many things are chilled, but that is very different than frozen.
However, doing some research I found that cream and fruit was being frozen back in the 18th century, I didn't find much about the texture or form of this frozen cream.
Further ice cream isn't merely a frozen block of cream. It isn't a popsicle you make in your freezer. It has a very specific texture with air blended in and the components with small crystals. It has added ingredients to ensure it has this texture.
For ice cream to be commonly consumed it would have to have a practical method of manufacture.
It seems that Augustus Jackson was an innovator in the manufacturing process of ice cream.
It turns out that there is no myth that Jackson invented ice cream, it is understood that he developed a critical improvement in its manufacture. So the Council of Conservative Citizens is debunking a myth they made up. Or they searched the Internet to find some confused website which misrepresented Jackson's accomplishment and seized upon it to be aggrieved.
I found that this is the information you generally find on the Internet.
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/IceCream/IceCreamHistory.htm
1832 - African-American, Augustus Jackson, is credited for the modern method of manufacturing, (not discovering) ice cream, and the multiple ice cream recipes he developed around 1832. He uniquely used ice mixed with salt to lower and control the temperature of his special mix of ingredients. Unfortunately he never applied for a patent. He left his position as a cook/chef at the White House, moved to Philadelphia and created several popular ice cream flavors and methods of manufacturing ice cream. He distributed it in tin cans to Philadelphia’s many ice cream parlors. Today Jackson is called the "father of ice cream."
Jackson made the manufacture of ice cream practical and isn't called the inventor but the "father of ice cream."
However, the complexity of technological development isn't of interest to the members of the Council of Conservative Citizens, but instead they are hysterical over the idea that their could be any historical claim that would contradict their racism.
Also, revealing the true facts of the history of ice cream wouldn't be of interest, it would just be a reason to look for and seize upon other rationalizations for their hysterical racism.
I had this blog posting when the Council of Conservative Citizens were calling the Carthaginians Greeks in some pompous historical exposition. They edited the posting after my posting.
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2009/03/council-of-illiterate-conservative.html
This comes to mind with a posting on the Council of Conservative Citizens website at http://cofcc.org/2012/02/black-history-month-myth-of-the-day-ice-cream/
They are upset that it is asserted that Augustus Jackson was the inventor of ice cream as part of African American history month.
I am focusing on this posting since as an engineer and a person who reads about the history of technological innovation I am better qualified to comment on it.
Most importantly, I am focusing on this, since it is simple and straightforward and clearly shows the credibility of http://www.cofcc.org/ postings in general. I am sure that most of the other postings are of the same nature as this posting.
Before I go forward, for those unfamiliar with the history of science and technology, I would like to explain that many technological innovations are not discrete events, but often the accumulation of many incremental changes leading to a working technology. Often the "inventor" is the person who contributes the critical development which led to the technology either being much more affordable or effective or available. Edison made many lightbulbs, but it wasn't until he figured to use a tungsten filament in an inert atmosphere that they really were practical. This was nice, but until someone figured out how to mass produce the delicate glass envelops blowing them from molten glass and systems to handle them without them breaking would light bulbs be practical.
Many people besides the Wright brothers were making flying machines while they were working on theirs. Did the Wright brothers invent the airplane or were they the first ones to figure out that you needed a gasoline engine to supply the power without excessive weight? Many hands go into technological development and there are many inventors.
So back to the stupidity of the post about ice cream.
First as an argument the CofCC says, "The practice of eating chilled desserts containing flavored ice dates back thousands of years to Mesopotamia royalty." Well that is true, I know Roman emperors had flavored ice. However, flavored ice isn't ice cream any more than oil or pitch is gasoline or polyethylene plastic.
Then further is the argument, "A reference book on the English in 1744 states “it is a chilled dessert made from cream, milk, and fruit.” Matching the modern definition of ice cream." Well modern ice cream is a frozen dessert so it doesn't match. Many things are chilled, but that is very different than frozen.
However, doing some research I found that cream and fruit was being frozen back in the 18th century, I didn't find much about the texture or form of this frozen cream.
Further ice cream isn't merely a frozen block of cream. It isn't a popsicle you make in your freezer. It has a very specific texture with air blended in and the components with small crystals. It has added ingredients to ensure it has this texture.
For ice cream to be commonly consumed it would have to have a practical method of manufacture.
It seems that Augustus Jackson was an innovator in the manufacturing process of ice cream.
It turns out that there is no myth that Jackson invented ice cream, it is understood that he developed a critical improvement in its manufacture. So the Council of Conservative Citizens is debunking a myth they made up. Or they searched the Internet to find some confused website which misrepresented Jackson's accomplishment and seized upon it to be aggrieved.
I found that this is the information you generally find on the Internet.
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/IceCream/IceCreamHistory.htm
1832 - African-American, Augustus Jackson, is credited for the modern method of manufacturing, (not discovering) ice cream, and the multiple ice cream recipes he developed around 1832. He uniquely used ice mixed with salt to lower and control the temperature of his special mix of ingredients. Unfortunately he never applied for a patent. He left his position as a cook/chef at the White House, moved to Philadelphia and created several popular ice cream flavors and methods of manufacturing ice cream. He distributed it in tin cans to Philadelphia’s many ice cream parlors. Today Jackson is called the "father of ice cream."
Jackson made the manufacture of ice cream practical and isn't called the inventor but the "father of ice cream."
However, the complexity of technological development isn't of interest to the members of the Council of Conservative Citizens, but instead they are hysterical over the idea that their could be any historical claim that would contradict their racism.
Also, revealing the true facts of the history of ice cream wouldn't be of interest, it would just be a reason to look for and seize upon other rationalizations for their hysterical racism.
I had this blog posting when the Council of Conservative Citizens were calling the Carthaginians Greeks in some pompous historical exposition. They edited the posting after my posting.
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2009/03/council-of-illiterate-conservative.html
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Cinco de Mayo as an anti-Confederate holiday.
The following video on YouTube is a fascinating lecture by Dr. David Hayes-Bautista of the University of California - Los Angeles about Cinco de Mayo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hyJMiu07NY
Dr. David Hayes-Bautista is the author of "Cinco de Mayo: An American Holiday." As Dr. Hayes-Bautista has explained in journal articles, Cinco de Mayo was started in California during the Civil War as a pro-Union and pro-Mexican Republic holiday. His book is part of a growing transnational view of the Civil War.
The book is going to be released May 2012 and can be pre-ordered online at online book dealers.
Starting this year Cinco de Mayo is going to be redefined as a anti-Confederate holiday.
Dr. Hayes-Bautista is very prominent and influential individual.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hyJMiu07NY
Dr. David Hayes-Bautista is the author of "Cinco de Mayo: An American Holiday." As Dr. Hayes-Bautista has explained in journal articles, Cinco de Mayo was started in California during the Civil War as a pro-Union and pro-Mexican Republic holiday. His book is part of a growing transnational view of the Civil War.
The book is going to be released May 2012 and can be pre-ordered online at online book dealers.
Starting this year Cinco de Mayo is going to be redefined as a anti-Confederate holiday.
Dr. Hayes-Bautista is very prominent and influential individual.
Letter from former slave to former master, hilarious must read.
You absolutely must read this letter from a former slave to a former master. The link is here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9057501/Letter-from-a-Civil-War-slave-to-his-master-150-years-on.html
This is another link with additional information about the Jourdan family.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/01/to-my-old-master.html
The original source of the letter.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38479/38479-h/38479-h.htm#Page_265
This is from a book, "The Freedman's Book," edited by L. Marcia Child and published by Ticknor and Fields, Boston, 1865.
The former master Colonel Anderson is asking for his former slave to come back and work for him saying that he would treat him better than anyone.
Though the reply by the former slave, Jourdan, is written in the most respectful way in a 19th century which had more formalities than we do today, it is a rather stinging criticism of how the former master treated the former slave. The letter is both a very informative description of the issues of slavery and emancipation, yet the writer has a subtle wit and it is riotous fun to read and yet also sad upon reflection.
Some excerpts:
Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin’s to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable.
Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.
Jourdan describes how they are well treated and have a good situation and are respected. The current situation is contrasted to the former situation. He also asks for wages for the many years him and his wife worked for the former slave master. He certainly must have known that he wasn't going to be paid any money for his former exploitation.
Then the letter turns to the rape of former slaves at the Anderson's.
In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve and die, if it come to that than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters.
Finally it ends with this last sentence.
Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9057501/Letter-from-a-Civil-War-slave-to-his-master-150-years-on.html
This is another link with additional information about the Jourdan family.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/01/to-my-old-master.html
The original source of the letter.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38479/38479-h/38479-h.htm#Page_265
This is from a book, "The Freedman's Book," edited by L. Marcia Child and published by Ticknor and Fields, Boston, 1865.
The former master Colonel Anderson is asking for his former slave to come back and work for him saying that he would treat him better than anyone.
Though the reply by the former slave, Jourdan, is written in the most respectful way in a 19th century which had more formalities than we do today, it is a rather stinging criticism of how the former master treated the former slave. The letter is both a very informative description of the issues of slavery and emancipation, yet the writer has a subtle wit and it is riotous fun to read and yet also sad upon reflection.
Some excerpts:
Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin’s to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable.
Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.
Jourdan describes how they are well treated and have a good situation and are respected. The current situation is contrasted to the former situation. He also asks for wages for the many years him and his wife worked for the former slave master. He certainly must have known that he wasn't going to be paid any money for his former exploitation.
Then the letter turns to the rape of former slaves at the Anderson's.
In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve and die, if it come to that than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters.
Finally it ends with this last sentence.
Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.
Friday, February 03, 2012
Sons of Confederate Veterans rewrite the Great Hanging in Gainesville
It really is an example of the appalling things that the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) does.
The link to the story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is here:
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/02/02/3708484/mobs-dont-lynch-people-tensions.html
The link to the story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is here:
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/02/02/3708484/mobs-dont-lynch-people-tensions.html
Friday, January 20, 2012
Crack pottery and www.lewrockwell.com
I was somewhat startled recently to see that www.lewrockwell.com is promoting Immanuel Velikovsky. For those of you who are unfamiliar with crackpot astronomy, Immanual Velikovsky wrote books in the middle of the 20th century in which planets moved to different orbits and the events in the ancient world were supposed to be driven by these astrophysical events.
I do remember vaguely in commentary that Velikovsky was unfairly treated in his time. However, his ideas are just lunacy. I am not going to waste time refuting them by giving a lengthy explanation.
I think it is interesting is how this article and others on www.lewrockwell.com show what type of person the www.lewrockwell.com reader is.
Any regular reader of www.lewrockwell.com will also notice the various health articles of dubious merit. Such as this one. http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north373.html
In this article the reader is told that there is this miracle box that can cure arthritis, cancer, etc. but was suppressed by the FDA.
What these articles, Velikovsky and the medical articles, have in common is an anti-authoritarianism unhinged from reason. The elites, experts, those in charge are supposed to be covering up the truth or somehow wrong headed for fun and profit. It is an appeal to vanity since it supposes that the reader and the author are members of the select few who know the truth and are smarter than the elites, experts, and those in charge.
It is true that the scientific community and medical community have made mistakes in the past and I am sure will make mistakes in the future. Theories have been erroneously rejected in the past due to opinion rather than reason. Science is a human enterprise. However, because continental drift as a theory was rejected initially doesn't mean someone elses' theory that the earth is hollow is right. (Yes there is such a theory.)
However, if you believed the earth was hollow and most of your article was about claiming that the government paid astronomers and NASA were persecuting you, I think you would have a fairly good chance of getting published on www.lewrockwell.com.
I do remember vaguely in commentary that Velikovsky was unfairly treated in his time. However, his ideas are just lunacy. I am not going to waste time refuting them by giving a lengthy explanation.
I think it is interesting is how this article and others on www.lewrockwell.com show what type of person the www.lewrockwell.com reader is.
Any regular reader of www.lewrockwell.com will also notice the various health articles of dubious merit. Such as this one. http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north373.html
In this article the reader is told that there is this miracle box that can cure arthritis, cancer, etc. but was suppressed by the FDA.
What these articles, Velikovsky and the medical articles, have in common is an anti-authoritarianism unhinged from reason. The elites, experts, those in charge are supposed to be covering up the truth or somehow wrong headed for fun and profit. It is an appeal to vanity since it supposes that the reader and the author are members of the select few who know the truth and are smarter than the elites, experts, and those in charge.
It is true that the scientific community and medical community have made mistakes in the past and I am sure will make mistakes in the future. Theories have been erroneously rejected in the past due to opinion rather than reason. Science is a human enterprise. However, because continental drift as a theory was rejected initially doesn't mean someone elses' theory that the earth is hollow is right. (Yes there is such a theory.)
However, if you believed the earth was hollow and most of your article was about claiming that the government paid astronomers and NASA were persecuting you, I think you would have a fairly good chance of getting published on www.lewrockwell.com.
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Contributing chapter to a book to be published by Palgrave Macmillan
I contributed a chapter on the new and notorious Texas teaching standards for the Civil War and Reconstruction content in those standards for a book to be published by Palgrave Macmillan. The title is, "Politics and the History Curriculum: The Struggle over Standards in Texas and the Nation."
You can read about the book at this web page:
http://www.keitherekson.com/books/politics-and-the-history-curriculum/
The book is being released June 19, 2012. It can be ordered in advance at Amazon and Barnes & Nobles.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/politics-and-the-history-curriculum-keith-a-erekson/1107885815?ean=9781137008930&itm=8&usri=erekson
http://www.amazon.com/Politics-History-Curriculum-Struggle-Standards/dp/1137008938/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323817458&sr=1-3
My chapter is titled, "Neo-Confederate Ideology in the Texas History Standards."
You can download a flyer at this link:
http://www.keitherekson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PHC_Flyer.pdf
With this chapter I hope to raise the issue of how the Civil War and Reconstruction is taught in our history classes in the schools and further influence on how these two topics are taught. It will also allow me to reach out to a new audience of the teachers of America.
One of the more interesting suggestions I made in the chapter is to teach the history of Cinco de Mayo as part of the history of the Civil War. As David Bautista-Hayes has shown in his academic articles and in his forthcoming book about Cinco de Mayo, it is an American holiday invented in California and an anti-Confederate holiday. Its history is interwoven as part of the history of the Civil War when the Civil War is viewed from a transnational perspective.
The book is titled, "Cinco de Mayo: An American Tradition," and can be pre-ordered at:
http://www.amazon.com/El-Cinco-Mayo-American-Tradition/dp/0520272137/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325966969&sr=1-2
You can read about the book at this web page:
http://www.keitherekson.com/books/politics-and-the-history-curriculum/
The book is being released June 19, 2012. It can be ordered in advance at Amazon and Barnes & Nobles.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/politics-and-the-history-curriculum-keith-a-erekson/1107885815?ean=9781137008930&itm=8&usri=erekson
http://www.amazon.com/Politics-History-Curriculum-Struggle-Standards/dp/1137008938/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323817458&sr=1-3
My chapter is titled, "Neo-Confederate Ideology in the Texas History Standards."
You can download a flyer at this link:
http://www.keitherekson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PHC_Flyer.pdf
With this chapter I hope to raise the issue of how the Civil War and Reconstruction is taught in our history classes in the schools and further influence on how these two topics are taught. It will also allow me to reach out to a new audience of the teachers of America.
One of the more interesting suggestions I made in the chapter is to teach the history of Cinco de Mayo as part of the history of the Civil War. As David Bautista-Hayes has shown in his academic articles and in his forthcoming book about Cinco de Mayo, it is an American holiday invented in California and an anti-Confederate holiday. Its history is interwoven as part of the history of the Civil War when the Civil War is viewed from a transnational perspective.
The book is titled, "Cinco de Mayo: An American Tradition," and can be pre-ordered at:
http://www.amazon.com/El-Cinco-Mayo-American-Tradition/dp/0520272137/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325966969&sr=1-2
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Kevin Levine and company rages
Kevin Levine feels that he has a good rebuttal to my article on the Museum of the Confederacy at http://www.blackcommentator.com/. (You can read the installments as they are published by going to this blog posting. http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html).
He also feels he has an adequate response to this posting about his attacks on my essay. http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/white-paternalism-of-kevin-levine.html.
His rebuttals are blogged and can be read at this link. http://cwmemory.com/2011/12/06/a-response-to-edward-sebesta/
So I am reviewing his rebuttal.
Levin says in the beginning, "I admit that characterizing Sebesta's essay as a 'rant' was a poor choice of words, but I maintain it is a poorly researched essay."
First thing, Levine declared that he couldn't bring himself to read the essay. So I am not sure how he knows that it is poorly researched or even knows what my arguments are. Second, not all four installments are published.
However, there is a third aspect to this specific criticism of the essay and his criticisms of the essay in general. He doesn't discuss or mention anything in the contents of the essay. The essay is bad because he doesn't like its conclusions. Kevin Levine avoids discussing the contents of the installments and I don't think he has mentioned even a single thing about the contents.
Then of course Levin likes to engage in name calling, and then as moderator allow posted more rabid name calling that might be a little unseemly if he did it himself.
The other revealing aspect of this post is Levine's establishmentarianism. In an article in the New York Times, reporter Edward Rothstein states that the Museum of the Confederacy (MOC) is changing because the president of the MOC says so. Is Rothstein even aware of my research sources? What was his research to come to his conclusions? I am not sure how anything in the article refutes the evidence in my essay. Or course these questions are irrelevant to Levine, the point is that an authority figure has an opinion that is different to mine.
Later in the essay, Levine says "In addition, while Sebesta is fond of quoting his favorite 'neo-Confederate' sources he never comes to term with the fact that the scholarly community has embraced the MOC." Levine needs to remember Carlyle's statement, "Every new idea starts with a minority of precisely one."
So it isn't about the evidence, it is about what the current conventional wisdom is, and how can Ed Sebesta think evidence is superior to conventional wisdom or the established authorities.
Kevin Levine's and Brook D. Simpson's comments are a gift since they are unabashed, unveiled, and explicit expressions of certain attitudes amongst some Civil War enthusiasts.
Levine's first hysterical denunciation after I had the first installment published is online here: http://cwmemory.com/2011/09/15/calling-out-edward-sebesta-and-calling-on-james-loewen/
The free guest links to all four installments of the article are in the blog posting:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
He also feels he has an adequate response to this posting about his attacks on my essay. http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/white-paternalism-of-kevin-levine.html.
His rebuttals are blogged and can be read at this link. http://cwmemory.com/2011/12/06/a-response-to-edward-sebesta/
So I am reviewing his rebuttal.
Levin says in the beginning, "I admit that characterizing Sebesta's essay as a 'rant' was a poor choice of words, but I maintain it is a poorly researched essay."
First thing, Levine declared that he couldn't bring himself to read the essay. So I am not sure how he knows that it is poorly researched or even knows what my arguments are. Second, not all four installments are published.
However, there is a third aspect to this specific criticism of the essay and his criticisms of the essay in general. He doesn't discuss or mention anything in the contents of the essay. The essay is bad because he doesn't like its conclusions. Kevin Levine avoids discussing the contents of the installments and I don't think he has mentioned even a single thing about the contents.
Then of course Levin likes to engage in name calling, and then as moderator allow posted more rabid name calling that might be a little unseemly if he did it himself.
The other revealing aspect of this post is Levine's establishmentarianism. In an article in the New York Times, reporter Edward Rothstein states that the Museum of the Confederacy (MOC) is changing because the president of the MOC says so. Is Rothstein even aware of my research sources? What was his research to come to his conclusions? I am not sure how anything in the article refutes the evidence in my essay. Or course these questions are irrelevant to Levine, the point is that an authority figure has an opinion that is different to mine.
Later in the essay, Levine says "In addition, while Sebesta is fond of quoting his favorite 'neo-Confederate' sources he never comes to term with the fact that the scholarly community has embraced the MOC." Levine needs to remember Carlyle's statement, "Every new idea starts with a minority of precisely one."
So it isn't about the evidence, it is about what the current conventional wisdom is, and how can Ed Sebesta think evidence is superior to conventional wisdom or the established authorities.
Kevin Levine's and Brook D. Simpson's comments are a gift since they are unabashed, unveiled, and explicit expressions of certain attitudes amongst some Civil War enthusiasts.
Levine's first hysterical denunciation after I had the first installment published is online here: http://cwmemory.com/2011/09/15/calling-out-edward-sebesta-and-calling-on-james-loewen/
The free guest links to all four installments of the article are in the blog posting:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
Thursday, November 10, 2011
The white paternalism of Kevin Levine
Kevin Levine over at http://www.cwmemory.com/ had a hysterical post when he found out that I had started to published a series on the MOC at http://www.blackcommentator.com/. He was so upset that he said some interesting things.
One was:
"The post includes a link to a 4-part essay that was published at the Black Commentator. I am going to leave it to you to read through as I simply do not have the patience to do it. It is an incredibly incoherent rant ... "
This is typical of Levine when he is upset with things he just engages in slander of whomever he is upset with. Levine might be upset with the paper, he might disagree with it, but it isn't incoherent, it isn't a rant. I had editorial review of the paper by a well published university professor before publishing it.
What is interesting is Levine's attitude toward http://www.blackcommentator.com/. Does he think they would publish a rant? Does he think they would published an incoherent paper? They have an editorial board of distinguished academics, and they have editors. I didn't just upload the paper to the website. It was submitted and reviewed by an editor before being published. It is interesting how Levine was, without pause or thought or inquiry, dismissed the competency of Black Commentator. It is revealing of his attitude towards African American scholarship.
Then there is this really revealing commentary by Levine:
"What I find most disturbing about Sebesta’s rant is that it will make the MOC’s job of reaching out to the African American community that much more difficult. They have come so far in broadening their interpretation over the past few decades and getting involved in the community around Richmond."
Are African Americans children that Ed Sebesta is leading astray? Apparently Levine thinks so. I think that African Americans can critically read essays just like anyone else. Perhaps the essay will make it more difficult for the MOC to reach out to the African American community because the article will have alerted the African American community as to what the agenda of the MOC is.
The free guest links to all four installments are at this blog posting:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
One was:
"The post includes a link to a 4-part essay that was published at the Black Commentator. I am going to leave it to you to read through as I simply do not have the patience to do it. It is an incredibly incoherent rant ... "
This is typical of Levine when he is upset with things he just engages in slander of whomever he is upset with. Levine might be upset with the paper, he might disagree with it, but it isn't incoherent, it isn't a rant. I had editorial review of the paper by a well published university professor before publishing it.
What is interesting is Levine's attitude toward http://www.blackcommentator.com/. Does he think they would publish a rant? Does he think they would published an incoherent paper? They have an editorial board of distinguished academics, and they have editors. I didn't just upload the paper to the website. It was submitted and reviewed by an editor before being published. It is interesting how Levine was, without pause or thought or inquiry, dismissed the competency of Black Commentator. It is revealing of his attitude towards African American scholarship.
Then there is this really revealing commentary by Levine:
"What I find most disturbing about Sebesta’s rant is that it will make the MOC’s job of reaching out to the African American community that much more difficult. They have come so far in broadening their interpretation over the past few decades and getting involved in the community around Richmond."
Are African Americans children that Ed Sebesta is leading astray? Apparently Levine thinks so. I think that African Americans can critically read essays just like anyone else. Perhaps the essay will make it more difficult for the MOC to reach out to the African American community because the article will have alerted the African American community as to what the agenda of the MOC is.
The free guest links to all four installments are at this blog posting:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
League of the South hypocrisy
This is a post of the League of the South (LOS) which really shows their hypocrisy.
http://lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2011/11/four-aarp-members-accused-of-plotting.html
It is a complaint that neo-Confederates are considered potentially violent.
However, what "Old Rebel," the LOS blogger doesn't tell you is that leaders in the LOS, like LOS president Michael Hill endorsed a book, "Heiland" written by one of the founding LOS board members Franklin Sanders. The story is about a group of rebels which overthrows the government by murdering all the people in the city. These rebels are considered the heroes in the story. Former LOS board member Rev. Steve Wilkins also endorsed the book.
http://www.amazon.com/Heiland-Franklin-Sanders/dp/0961712430/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320989245&sr=1-1
Then there was an article in Chronicles magazine in which Michael Hill considered the IRA terrorists the equivalent to a medieval Scottish clan.
So it seems these four would be terrorists are somewhat representative of neo-Confederate ideology.
http://lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2011/11/four-aarp-members-accused-of-plotting.html
It is a complaint that neo-Confederates are considered potentially violent.
However, what "Old Rebel," the LOS blogger doesn't tell you is that leaders in the LOS, like LOS president Michael Hill endorsed a book, "Heiland" written by one of the founding LOS board members Franklin Sanders. The story is about a group of rebels which overthrows the government by murdering all the people in the city. These rebels are considered the heroes in the story. Former LOS board member Rev. Steve Wilkins also endorsed the book.
http://www.amazon.com/Heiland-Franklin-Sanders/dp/0961712430/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320989245&sr=1-1
Then there was an article in Chronicles magazine in which Michael Hill considered the IRA terrorists the equivalent to a medieval Scottish clan.
So it seems these four would be terrorists are somewhat representative of neo-Confederate ideology.
League of the South Rubbish
There are some posts of the League of the South blog which show really what a lot of rubbish they talk.
For example there is this post:
http://lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2011/11/texas-board-rejects-confederate-flag.html
The LOS blogger is trying to say that the Texas NAACP is hypocritical because of what a former Dallas NAACP head had said. What the LOS doesn't tell you is that Lee Alcorn, the former head of the Dallas NAACP who said these things, got kicked out of the NAACP by the NAACP shortly after making these comments for making these comments.
Then there this issue of confusing an ideology with the idea of culture. Is Maoism the same as being Chinese. Is Maoism a culture or an ideology? If I decided to reject Bolshevik symbols, does that mean I am anti-Russian? Of course it doesn't. Neo-Confederacy is an ideology.
The League of the South is composed of ranters that have a weak grasp of the facts if any grasp of the facts.
For example there is this post:
http://lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2011/11/texas-board-rejects-confederate-flag.html
The LOS blogger is trying to say that the Texas NAACP is hypocritical because of what a former Dallas NAACP head had said. What the LOS doesn't tell you is that Lee Alcorn, the former head of the Dallas NAACP who said these things, got kicked out of the NAACP by the NAACP shortly after making these comments for making these comments.
Then there this issue of confusing an ideology with the idea of culture. Is Maoism the same as being Chinese. Is Maoism a culture or an ideology? If I decided to reject Bolshevik symbols, does that mean I am anti-Russian? Of course it doesn't. Neo-Confederacy is an ideology.
The League of the South is composed of ranters that have a weak grasp of the facts if any grasp of the facts.
MOC
I am going to have this blog post to hold links to all four installments. That way I will have just one short link to direct people to all four installments of the article on the Museum of the Confederacy. http://www.blackcommentator.com/ is a pay site and these links provided in this blog posting as follows are free.
1st installment:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/441/441_museum_confederacy_sebesta_guest_share.html
2nd installment:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/443/443_museum_confederacy_2_sebesta_guest_share.html
3rd installment:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/461/461_museum_confederacy_3_sebesta_guest_share.html
4th installment:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/462/462_museum_confederacy_4_sebesta_guest_share.html
All the links to all the Black Commentator essays can be found at this blog posting.
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2013/08/bc.html
1st installment:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/441/441_museum_confederacy_sebesta_guest_share.html
2nd installment:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/443/443_museum_confederacy_2_sebesta_guest_share.html
3rd installment:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/461/461_museum_confederacy_3_sebesta_guest_share.html
4th installment:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/462/462_museum_confederacy_4_sebesta_guest_share.html
All the links to all the Black Commentator essays can be found at this blog posting.
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2013/08/bc.html
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Being published by Palgrave Macmillan in book on the Texas teaching standards.
It is now official, Palgrave Macmillan is publishing a book on the new and notorious Texas teaching standards to be titled, Politics and the History Curriculum: The Struggle over Standards in Texas and the Nation. I contributed a chapter on the new standards for the Civil War and Reconstruction. My chapter will be titled, Neo-Confederate Ideology in the Texas History Standards.
The link to the web page about the book is the following:
http://www.keitherekson.com/books/politics-and-the-history-curriculum/
I am looking forward to reaching and communicating with a whole new audience of educators and working with them to influence how the Civil War and Reconstruction is taught to students.
The link to the web page about the book is the following:
http://www.keitherekson.com/books/politics-and-the-history-curriculum/
I am looking forward to reaching and communicating with a whole new audience of educators and working with them to influence how the Civil War and Reconstruction is taught to students.
Friday, September 30, 2011
2nd Installment of Expose of the Museum of the Confederacy (MOC) published/ URL corrected Update: See link to all 4-installments
The 2nd installment of the expose of the MOC can be read at this URL:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/443/443_museum_confederacy_2_sebesta_guest_share.html
The 1st installment can be read at this URL:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/441/441_museum_confederacy_sebesta_guest_share.html
I also recommend this web page on the MOC:
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2009/08/cleansing-history-confederacy-museum-and-trip-advisor-retouch-the-past.html
I am working on the 3rd installment and hope to have it finished this weekend. A lot of issues come up in the review of the MOC which needed critical and analytical treatment. I have been reading books like "Theorizing the Museum" edited by Sharon Macdonald and Gordon Fyfe and "Christian Materiality: An Essay on Religion in Late Medieval Europe." I must have bought a dozen books or more.
As I was going over the 3rd installment I realized that there were issues beyond explicit and banal nationalism, but other issues on how museums are used to promote nationalism and how the MOC functions as a giant reliquary. Scholars contacted were supportive of my project and willing to make reading recommendations.
Even when my 3rd installment is done it will still need some review and editorial input by a colleague of mine. Then with revisions I will be submitting it to http://www.blackcommenator.com/. The 4th installment I think will be easy to finish up. Of course I never know until I start writing a piece, whether some aspect previously overlooked will be discovered requiring reading further analysis.
UPDATE:
This is the link to the blog posting with links to all four installments;
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
http://www.blackcommentator.com/443/443_museum_confederacy_2_sebesta_guest_share.html
The 1st installment can be read at this URL:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/441/441_museum_confederacy_sebesta_guest_share.html
I also recommend this web page on the MOC:
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2009/08/cleansing-history-confederacy-museum-and-trip-advisor-retouch-the-past.html
I am working on the 3rd installment and hope to have it finished this weekend. A lot of issues come up in the review of the MOC which needed critical and analytical treatment. I have been reading books like "Theorizing the Museum" edited by Sharon Macdonald and Gordon Fyfe and "Christian Materiality: An Essay on Religion in Late Medieval Europe." I must have bought a dozen books or more.
As I was going over the 3rd installment I realized that there were issues beyond explicit and banal nationalism, but other issues on how museums are used to promote nationalism and how the MOC functions as a giant reliquary. Scholars contacted were supportive of my project and willing to make reading recommendations.
Even when my 3rd installment is done it will still need some review and editorial input by a colleague of mine. Then with revisions I will be submitting it to http://www.blackcommenator.com/. The 4th installment I think will be easy to finish up. Of course I never know until I start writing a piece, whether some aspect previously overlooked will be discovered requiring reading further analysis.
UPDATE:
This is the link to the blog posting with links to all four installments;
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
Friday, September 23, 2011
Another critic of the Museum of the Confederacy.
Eric Muller wrote up his visit to the Museum of the Confederacy (MOC) and discusses the difficulty of deciding what his creepiest moment was while visiting.
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2009/08/cleansing-history-confederacy-museum-and-trip-advisor-retouch-the-past.html
In talking to Mr. Muller over the phone he told me that the MOC sent him a letter which they labeled confidential so he couldn't reveal what they said to him. This is a pernicious practice of labeling letters confidential so that that contents are covered up.
Eric Muller is the Dan K. Moore Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Development University of North Carolina School of Law.
I have requested that Mr. Muller share the essay with others who might be interested.
Update:
All four installments of the article on the MOC have been published and the free guest links are in this blog posting:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2009/08/cleansing-history-confederacy-museum-and-trip-advisor-retouch-the-past.html
In talking to Mr. Muller over the phone he told me that the MOC sent him a letter which they labeled confidential so he couldn't reveal what they said to him. This is a pernicious practice of labeling letters confidential so that that contents are covered up.
Eric Muller is the Dan K. Moore Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Development University of North Carolina School of Law.
I have requested that Mr. Muller share the essay with others who might be interested.
Update:
All four installments of the article on the MOC have been published and the free guest links are in this blog posting:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
"Civil War News" positively reviews "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader."
A very positive review of "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" by Edward H. Bonekemper III in Civil War News.
http://www.civilwarnews.com/reviews/2011br/febmar/confedreader-sebesta-b021105.html
http://www.civilwarnews.com/reviews/2011br/febmar/confedreader-sebesta-b021105.html
Thursday, September 15, 2011
www.blackcommentator.com publishes my article on the Museum of the Confederacy. UPDATE: See link for all 4-installments
http://www.blackcommentator.com/ has published the first part of a four part article on the Museum of the Confederacy (MOC) I am writing. You can read online without a subscription at:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/441/441_museum_confederacy_sebesta_guest_share.html
This first installment introduces the series and shows how the MOC has reverted to a Lost Cause shrine to the Confederacy headed up by a CEO who is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Though I show in the article it can be questioned if the MOC every really changed that much, but instead had two very differing faces, one for the public, one private.
Of particular interest to African American scholars would be the speech in which African American scholarship and opinion is held up to ridicule in a speech at the MOC right after the "Before Freedom Came" exhibit. In fact in this speech, the exhibit "Before Freedom Came" is praised an an antidote to the "Carol Moseley-Braun syndrome." This speech was by prominent neo-Confederate Ludwell Johnson III at the MOC upon being made a MOC fellow.
I am very pleased to be published on http://www.blackcommentator.com/ since it will allow me to become known by a new audience of scholars and intellectuals. Much of my work is helping out people with research and they don't know that I can help them if they don't know that I exist and what resources I have.
I have been monitoring the MOC for a very, very long time and have a very exhaustive collection of their materials. I just haven't had time to write up the material. Two other book projects and other writing projects have been delayed while I wrote up what I knew about the MOC.
It also turned out once I started writing up the MOC there really was a lot of material that needed to be brought to public light. So it became a very lengthy manuscript, that needed to be broken into installments. I didn't write up everything about the MOC since the manuscript was already over 26,000 words and I needed to get published and a writing project needs to have a finish. I think the four installments do give the reader a good understanding of what the MOC is and what it is doing.
However, like many writing projects, it has been an interesting intellectual journey. I have been reading about museums and their theoretical analyses, in particular nationalism and the museum.
UPDATES:
All four installments as they are published will be at this blog posting:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
http://www.blackcommentator.com/441/441_museum_confederacy_sebesta_guest_share.html
This first installment introduces the series and shows how the MOC has reverted to a Lost Cause shrine to the Confederacy headed up by a CEO who is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Though I show in the article it can be questioned if the MOC every really changed that much, but instead had two very differing faces, one for the public, one private.
Of particular interest to African American scholars would be the speech in which African American scholarship and opinion is held up to ridicule in a speech at the MOC right after the "Before Freedom Came" exhibit. In fact in this speech, the exhibit "Before Freedom Came" is praised an an antidote to the "Carol Moseley-Braun syndrome." This speech was by prominent neo-Confederate Ludwell Johnson III at the MOC upon being made a MOC fellow.
I am very pleased to be published on http://www.blackcommentator.com/ since it will allow me to become known by a new audience of scholars and intellectuals. Much of my work is helping out people with research and they don't know that I can help them if they don't know that I exist and what resources I have.
I have been monitoring the MOC for a very, very long time and have a very exhaustive collection of their materials. I just haven't had time to write up the material. Two other book projects and other writing projects have been delayed while I wrote up what I knew about the MOC.
It also turned out once I started writing up the MOC there really was a lot of material that needed to be brought to public light. So it became a very lengthy manuscript, that needed to be broken into installments. I didn't write up everything about the MOC since the manuscript was already over 26,000 words and I needed to get published and a writing project needs to have a finish. I think the four installments do give the reader a good understanding of what the MOC is and what it is doing.
However, like many writing projects, it has been an interesting intellectual journey. I have been reading about museums and their theoretical analyses, in particular nationalism and the museum.
UPDATES:
All four installments as they are published will be at this blog posting:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
Friday, August 12, 2011
Michael Lind on the Tea Party Caucus in Congress and the former Confederate states
Michael Lind on http://www.salon.com/ had this analysis of the Tea Party caucus in Congress.
http://www.salon.com/news/tea_parties/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/08/02/lind_tea_party
Lind is paying attention to the geography of politics.
See this blog on Michell Backmann and her neo-Confederacy.
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/08/michelle-bachmanns-neo-confederacy.html
I think the public is becoming aware of the mainstreaming of neo-Confederacy into the American conservative movement.
http://www.salon.com/news/tea_parties/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/08/02/lind_tea_party
Lind is paying attention to the geography of politics.
See this blog on Michell Backmann and her neo-Confederacy.
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/08/michelle-bachmanns-neo-confederacy.html
I think the public is becoming aware of the mainstreaming of neo-Confederacy into the American conservative movement.
Obama considers Fort Monroe as a national monument
Politico has the following article about Obama considering Fort Monroe as a national monument. It is online here:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/61247.html
A quote form the article:
"There are few more significant sites in terms of African-American history anywhere in the country, and using the Antiquities Act to preserve this special place makes sense after the Army hands over the site next month,” Warner said in a statement.
Built between 1819 and 1834, Fort Monroe was one of the few Union military installations in the South never occupied by Confederate forces during the Civil War.
Gen. Benjamin Butler made the "Contraband Decision" there in 1861 that kept slaves from being forced to return after they crossed Union lines. Thousands of slaves came to the site, which became known as “Freedom’s Fortress.”
Another excellent article about Ft. Monroe and the effort to make it into a national monument is online at the "News and Observer" here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/07/17/1347261/freedom-shrine-at-highways-end.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/61247.html
A quote form the article:
"There are few more significant sites in terms of African-American history anywhere in the country, and using the Antiquities Act to preserve this special place makes sense after the Army hands over the site next month,” Warner said in a statement.
Built between 1819 and 1834, Fort Monroe was one of the few Union military installations in the South never occupied by Confederate forces during the Civil War.
Gen. Benjamin Butler made the "Contraband Decision" there in 1861 that kept slaves from being forced to return after they crossed Union lines. Thousands of slaves came to the site, which became known as “Freedom’s Fortress.”
Another excellent article about Ft. Monroe and the effort to make it into a national monument is online at the "News and Observer" here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/07/17/1347261/freedom-shrine-at-highways-end.html
Michelle Bachmann's neo-Confederacy detailed in "The New Yorker."
This article in the "New Yorker" about Michelle Backmann covers her interests in neo-Confederate ideology, but I am not sure they recognize it as being neo-Confederate per see.
The article is at this link:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/08/15/110815fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all
Here is a quote from the article:
"While looking over Bachmann’s State Senate campaign Web site, I stumbled upon a list of book recommendations. The third book on the list, which appeared just before the Declaration of Independence and George Washington’s Farewell Address, is a 1997 biography of Robert E. Lee by J. Steven Wilkins.
Wilkins is the leading proponent of the theory that the South was an orthodox Christian nation unjustly attacked by the godless North. This revisionist take on the Civil War, known as the “theological war” thesis, had little resonance outside a small group of Southern historians until the mid-twentieth century, when Rushdoony and others began to popularize it in evangelical circles. In the book, Wilkins condemns “the radical abolitionists of New England” and writes that “most southerners strove to treat their slaves with respect and provide them with a sufficiency of goods for a comfortable, though—by modern standards—spare existence.”
African slaves brought to America, he argues, were essentially lucky: “Africa, like any other pagan country, was permeated by the cruelty and barbarism typical of unbelieving cultures.” Echoing Eidsmoe, Wilkins also approvingly cites Lee’s insistence that abolition could not come until “the sanctifying effects of Christianity” had time “to work in the black race and fit its people for freedom.”
If you want the background about Christian Reconstructionists and neo-Confederacy read the following article:
http://gis.depaul.edu/ehague/Articles/PUBLISHED%20CRAS%20ARTICLE.pdf
The article is at this link:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/08/15/110815fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all
Here is a quote from the article:
"While looking over Bachmann’s State Senate campaign Web site, I stumbled upon a list of book recommendations. The third book on the list, which appeared just before the Declaration of Independence and George Washington’s Farewell Address, is a 1997 biography of Robert E. Lee by J. Steven Wilkins.
Wilkins is the leading proponent of the theory that the South was an orthodox Christian nation unjustly attacked by the godless North. This revisionist take on the Civil War, known as the “theological war” thesis, had little resonance outside a small group of Southern historians until the mid-twentieth century, when Rushdoony and others began to popularize it in evangelical circles. In the book, Wilkins condemns “the radical abolitionists of New England” and writes that “most southerners strove to treat their slaves with respect and provide them with a sufficiency of goods for a comfortable, though—by modern standards—spare existence.”
African slaves brought to America, he argues, were essentially lucky: “Africa, like any other pagan country, was permeated by the cruelty and barbarism typical of unbelieving cultures.” Echoing Eidsmoe, Wilkins also approvingly cites Lee’s insistence that abolition could not come until “the sanctifying effects of Christianity” had time “to work in the black race and fit its people for freedom.”
If you want the background about Christian Reconstructionists and neo-Confederacy read the following article:
http://gis.depaul.edu/ehague/Articles/PUBLISHED%20CRAS%20ARTICLE.pdf
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Contributing Chapter to book on the Texas Teaching Standards
I have been working very hard the last 8 months on completing a chapter for a book on the new and notorious Texas teaching standards. I was assigned to work on the neo-Confederate elements in the standards.
Last weekend I completed the revisions to the chapter and last Monday our editor sent the whole manuscript to the publisher. The chapter still goes to a reader and will come back for further revisions, but these will be minor revisions, work on footnotes, etc. My editor has been very happy with the chapter.
The working title for the volume is currently Social Studies Circus: Politics and Education in Texas and the Nation. The publisher is Palgrave Macmillan. We hope to have the volume published in time for the April 2012 American Educational Research Association conference.
Hopefully, my chapter on the Civil War and Reconstruction on the new extreme right Texas teaching standards will be a point of departure to a larger general discussion of how the Civil War and Reconstruction is taught in America. More immediatly it should help people understand how crazy the Texas State Board of Education teaching standards are and block their implementation.
Additionally, I am going to partner with an educational expert to write up lesson plans for the Civil War and Reconstruction for school teachers. I plan to sell the plans for 99 cents on Amazon.com. It will be very inexpensive for teachers.
It is sort of a relief to have gotten the Chapter done. I had been working hard at work and on two writing projects. Now I can concentrate on the Museum of the Confederacy paper. Euan Hague has been doing editorial work and the first two installments are nearly completed. I will be going over Euan's editorial inputs today and have the next to final version sent back tomorrow, Sunday evening and off to the publisher early this week.
Last weekend I completed the revisions to the chapter and last Monday our editor sent the whole manuscript to the publisher. The chapter still goes to a reader and will come back for further revisions, but these will be minor revisions, work on footnotes, etc. My editor has been very happy with the chapter.
The working title for the volume is currently Social Studies Circus: Politics and Education in Texas and the Nation. The publisher is Palgrave Macmillan. We hope to have the volume published in time for the April 2012 American Educational Research Association conference.
Hopefully, my chapter on the Civil War and Reconstruction on the new extreme right Texas teaching standards will be a point of departure to a larger general discussion of how the Civil War and Reconstruction is taught in America. More immediatly it should help people understand how crazy the Texas State Board of Education teaching standards are and block their implementation.
Additionally, I am going to partner with an educational expert to write up lesson plans for the Civil War and Reconstruction for school teachers. I plan to sell the plans for 99 cents on Amazon.com. It will be very inexpensive for teachers.
It is sort of a relief to have gotten the Chapter done. I had been working hard at work and on two writing projects. Now I can concentrate on the Museum of the Confederacy paper. Euan Hague has been doing editorial work and the first two installments are nearly completed. I will be going over Euan's editorial inputs today and have the next to final version sent back tomorrow, Sunday evening and off to the publisher early this week.
Friday, July 15, 2011
"Religious Dispatches" carries article about neo-Confederate Christianity
The article by Sarah Posner is online at:
http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/sarahposner/4858/neo-confederates_and_the_revival_of_%E2%80%9Ctheological_war%E2%80%9D_for_the_%E2%80%9Cchristian_nation%E2%80%9D/
The paper by Euan Hague and me referred to in the article is online at:
http://gis.depaul.edu/ehague/Articles/PUBLISHED%20CRAS%20ARTICLE.pdf
The word is getting out about the neo-Confederate movement.
http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/sarahposner/4858/neo-confederates_and_the_revival_of_%E2%80%9Ctheological_war%E2%80%9D_for_the_%E2%80%9Cchristian_nation%E2%80%9D/
The paper by Euan Hague and me referred to in the article is online at:
http://gis.depaul.edu/ehague/Articles/PUBLISHED%20CRAS%20ARTICLE.pdf
The word is getting out about the neo-Confederate movement.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
www.salon.com runs article about Texas Gov. Rick Perry's Confederate past
The online news and commentary website http://www.salon.com/ has an article on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's Confederate past online at:
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/07/13/rick_perry_sons_of_confederate_veterans
I supplied the documentation for the story. The letter to Rick Perry asking him to oppose a Confederate license plate for the Sons of Confederate Veterans wasn't mentioned. You can read the letter online at the History News Network at this link:
http://hnn.us/articles/140292.html
To find out what the views of all the presidential candidates regarding the Confederacy and neo-Confederacy we are going to be sending them a questionnaire. We are still writing some background papers which we hope to have completed in July. You can read the questionnaire at:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2010/10/questionnaire-for-2012-presidential_15.html
We have a paper on the neo-Confederate issues that are coming up in mainstream politics, a paper on the presidents and the Confederacy, and we have a lengthy background paper on the neo-Confederate movement. These will help provide background information to journalists.
However, right now we are going to focus on the letter to Rick Perry.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/07/13/rick_perry_sons_of_confederate_veterans
I supplied the documentation for the story. The letter to Rick Perry asking him to oppose a Confederate license plate for the Sons of Confederate Veterans wasn't mentioned. You can read the letter online at the History News Network at this link:
http://hnn.us/articles/140292.html
To find out what the views of all the presidential candidates regarding the Confederacy and neo-Confederacy we are going to be sending them a questionnaire. We are still writing some background papers which we hope to have completed in July. You can read the questionnaire at:
http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2010/10/questionnaire-for-2012-presidential_15.html
We have a paper on the neo-Confederate issues that are coming up in mainstream politics, a paper on the presidents and the Confederacy, and we have a lengthy background paper on the neo-Confederate movement. These will help provide background information to journalists.
However, right now we are going to focus on the letter to Rick Perry.
Monday, July 04, 2011
History News Network Publishes Letter to Texas Gov. Rick Perry
The History News Network has put online the letter to Rick Perry asking him to oppose Confederate license plates. You can read it at:
http://hnn.us/articles/140292.html
Reader co-signatures for the letter are being solicited in the History News Network introduction to the letter.
This letter campaign is being tracked on the blog http://confederatelicenseplate.blogspot.com/.
http://hnn.us/articles/140292.html
Reader co-signatures for the letter are being solicited in the History News Network introduction to the letter.
This letter campaign is being tracked on the blog http://confederatelicenseplate.blogspot.com/.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Letter to Texas Gov. Rick Perry asking him to oppose the proposed Sons of Confederate Veterans license plate.
We have written a letter to Texas Gov. Rick Perry asking him to oppose a proposed Sons of Confederate license plate.
We are currently gathering signatures. We have a blog about the letter and the campaign at:
http://confederatelicenseplate.blogspot.com/
One significant online media is going to have the letter online July 4th. We will have more details then.
We are currently gathering signatures. We have a blog about the letter and the campaign at:
http://confederatelicenseplate.blogspot.com/
One significant online media is going to have the letter online July 4th. We will have more details then.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Origin of Memorial Day by David W. Blight
There is this very interesting article by David W. Blight about the first memorial day in Charleston, South Carolina. I strongly recommend reading it. It is a very powerful essay which I think will have important ramifications.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/opinion/30blight.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=all
The following is a quote from the story:
So what is Obama doing today, sending a wreath to the Arlington Confederate Monument.
The History News Network did run the 2009 letter today, but not the 2010 or 2011 letters. http://hnn.us/articles/12140.html.
I suggest people read Blight's essay in the New York Times then read our letters to Obama at: http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/opinion/30blight.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=all
The following is a quote from the story:
After the Confederate evacuation of Charleston black workmen went to the site, reburied the Union dead properly, and built a high fence around the cemetery.They whitewashed the fence and built an archway over an entrance on which they inscribed the words, “Martyrs of the Race Course.”
The symbolic power of this Low Country planter aristocracy’s bastion was not lost on the freedpeople, who then, in cooperation with white missionaries and teachers, staged a parade of 10,000 on the track. A New York Tribune correspondent witnessed the event, describing “a procession of friends and mourners as South Carolina and the
United States never saw before.”
The procession was led by 3,000 black schoolchildren carrying armloads of roses and singing the Union marching song “John Brown’s Body.” Several hundred black women followed with baskets of flowers, wreaths and crosses. Then came black men marching in cadence, followed by contingents of Union infantrymen. Within the cemetery enclosure a black children’s choir sang “We’ll Rally Around the Flag,” the “Star-Spangled Banner” and spirituals before a series of black ministers read from the Bible.
So what is Obama doing today, sending a wreath to the Arlington Confederate Monument.
The History News Network did run the 2009 letter today, but not the 2010 or 2011 letters. http://hnn.us/articles/12140.html.
I suggest people read Blight's essay in the New York Times then read our letters to Obama at: http://arlingtonconfederatemonument.blogspot.com/.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Postings on neo-Confederate homophobia in new blog. UPDATED
I have started a blog to reach out to the Lesbian, gay, bi, and transgender communities about neo-Confederate homophobia at this blog.
http://neo-confederatehomophobia.blogspot.com/
It will happen that I will read about some homophobe and recognize their involvement or connection to neo-Confederacy and I need some convenient way to make this information available.
Also there are those in the LGBT community who have "Gone With the Wind" attitudes towards the Confederacy and I think with education will give up the Confederacy.
UPDATE: 5/28/11
I have gotten three different posts published on the blog now. One documents neo-Confederacy in the conservative wing of the Anglican church in the United States.
Incidentally, if you see something of interest for this new blog let me know.
http://neo-confederatehomophobia.blogspot.com/
It will happen that I will read about some homophobe and recognize their involvement or connection to neo-Confederacy and I need some convenient way to make this information available.
Also there are those in the LGBT community who have "Gone With the Wind" attitudes towards the Confederacy and I think with education will give up the Confederacy.
UPDATE: 5/28/11
I have gotten three different posts published on the blog now. One documents neo-Confederacy in the conservative wing of the Anglican church in the United States.
Incidentally, if you see something of interest for this new blog let me know.
Sunday, May 01, 2011
"How the Lost Cause poisoned our history books," by Joan Waugh.
Excellent article about President Grant at:
http://www.salon.com/books/history/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/05/01/joan_waugh_grant
http://www.salon.com/books/history/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/05/01/joan_waugh_grant
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Favorable review in the Tennessee Historical Commission publication "The Courier."
The review of "The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader" is at this link:
http://www.tn.gov/environment/hist/pdf/CourierFeb11.pdf
The review is on page 7 of the publication, right most column.
http://www.tn.gov/environment/hist/pdf/CourierFeb11.pdf
The review is on page 7 of the publication, right most column.
Friday, April 08, 2011
Manuscript on the Museum of the Confederacy in the editing phase
I have a publisher for an essay on the Museum of the Confederacy. I have extensive records on the Museum of the Confederacy going back to the early 1990s. When you index the Southern Partisan, it is amazing what you will find you have indexed. Similarly when you have the Confederate Veteran and UDC Magazine indexed.
I am writing it for a major African American website for scholars, activists, intellectuals, etc. They have expressed an interest. There is a lot of material on the Museum of the Confederacy so my essay is over 26,000 words long so the editing is going to take some time. I had planned on just 5-6,000 words, but as I went through my records I really did come across a lot of interesting material.
UPDATE:
The free guest links for all four installments of the article published on Black Commentator are in the blog posting http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
I am writing it for a major African American website for scholars, activists, intellectuals, etc. They have expressed an interest. There is a lot of material on the Museum of the Confederacy so my essay is over 26,000 words long so the editing is going to take some time. I had planned on just 5-6,000 words, but as I went through my records I really did come across a lot of interesting material.
UPDATE:
The free guest links for all four installments of the article published on Black Commentator are in the blog posting http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2011/11/moc.html
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Winter Institute of the Univ. of Mississippi has link to ConfederatePastPresent
If you go to either the main page of the Winter Institute here, http://www.winterinstitute.org and this page also. http://www.winterinstitute.org/pages/academic.htm. I think the website www.confederatepastpresent.org will receive a whole new audience. I will have to get more material online this coming summer after I get a couple writing assignments done.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Article on Jefferson Davis Highway published by Cambridge University Press
The article, "The Jefferson Davis Highway: Contesting the Confederacy in the Pacific Northwest," has been published by the Journal of American Studies at Cambridge University Press. The link to the abstract is:
We have another lengthy paper on the Jefferson Davis Highway which we hope to get published elsewhere.
My tentative title for the book is, "The Lost Highway to White Supremacy."
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