April (reprise)
In honor of Confederate History Month, I (re)present for your entertainment the following letters that appeared in the April 5, 6, and 9, 2007 editions of The State Press. Civility is dead. Kind of like Beatle Paul. (I do so love this little series of letters.)
Actual letters from actual people (At least I think I'm not a replicant.)
April's forgotten designation
Tuesday's editorial, "Happy Sustainability Month," mentioned several special designations for the month of April but unfortunately neglected to mention that April is also Confederate History Month.
As the editorial also referred to Black History Month (February) and Women's History Month (March), I feel that this is a particularly egregious oversight. Quoting from Louisiana's declaration of Confederate History Month, we "should study the War Between the States, as we study all wars, so that we may understand the historical events that compelled the war and, from that understanding, continue to learn to live together and seek to avoid future conflicts."
Why is a month with such a noble purpose consistently ignored?
There seems to be a sort of "thought police" attitude around what many people mislabel as "the Civil War" that brands any attempt to explore the facts surrounding this conflict as racist propaganda.
While slavery is certainly an important issue, focusing on this issue alone fails to consider other aspects of the conflict that are also important. Nearly every other country that allowed slavery abolished it peacefully, suggesting that other factors were also at play in causing the War Between the States.
While there were certainly bad aspects to the Confederacy, that fact does not give us an excuse to overlook any deplorable conduct of the Union side or any admirable conduct of the Confederate side.
Both sides of this conflict had their good points and bad points, and we should celebrate Confederate History Month to reduce this tendency to demonize the Confederacy and confer sainthood upon the Union, replacing this simplistic view with a more rational and nuanced understanding of this complex conflict.
Me
SENIOR
--I really didn't think that was too shabby
Civil War discussion
has nothing to do
with rationality
ilikefish0's perspectives and belief systems [see yesterday's letters to the editor] are at the root of why we kill each other and then justify and reinforce our behavior.
He used words like noble, rational, nuanced and "facts surrounding this conflict," which leads me to believe that he never had to wipe the brains of another human being off his face or pick up the body parts of a friend so his family could have enough to bury or blow somebody's head off with a sophisticated, state-of-the-art assault rifle.
The hubris, the misguided reasons and the fraudulent rationales continue to dominate the American psyche. The seemingly intellectually superior attitudes are from those who are well protected and lacking in the real life experience of ripping the life out of another human being.
If Jonny was ever to "come marching home again," he might be singing a different tune.
David F. Lucier
ALUM
--Damn, Dave. Get ulcers much?
No reason to honor
Confederacy
Upon first reading yesterday's letter to the editor entitled "April's Forgotten Designation," I at first thought that the writing was a joke. How can someone subscribe to such ideals?
I think it's ridiculous that he recommends that we celebrate Confederate History Month, for only a bigot would want to honor the Confederates.
I'm all for accepting other cultures and beliefs, but to remember a group who oppressed and exploited the African-American race through slavery, harbored racist ideals and succeeded and went to war with the United States is just wrong in today's day and age.
The point is brought up that we remember the "admirable conduct of the Confederates." What admirable conduct is that? The Massacre at Ft. Pillow, or maybe it's the bravery and honor of Robert E. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest?
After reading that letter, I can only ask myself, "What's next?" Should we have an Islamic Terrorist Remembrance Month to remember the hijackers of 9/11?
As a senior at ASU, I would hope that he would be more enlightened to understand what the Confederacy really stood for.
Wally Hirsch
JUNIOR
--Thank you, Rudy G^W^W Wally. 9/11!, 9/11!
Civil War not that simple
It is quite humorous to read the letters to the editor attacking someone's suggestion for a Confederate history month.
They suggest that the submitter needs to learn their history when in fact they are the one's that do not know their history.
It has been documented countless times that many serving in the Confederacy, including Robert E. Lee, did not own slaves nor did they advocate slavery.
Essentially, the South felt their contributions to the nation were far greater than the North yet felt the North was trying to push them around.
That was what the Civil War was about. Slavery was only a contributing factor, a final straw.
I personally do not advocate a month for the Confederacy but would instead suggest a month dedicated to the Civil War. The lessons from those events should never be forgotten for our own nation's sake but also to help us understand what is going on in other nations.
Tom Billington
ALUMNUS
--Thanks, Tom. You restored my faith in humanity.
And greetings to the newest lovely lady to enter my life:
I think her name is Emily, but I'm not sure (she's still shy).
Actual letters from actual people (At least I think I'm not a replicant.)
April's forgotten designation
Tuesday's editorial, "Happy Sustainability Month," mentioned several special designations for the month of April but unfortunately neglected to mention that April is also Confederate History Month.
As the editorial also referred to Black History Month (February) and Women's History Month (March), I feel that this is a particularly egregious oversight. Quoting from Louisiana's declaration of Confederate History Month, we "should study the War Between the States, as we study all wars, so that we may understand the historical events that compelled the war and, from that understanding, continue to learn to live together and seek to avoid future conflicts."
Why is a month with such a noble purpose consistently ignored?
There seems to be a sort of "thought police" attitude around what many people mislabel as "the Civil War" that brands any attempt to explore the facts surrounding this conflict as racist propaganda.
While slavery is certainly an important issue, focusing on this issue alone fails to consider other aspects of the conflict that are also important. Nearly every other country that allowed slavery abolished it peacefully, suggesting that other factors were also at play in causing the War Between the States.
While there were certainly bad aspects to the Confederacy, that fact does not give us an excuse to overlook any deplorable conduct of the Union side or any admirable conduct of the Confederate side.
Both sides of this conflict had their good points and bad points, and we should celebrate Confederate History Month to reduce this tendency to demonize the Confederacy and confer sainthood upon the Union, replacing this simplistic view with a more rational and nuanced understanding of this complex conflict.
Me
SENIOR
--I really didn't think that was too shabby
Civil War discussion
has nothing to do
with rationality
ilikefish0's perspectives and belief systems [see yesterday's letters to the editor] are at the root of why we kill each other and then justify and reinforce our behavior.
He used words like noble, rational, nuanced and "facts surrounding this conflict," which leads me to believe that he never had to wipe the brains of another human being off his face or pick up the body parts of a friend so his family could have enough to bury or blow somebody's head off with a sophisticated, state-of-the-art assault rifle.
The hubris, the misguided reasons and the fraudulent rationales continue to dominate the American psyche. The seemingly intellectually superior attitudes are from those who are well protected and lacking in the real life experience of ripping the life out of another human being.
If Jonny was ever to "come marching home again," he might be singing a different tune.
David F. Lucier
ALUM
--Damn, Dave. Get ulcers much?
No reason to honor
Confederacy
Upon first reading yesterday's letter to the editor entitled "April's Forgotten Designation," I at first thought that the writing was a joke. How can someone subscribe to such ideals?
I think it's ridiculous that he recommends that we celebrate Confederate History Month, for only a bigot would want to honor the Confederates.
I'm all for accepting other cultures and beliefs, but to remember a group who oppressed and exploited the African-American race through slavery, harbored racist ideals and succeeded and went to war with the United States is just wrong in today's day and age.
The point is brought up that we remember the "admirable conduct of the Confederates." What admirable conduct is that? The Massacre at Ft. Pillow, or maybe it's the bravery and honor of Robert E. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest?
After reading that letter, I can only ask myself, "What's next?" Should we have an Islamic Terrorist Remembrance Month to remember the hijackers of 9/11?
As a senior at ASU, I would hope that he would be more enlightened to understand what the Confederacy really stood for.
Wally Hirsch
JUNIOR
--Thank you, Rudy G^W^W Wally. 9/11!, 9/11!
Civil War not that simple
It is quite humorous to read the letters to the editor attacking someone's suggestion for a Confederate history month.
They suggest that the submitter needs to learn their history when in fact they are the one's that do not know their history.
It has been documented countless times that many serving in the Confederacy, including Robert E. Lee, did not own slaves nor did they advocate slavery.
Essentially, the South felt their contributions to the nation were far greater than the North yet felt the North was trying to push them around.
That was what the Civil War was about. Slavery was only a contributing factor, a final straw.
I personally do not advocate a month for the Confederacy but would instead suggest a month dedicated to the Civil War. The lessons from those events should never be forgotten for our own nation's sake but also to help us understand what is going on in other nations.
Tom Billington
ALUMNUS
--Thanks, Tom. You restored my faith in humanity.
And greetings to the newest lovely lady to enter my life:
I think her name is Emily, but I'm not sure (she's still shy).