January 3, 2011
Hello, it’s the Sesquicentennial!
The Civil War began 150 years ago this year. There’s many Civil War buffs out there, who attend reenactments, dress up, camp and cook like people did during the Civil War. People who dress in blue and gray become pals in the commemoration of history. The bitterness of real war is but a ghost. During this Civil War anniversary year Americans will have opportunities to remember and reflect on our nation’s history.
Few would disagree that the Civil War was ultimately about slavery. Slavery equated to Southern economic power, political independence and cultural plantation identity. I think the South felt that without slavery, it would be stripped of its essence. Perhaps this is oversimplified but it seems to me the South seceded and was ready for war because it did not want to be told how to run its own affairs.
When I was stationed in a southern state during my military service in the late 80’s, I saw many a Confederate flag displayed. Locals would say it was in celebration of their heritage. Unlike the controversies about that flag representing racism, I came to see that is not what Southerners felt. They recall the pride of their economic power and unique culture, without much thought to slavery at all. It seemed to me that to Southerners slavery was almost beside the point. One source I found indicated only 25% of southern families actually owned slaves, yet the rebels committed themselves to a tough fight and against overwhelming odds. Arguably, they believed they were fighting for a higher ideal than slavery.
To a certain extent North and South still talk past each other. A good analogy might be today, how Germans are proud of their country but don’t really want to hear about the days of the Nazis. For many years, our society shunned those among us who fought in the Viet Nam war. Then somewhere along the way, after the passage of time, we came to respect them, while still disagreeing. Hopefully, that’s where we are today. In that vein, perhaps we can enjoy learning and seeing the commemorations of the Civil War over the next several years. A look at history may suggest some actions for us today to tackle a variety of differences.
One idea apparent to me is that we should have more dialogue and real, content-based debate between opposing views on matters of public discussion. With the internet, TV, radio and mass communications like the planet has never known, this should be easy. But instead, we seem to have ardent opponents who do not want to listen to the other side of an issue at all. And opposing sides usually fall back to concise reductions or sound bites. Ironically, the resulting gulf between the parties widens rather than narrows. You know that adage about the pen being mightier than the sword? Sometimes, the ear might be, too.
Hello, it’s the Sesquicentennial!
The Civil War began 150 years ago this year. There’s many Civil War buffs out there, who attend reenactments, dress up, camp and cook like people did during the Civil War. People who dress in blue and gray become pals in the commemoration of history. The bitterness of real war is but a ghost. During this Civil War anniversary year Americans will have opportunities to remember and reflect on our nation’s history.
Few would disagree that the Civil War was ultimately about slavery. Slavery equated to Southern economic power, political independence and cultural plantation identity. I think the South felt that without slavery, it would be stripped of its essence. Perhaps this is oversimplified but it seems to me the South seceded and was ready for war because it did not want to be told how to run its own affairs.
When I was stationed in a southern state during my military service in the late 80’s, I saw many a Confederate flag displayed. Locals would say it was in celebration of their heritage. Unlike the controversies about that flag representing racism, I came to see that is not what Southerners felt. They recall the pride of their economic power and unique culture, without much thought to slavery at all. It seemed to me that to Southerners slavery was almost beside the point. One source I found indicated only 25% of southern families actually owned slaves, yet the rebels committed themselves to a tough fight and against overwhelming odds. Arguably, they believed they were fighting for a higher ideal than slavery.
To a certain extent North and South still talk past each other. A good analogy might be today, how Germans are proud of their country but don’t really want to hear about the days of the Nazis. For many years, our society shunned those among us who fought in the Viet Nam war. Then somewhere along the way, after the passage of time, we came to respect them, while still disagreeing. Hopefully, that’s where we are today. In that vein, perhaps we can enjoy learning and seeing the commemorations of the Civil War over the next several years. A look at history may suggest some actions for us today to tackle a variety of differences.
One idea apparent to me is that we should have more dialogue and real, content-based debate between opposing views on matters of public discussion. With the internet, TV, radio and mass communications like the planet has never known, this should be easy. But instead, we seem to have ardent opponents who do not want to listen to the other side of an issue at all. And opposing sides usually fall back to concise reductions or sound bites. Ironically, the resulting gulf between the parties widens rather than narrows. You know that adage about the pen being mightier than the sword? Sometimes, the ear might be, too.
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