When it comes to the debate over removing Confederate monuments, those in favor of keeping the statues have not necessarily done the best job making their case. The argument propounded by boomer conservatives is that these monuments are a part of history, from which we can learn. They carefully avoid the question of what exactly we’re supposed to learn. If you stick around too long, they might start talking your ear off about how the Civil War wasn’t really about slavery. But ultimately what their argument boils down to is an earnest plea that, “It’s not racist!”
As a caveat, much of mainstream conservative opinion has shifted so that many actually agree with liberals that the monuments should be removed, lest these “respectable” conservatives should be labeled racist. National Review Editor Rich Lowry is of this mind:
The monuments should go. Some of them simply should be trashed; others transmitted to museums, battlefields, and cemeteries. The heroism and losses of Confederate soldiers should be commemorated, but not in everyday public spaces where the monuments are flashpoints in poisonous racial contention, with white nationalists often mustering in their defense.
But for those of us in favor of keeping the statues, the best argument hasn’t even been made yet. It begins by acknowledging—and in part agreeing with—the liberals’ argument. On the airwaves of NPR, or on the pages of the New York Times, you’ll hear leftist intellectuals explaining patiently in supercilious tones that these monuments are not about heritage at all; but rather, when you look at the context in which they were built, are meant as an act of defiance. They represent Southerners’ defiance against the North, defiance against Reconstruction; and most of all, defiance against the Civil Rights agenda and all that entails. These arguments are bolstered if you simply look at when the monuments were built. From the Atlantic:
But they are actually post-bellum propaganda. Segregation did not become Southern dogma well after the compromise of 1876. It was not firmly locked in place until Woodrow Wilson’s ascent to the White House in 1912. In other words, segregation was constructed in precisely the period in which the monuments were put in place. They did not symbolize past battles, but present and future white supremacy.
We should perhaps accept the left’s premise, without of course buying into their ridiculous “white supremacy” lingo, nor do we share their conclusion that the statues must come down, obviously. Their premise is that the monuments are more than just an homage to the men and the “lost cause” that they represent on a literal level. They are also an affirmation of Southern values and attitudes towards race in the pre-Civil Rights era.
To put it in colloquial terms, these statues are the Old South’s way of saying, “Okay, you won, but you know what? F- you.” I like to think we share that attitude on our side in the current conflict over the statues. It’s a similar situation with regards to the Confederate flag. Yes, there is an element of honoring our ancestors; but let’s be real, this flag has taken on new meaning in the post-bellum era, and it’s taken on an even more pregnant meaning in 2017.
Instead of tying ourselves into knots explaining that these symbols and monuments “aren’t racist,” and that it’s “heritage not hate,” we should at least inwardly recognize that these symbols are in fact representative of an iteration of White identity. And to be even more specific, they represent that identity as it is being besieged by liberal dogma on race and “social justice.” Earlier the Southern resistance was against desegregation, as adjudicated in Brown v. Board. With that so far in the rear view mirror, how much more desperate are our battles today?
While earlier that defiance may have had a different context, in 2017 our struggle is against the tyranny of Cultural Marxism. And incidentally, most Americans agree with us.
Follow Malcolm Jaggers @malcolmjaggers
They are monuments to treasonous men,. They tried to destroy the United States , it’s flag and violated the Constitution . The Constitution expressively forbid the states from forming a confederacy,. And a army, and it’s own government and Constitution. In which they then attacked the United States army at Fort Sumpter,. And declared war , the very description the United States Constitution gives as TREASON. They killed hundreds of thousands of United States Patroit who died to save the United States, it’s Constitution, and it’s flag,. The one you claim to love so much. They should not be put on places of honor on United States property they are a slap into the face of those that died to preserve this nation. Never mind that the States on Declaration of Secession. Expressively say they are leaving over slavery. It is a heritage of Treason, if they would have succeeded you would not be living in the United States
You’re as full of shit as a Christmas goose.
LOL!
If you drink and write, find a sober proofreader.
They are also a symbol of white surrender. Lee made a deal at Appomattox. It was for the trapped Confederate soldiers to be allowed to go free in return for a complete surrender of the Army of Northern VA, which led to a Confederacy-wide surrender. What was Lee really fighting for, anyway? He had made plans to free his slaves before the war started. Confederate monuments have been tolerated for as long as they have because they are a symbol of the war ending well for the North. Veneration of Confederate heroes is a way of coming to terms with an unnecessary and destructive (for whites) war by putting a stamp of honor and valor on calamity.
I am going to give you guys some advice one more time….stop alienating potential friends…i had engaged the alt right for many years, i exited over all these crazy generational comments, some sites even going against Irish people…..today i came back and see right away more snide boomer comments…there is nowhere for me and the others like me to turn toward if you keep this up….right now if you do not see that you need all the people you can find you are a dull as the rest of ths country….drop the anti boomer stuff….it does not in any way assist your cause….i am going to give you one more chance if it keeps up i am leaving for good…you may not care but you do not know how many others think like me….this is a war build your forces strong…stop dividing…..
I think you misunderstand: the “boomer conservative” is an archetype which we use as a shorthand to convey a certain outmoded view of politics. Of course it’s not meant to alienate an entire generation. You can absolutely be a boomer and be Alt-Right, more power to you!
Thanks for the reply….the boomers themselves came up with a term that describes the type of boomer i think the alt right dislikes, we called them yuppies….maybe yuppie cons would be a more descriptive term….dont mean to be a snowflake but i do take offense to the boomer concept being broadly applied…..it was a suggestion i always feel compelled to make and in the wrong place but this is the first alt right article i have read in months and wham i confront this boomer description which does not apply to me or any boomer i know….most of my friends are pretty fed up and see rather clearly what is happening…..
This is Southern Nationalism, not the alt-right.
Hello, Mr. B.
Hello, James.
My wife asked why the statues were put up. My answer was people build monuments to their heroes, their victories and their tragedies as way of bonding, a way simply stating that they exist and a way of stating their values. Tearing your enemy’s monuments down is the equivalent of dick slapping him or pissing on his ancestors’ graves.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/08/18/goy-bye-white-flight-huffpost-loses-the-plot-turns-bannon-departure-into-race-war/ GOY BYE – very funny
““The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”
George Orwell
“The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history. Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long that nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was… The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.”
Milan Kundera
This is what they are doing.
Do some photoshopping! Meme ready.
Hello!
Not a very American name you’re sporting ther. Just thought you should know.
Moving the monuments doesn’t erase history. Have you forgotten dead relatives because there was no statue of them? Have you forgotten what Hitler did for want of a statue? This agreement is nonsense. And that’s how it is being treated. Because that’s what it is.
Statues serve as a reminder. They were not erected to push some kind of a pro-slavery agenda, but to remember this episode of history and remember those who fought in the war and those who fell. Destroying them is offensive to those whose ancestors fought on that side.
It is in itself a step towards erasing their memory, because: who knows maybe the next step is to rewrite history books, than their memory maybe altered, maybe disappears. But if the statue stands than it is there.
“Not a very American name”
I’m Hungarian, from East-Europe. We are winning the battle over here. We were never nearly as progressive as the US, but there was also a progressive propaganda in our country sponsored by the West, which started to alter our society. The turning point was 2006 when we started to push them back, now it seems we and other East-Europeans are winning. Therefore there is no need for me to engage in demonstrations and online debates in Hungary.
This monument demolition pissed me off, and considering the oppression of white people in the US, I am here to give my moral support.
Pride and defiance are laudable qualities, as are beauty and links to the past. On so many levels, the monuments must be protected and preserved.
If I’m a racist, I’m not a very good one. I’ve never owned a slave or lynched a black man.
Fuck that.
Chaining yourself to things seems to be a good way to get in the news.
You can get 100′ of heavy duty chain and a serious lock at any Home Depot in the land.
Maybe while holding nothing more than a simple American flag and muh
Bill of Rights. No Stars and Bars and no Nazi shit. White polo at most. Nothing that reees Alt Right. Brand-fetish is degenerate, anyway.
Use the chain and a simple message. Say: “I’m saving X today to save George Washington tomorrow.”
Now is not the time, and this is not the battleground, for Agree and Amplify.
A lot of heritage-not-hate types are getting triggered as fuck over this, and A&A will only confuse them and play into the MSM’s narrative, thereby keeping them on the sidelines out of fear of being called a racist.
Trying to keep the statues from coming down is what matters, not why. This “Who’s next George Washington?” meme is riling up people outside the South, and that is what matters.
If this is done right, it could put VA in Trump’s column for 2020 and cement both NC and FL there. And even if Trump cucks out, that’s still more TIME before a Kamala Harris-led Fed crackown.
On this particular front, simplicity and clarity is more important than purity grandstanding.
hmmm I think we need to tie these statues to Whites.
If confederates really can’t bring themselves to align with us, then they deserve to lose their fucking statues.
There is yet another side to these Monuments. Most were built between the first decade of the 20th century and into the 1920’s. That would be roughly 70 odd years after 1865.
There were thousands who had lived through the civil war and were still alive when these monuments were built. there were even more who had parents and Grandparents who lived through the civil war when these monuments were built. Many of them marched in Civil war parades. For them it was not only a symbol of defiance but truly a memorial.
A good deal of these monuments were built during the 1920’s which was an era of prosperity. It could be one reason why these Monuments are so grand. It was also a time when the European Jew had not become a major force in America. That happened after World war 2. Hollywood’s “Gone With the Wind” remains one of the best dramatic movies of the civil war that was not biased against the South.
But by 2017 all that has changed. There are no survivors, These monuments are part of history, liberalism, globalism (the social changes of the 60’s) and the rise of the Jews have changed so much. I just wanted to share this thought.
I agree that these monuments are an expression of defiance as well as Memorials. Both messages are clear and powerful. The Confederate Battle Flag is one of the most defiant symbols of the Southern white and must be fought on those terms.
They are being attacked because they are symbols of White Defiance while the message of being memorials is pushed aside. I want to acknowledge this.
“They represent Southerners’ defiance against the North, defiance against Reconstruction; and most of all, defiance against the Civil Rights agenda and all that entails. These arguments are bolstered if you simply look at when the monuments were built”
I agree.
“Their premise is that the monuments are more than just an homage to the men and the “lost cause” that they represent on a literal level. They are also an affirmation of Southern values and attitudes towards race in the pre-Civil Rights era.
I agree.
“To put it in colloquial terms, these statues are the Old South’s way of saying, “Okay, you won, but you know what? F- you.” I like to think we share that attitude on our side in the current conflict over the statues. It’s a similar situation with regards to the Confederate flag. Yes, there is an element of honoring our ancestors; but let’s be real, this flag has taken on new meaning in the post-bellum era, and it’s taken on an even more pregnant meaning in 2017”
I agree
But the word “Racist” to me means that a person believes one race is either superior or inferior to another race without any reason and that person does not have to belong to either race being addressed. Example would be a Chinese person who believes blacks are superior to whites (or visa versa ) and give any valid reason for that belief. That Chinese person is a “racist” to me.
However being proud of one’s own race which includes biological issues to history does not make a “racist”. It means being proud of one’s race.
Conservatives can be counted on to stab nationalists in the
back every time, with a long history – throughout the West – of doing just that.
George Lincoln Rockwell at Brown University, 1966:
“(Conservatives)… are the most cowardly bunch of finks I’ve ever had to deal
with. They’re all running around calling me a communist so as to prove they’re
not Nazis!”
Agree and amplify is the way to go. Reductio ad absurdum. Talk about how synagogues trigger the poor suffering people of Gaza and need to be torn down. Government buildings trigger taxpayers and private buildings trigger class fear and envy, et cetera. Primitivism Über Alles until they agree that civilization requires that the Left be smashed
It’s absolutely true.
Also in McAuliffe I think the Dems have found their SJ warrior boi.
Better get him destroyed and soon.
Good to focus on McAuliffe but for not for that reason.
Most everybody that pulled for Sanders last year hates McAuliffe b/c he’s a Clintonista, a neoliberal.
The stronger McAuliffe seems the more tension there will be in the left’s camp.
Interesting.
What Lowry doesn’t see is that white nationalists and alt-righters are “mustering in their defense” because once again establishment conservatism has surrendered to cultural Marxism on this issue and ceded the moral high ground. Modern conservatism is such a failing, cowardly and bankrupt ideology that it’s creating a vacuum being filled by white identitarians.