After Sherman and Grant finished grinding the flower of Southern youth into the mud in 1865, the political disenfranchisement of the heretofore free Southerners began, lasting at least until 1877. However, I would argue a cultural war of North against South, Yankee against normative American, has not ceased in the past 150 years.
The vilification of Southern culture in the North began before the War Between the States of course, and you can debate when it began in earnest. Since the end of the war, the hostility between Northerner and Southerner continued, waxing and waning in public, always simmering beneath the surface in private.
Antebellum Southern political culture was closer to Jeffersonian ideals of decentralized government and free market principles than in other areas of the country.
The memory of the people as sovereign, the state as servant was and is an existential threat to Statism, whether it is the National state of Lincoln, the Progressive State of FDR, LBJ, and BHO, new world order collectivism, or the large totalitarian states.
The proactive self-reliant individual citizen of a Constitutional republic is the antithesis of the obedient fear controlled citizen of a militarized Empire.
So Statists, particularly of the Progressive stripe, have targeted Southern culture and Southern ideals for vilification and marginalization.
They have been particularly successful in this Kulturkampf in the last 50 years.
Take the example of how "official" North Carolina has decided to observe the 150th anniversary of the War Between the States, and how the state observed the 100th anniversary, in 1961.Link
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Southern patriots should celebrate the good in Confederate history, and learn from the bad, but yes, celebrate, not just commemorate the achievements and goals of the volunteer private soldiers in the Confederate States Army: They fought for self-determination and freedom from domination of a remote oligarchy, just as their great grandparents did in the Revolution.
I'll place my knapsack on my back, My rifle on my shoulder, I'll march away to the firing line, And kill that Yankee soldier, And kill that Yankee soldier, I'll march away to the firing line, And kill that Yankee soldier. I'll bid farewell to my wife and child Farewell to my aged mother, And go and join in the bloody strife, Till this cruel war is over, Till this cruel war is over, I'll go and join in the bloody strife, Till this cruel war is over. If I am shot on the battlefield, And I should not recover, Oh, who will protect my wife and child, And care for my aged mother? And care for my aged mother, Oh, who will protect my wife and child, And care for my aged mother? And if our Southern cause is lost, And Southern rights denied us, We'll be ground beneath the tyrant's heel, For our demands of justice, For our demands of justice, We'll be ground beneath the tyrant's heel, For our demands of justice. Before the South shall bow her head, Before the tyrants harm us, I'll give my all to the Southern cause, And die in the Southern army, And die in the Southern army, I'll give my all to the Southern cause, And die in the Southern army. If I must die for my home and land, My spirit will not falter, Oh, here's my heart and here's my hand, Upon my country's altar, Upon my country's altar, Oh, here's my heart and here's my hand, Upon my country's altar. Then Heaven be with us in the strife, Be with the Southern soldier, We'll drive the mercenary horde, Beyond our Southern border, Beyond our Southern border, We'll drive the mercenary horde, Beyond our Southern border.
Here are the 24 reports of police misconduct tracked in our National Police Misconduct News Feed for this Thursday, May 19, 2011:
- Orlando FL cop investigated after video of him breaking 100lb woman’s teeth when he performed a takedown maneuver on her contradicted his report where he apparently claimed she fell. [3] http://bit.ly/mHcG2Q
- Riverdale IL sued by woman claiming 2 cops assaulted & falsely arrested her after her 3yr-old granddaughter mistakenly called 911 [3] http://bit.ly/mbdEqF
- Menlo Park CA & East Palo Alto CA are being sued by man claiming he was beaten and his 2yr-old threatened with a gun during a wrong door raid [3] http://bit.ly/krN2mL
- A Tappahannock VA cop is accused of using excessive force on 2 mentally disabled boys, breaking one of their arms in two places, then entering their home without a warrant to arrest them for obstruction after he found out their parents called to file a complaint. [3] http://bit.ly/iMAnDx
- Colorado Springs CO cop already charged w/child exploitation now charged w/sexual assault on multiple children when he allegedly groped them while performing what parents were told was a ringworm exam. He was a volunteer wrestling coach as well at the time. [0] http://bit.ly/lGz924
- Lantana FL cop arrested on allegations he stopped Hispanic men outside of check cashing stores then robbed them. [0] http://sunsent.nl/l3B3CN
- A Lower Merion Twp PA cop has been accused of stalking and sexually assaulting a woman who went public with her allegations during a public meeting of township commissioners. This one wouldn’t normally make the feed due to the lack of supporting factors, but apparently her story was so convincing that a criminal investigation is underway. [3] http://bit.ly/isOhmW
- Muscatine Co IA deputy charged w/assault on allegations he punched man at least 2x without justification on duty [0] http://bit.ly/iYgflq
- Burlington VT police cpl on paid leave while judge tosses evidence in drug case due to his unprofessional behavior [0] http://bit.ly/ieWuIT
- Newport Beach CA sued by 2 well-respected former detectives claiming intolerable corruption within department [4] http://bit.ly/jaMIcJ
- Miami FL cop sentenced to 6mo in plea deal to extortion charges for protecting deliveries of stolen goods. [0] http://bit.ly/jOyHd7
- Louisville KY cop rehired on technicality is fired again on allegations that she arrested someone without a warrant and damaged a police cruiser then tried to keep it secret. [0] http://bit.ly/lZhW74
- 6 Austin TX SWAT officers were suspended & 1 was fired for drinking at a party while on call. The fired officer ended up in a DUI involved crash in his unmarked cruiser afterward. [0] http://bit.ly/m7Zr6m
- State Univ of NY Albany police officer arrested on federal marijuana manufacturing charges along with her husband [0] http://bit.ly/k6GSdS
- Los Angeles CA police officer wins $1.16mil judgment against LAPD claiming a transfer was retaliation against him for being gay [0] http://bit.ly/kSaY1f
- Barrow County GA sheriff’s capt resigns after disciplined over racial slurs reported by fellow officers and other allegations including Facebook posts that referred to Obama as a “towel-headed camel jockey”. [0] http://bit.ly/kDfxL1
- Honolulu HI cop gets deferred sentence & community service after pleading no contest for shoplifting groceries [0] http://bit.ly/l4kgHS
- Eunice NM police sergeant charged with animal cruelty for allegedly killing 2 turkeys within city limits? [0] http://bit.ly/if6Vp5
- Louisville KY cop suspended 30days w/o pay for failing to report on-duty police cruiser accident [0] http://bit.ly/jy51cX
- New York NY police sgt assigned as integrity officer docked 1mo pay for letting mom use police parking placard [0] http://nydn.us/lVW50B
- Milton FL cop on paid leave after arrested for DUI when found passed out in truck, investigated in other incident [1] http://bit.ly/lWS5hf
- Vineland NJ police officer charged w/drunk driving after crashing his pickup truck into utility pole (correction) [0] http://bit.ly/iRC0Ja
- New Jersey State police sergeant faces DUI hit & skip charges days after stricter DUI policies take effect [0] http://bit.ly/mGXZKM
- Cedar Rapids IA cop receives unspecified disciplinary action after photographed sleeping in cruiser on duty [1] http://bit.ly/kUxcEC
…before I go, to help end on a little bit of a high note, here’s a commendable story about a cop who didn’t shoot.
That’s it for today, stay safe out there!