A few years ago, as part of their 30 for 30 series, ESPN did a short documentary called Judging Jewell on the case of Richard Jewell, which can be found here. For those of y’all that don’t know or remember, Richard Jewell was a security guard for AT&T during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta who discovered a suspicious looking package, which turned out to be a bomb. The bomb did explode, killing one person directly, one person indirectly, and injuring 111. Tragic, but had it not been for Jewell, the death count could have been much worse.
The man was a hero and should have been treated as such. And, he was until the FBI received a phone call from the Dean of Piedmont University, where Jewell was once employed as a security guard. It was reported that Jewell might be the “type of guy” who would have planted the bomb himself for the glory. Acting on that tip, the FBI began to investigate and that is when all hell broke loose as someone in the FBI leaked to the press that Jewell might be a suspect. What followed was a months long witch hunt where Jewell suffered “trial by media” before finally being exonerated. But by then, it was too late, his name had been smeared all over the press and he had been subjected to constant harassment by the media.
What is interesting about this from a Dixian nationalist perspective is how it all got started – as a toxic combination of Yankee arrogance and a misguided notion to appease our conquerors. You see, Richard Jewell was a native Georgian with deep family roots in the state. From his accent, to his looks, to the way he carried himself, it was clear the man was a good old boy from Georgia. In other words, he was the type of guy that was rapidly losing his place in modern Atlanta as the city drifted further and further way from its roots in the 1990s.
It is important to remember here that the paper that initially broke the story was the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which they did because they were afraid that if they didn’t, one of the established Yankee papers, like the New York Times, would break the story. After the AJC got the ball rolling, the rest of the media began to circle around Jewell. The attacks on him displayed a distinct anti-Dixie theme. He was dubbed the “Una-Bubba,” his ownership of guns was brought up, as was his living in the woods. In particular, the old stereotype of the “fat Southern LEO” was constantly used. The Yankees found themselves a scapegoat, someone to remind themselves of how much more cultured they were than us, and a major paper in Dixie was more than willing to go along with it.
At the end of the day, the Yankees are the Yankees. They look down on us and think we’re a bunch of fat, stupid, violent, racist rednecks. They did that before the War and they will probably continue to do that as long as we maintain our distinct identity. There is nothing we can do about that. It’s the Yankees, they have some kind of psychological drive to turn everyone into them and those that resist must be demonized and destroyed. It’s what they do and they’ve done it to far more people than just us. We just have the misfortune of living close to them.
But, what we can do something about how we respond when they start going after us. What we need is unity. It is through Dixian unity that we can stand up to them. This starts with understanding that nothing we can do, save for completely abandoning our culture and assist them in turning Georgia into another version New York, will ever be enough. As we have seen with Nashville country and NASCAR, selling out isn’t worth it, they won’t like our culture anyway.
As this relates more directly to Jewell, this also means standing up for each other and giving each other the benefit of the doubt. I am not talking about excusing every stupid behavior that one of us may do. Dixians, like everyone else, are capable of grave sins and when that does happen, it is up to us, in an act of brotherly love, to offer some correction. Calls to violence should never be condoned. But that was not what happened to Jewell – he was a man doing his job and he saved hundred of people he didn’t know. He may have even saved people that would have looked down on him as a “fat redneck.” But, he had a sense of duty as part of his job. He should have been a hero and too many of us went along with the character assassination. We cannot control what the Yankees do, but we can control what we do. So, when one of us is having their character assassinated, stand up for them.
What happened to Jewell was disgusting, even if he was eventually exonerated. But, what is worse is how many normal middle-class Dixians went along with it. The vast majority of them not noticing, or even caring, just how the thought process of “fat stupid redneck = bomber” was how the media presented the story. We need to stand by each other, when we do, we can stand up to the Yankees. Remember the opening lyrics to “Bonnie Blue Flag”- “We are a band of brothers and native to the soil.”
In memory of Richard Allensworth Jewell, December 17, 1962 – August 29, 2007
-By Harmonica
O I’m a good old rebel, now that’s just what I am. For this “fair land of freedom” I do not care at all. I’m glad I fit against it, I only wish we’d won, And I don’t want no pardon for anything I done.
To paraphrase Chesterton:
Oh, how I love Humanity,
The Other my delight,
And how I hate my Southron kin,
Cutaneous Scourge and Blight!
The International Idea,
The largest and the clearest,
Is welding all the people now,
Except my brothers nearest.
This compromise has long been known,
This scheme of partial pardons,
In ethical societies
And small suburban gardens—
The villas and the chapels where
I learned with little labour
The way to love my fellow-man
And hate my next-door neighbour.
And I would add,…
Alas!, I cannot hate my forbears,
my very blood and kin.
Imperfect as they must have been,
To Hate them would be Sin.
The Yankee is the enemy,
His tool is “education.”
The Southron man shall wield the same,
And Damn the Yankee Nation.
My maternal grandfather was born in Foshee , AL, in Escambia county in 1914. His brother was born in Century, FL, just over the state line. My mother was born in Arizona in 1943. My home is in Arizona. the war against my family and my values did not end in 1865. all it has been since then is the longest cease fire in history. time to go hot soon.
“Calls to violence should never be condoned.”
The problem is the Yankee, a.k.a. Coastal Liberal-Leftist, wants the Southern Man a.k.a. “Traditional American White Male”, dead. As in dead as a hammer, deceased, exterminated. The battle lines are drawn in Virginia. Where do we go from here?
Recent history says they’ll cuck, but hope springs eternal.
Being from the South Dakota, I never did get the whole Yankee v.s. Dixie thing. Until I joined the Army and was stationed in the South. Even though they talk funny, I really identify with them and would move to the South hands down over any NE Yankee state. Southerners are VERY similar to midwestern farmers. Very similar culture and values.
Love my Southern neighbors.
Please do remember that there are ‘good ol’ boy’ types whose cross is to have to live in Yankee dominated areas. Also, if you look at the county by county maps of the 2016 election you’ll see that the Yankees tend to dominate the urban areas. Plenty of Northerners who are at heart salt of the Earth good ol’ boys. Some of us are aware that the War of Northern Aggression is a more accurate description.
This is much more a class distinction than geography. I hail from the State of Southern Illinois, a hotbed of Confederatism in the day, and no relation to the other state with a similar name.
Yet, we are much the same and are definitely regarded the same by our “betters”.
My family is from New England since before the revolution. We fought the British for our Liberty. I’m 3rd generation born and bred in NYC. Moved to rural NH after 50 years, and see the same divisions here that you refer to North vs. South. I believe that the Founding Fathers were correct when they referred to our nation as a union of “THESE united States.” Notice the small u and the capital S. Every state is a sovereign unto itself. Just as they had the right to join, they have the right to leave the union. As the 10th Amendment says – any power not granted to the federal government (small letters) belongs to the States or to the People.
When I was in the reserves, I attended a school in Louisiana on active duty with two guys that were LA State Troopers. We became great friends and they kept trying to convince me to move to LA because I belonged there.
Not all northerners are Yankees (I’m a Met’s fan :^)
Yes. You are. There are conservative Yankees who might, prima facie, appear to be like us. But y’aint us. Northern conservatism is the Republican party. Y’all serve Mammon, not Christ. Thus you conserve nothing.
Then you, sir, are a hypocritical rectal orifice. Firstly, I am a sinner, saved by the mercy and forgiveness of my Father in Heaven through the blood of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Judgement of me is not yours to make. I came to this website as a result of trying to help and support my fellow Americans now facing an existential threat – from Southerners. If you cannot distinguish your adversaries from your compatriots, you will surely lose since you will have allowed your enemies inside your gates. I feel sorry for you in that you can’t recognize that the opposing sides in the approaching conflagration is based on ideology and not geographical location. As a matter of fact, there was a period of my life that I lived within the County of Prince William, Commonwealth of Virginia – with the USMC.
Before attempting to lecture me about the speck in my eye, you might wish to address the log in yours.
I didn’t know that Mr. Jewel passed away in 2007. Very sad. His life was probably shortened by the stress the controlled media and government caused him.