A Southern Apology

Apology: Reasoned argument or writing through systematic argumentation and discourse in justification of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine.

A recurring theme at Identity Dixie has been how to manage the influx of people to Dixie who have no historic ties to the South. The concerns are obvious. The urgency is high. 

They bring with them coastal liberal attitudes which are present even among what passes for being conservative in those places. The Mid-Atlantic Republican who recently arrives in Alabama will find himself out of sync with what is still the majority take held in the South on any issue of importance. 

But the biggest and most insidious concern is not from the increasing full frontal culture war fights of the newly arrived left-leaning or the lukewarm moderates; those people and the issues are easy to identify, name, and counter. The Trojan Horse already wheeled inside our walls comes from what is still the majority of the people who are coming to the Southland who are right-leaning American patriots.

While they may align on the cultural issues and national politics in the “right” way, we have a very narrow window of time to convert them to an authentic Southern mindset. If we fail to do this, they have the potential to do greater harm to the Southern identity than a train load of polyamorous trans storytellers unloading in Dixie ever could.

The Blank Slates of the American Diaspora

The great majority of Americans have no other identity other than being American. And being American for decades has meant little more than being a tax paying citizen in the Propositional Nation. This is the spell cast by the conjurers: The USA is founded on an idea, not on a shared ethnicity or common origin. 

It is as alluring in its promise as the lie of any false god. 

It is seductive and corrosive partly because it is an abstract idea. Its practicality for the average man on the couch (a man who long stopped being a man on the street) is hard to work out in the real world, but it sure does sound nice. It sounds fair. It sounds very American.  

This nice sounding idea absolves the man from thinking too hard about it any further and certainly not what the implications might mean, those are things best left to the three branches of government (!) and the checks and balances (!!), and well you know, the American System the Founders Created. Now, sir, please step aside, you’re in front of the T.V. 

As ludicrous as the Propositional Nation position is to defend, Americans, both from the Left and Right, have very little else to emotionally bind themselves to when it comes to having an identity that matters. There’s little left beyond platitudes and the increasingly desperate self-affirmation mantra so many need to believe in, that we’re still lucky to be working it all out in the freest land of them all. 

The post-WW2 New American identity is largely a contrived and commercially constructed thing. 

The New American most firmly believes in and can recite nearly all of that one magical sentence from the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…

He is a Superman American believing in the lofty sentiment of Truth, Justice, and the American Way…unaware that it is being morphed by the same dark spirit that animated the French coffeehouse radicals who mouthed, “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, mon ami!” while plotting against their recalcitrant neighbors in the Vendee. 

The New American is a Sportsball American who shows more passion for the field than he ever does for the community he lives and works in.

The New American is bored out of his mind and terrified of silence and what his own thoughts might say about it all. 

A cynical caricature? Perhaps. But what is most certainly true is that Americans have no identity to default to outside of a one-dimensional cardboard cut-out of what it means to be a citizen in a place drained of character and with almost nothing left to connect himself to other taxpayers with nobody able to identify something anyone would bother fighting for. 

Outside of the South, there are a few localized and regional places like those in New England still haunted by their history and myth, but the ascending generations are not even damned Yankees anymore, but Americans first.

Italians, Irish, Poles, Germans, et al. are so far removed from a known relative actually from the Old World, that even their ethnic identity has lost its identifying power. In no meaningful way are they anything other than American. 

The importance of all this is that even admitting it is contrived and shallow, for the great majority of Americans, being American is all they have and a man will cling to a weak identity and allegiance rather than go without. 

As loyal naturally conservative and self-labeling American patriots continue their migration away from the failure of the coasts and the urban areas, they come with a confused and unsettled mindset of who they are and what the future for their America is to be. These are people determined to make their last stand as American patriots in their new homes throughout the South. 

Here’s the problem.

What are you actually going to say when your new neighbor, who is an otherwise decent man, visits you and sees your controversial flag and eyes you with suspicion?

What are you actually going to say when they tell you, “We just need to get back to the Constitution and vote the right way!”

What are you actually going to say when they genuinely raise an eyebrow and ask you why you are so sensitive to statues being removed, places being renamed, and remembrance parades being toned down or canceled?   

What are you actually going to say?

The Southern Apology Project

“Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you…”

I offer a challenge to you and with Identity Dixie spearheading an effort to literally give you the answers to those who will be asking you these questions.

So much of our efforts are geared toward people who’ve already crossed to our side. The problem is there is nothing for our new American neighbors, let alone our church youth groups, the folks showing up at the local farmer’s market, at town events, homeschool co-ops, etc. These are the people that we’re not reaching but who will be required to help rebuild and champion a future in a free and independent South. 

The idea is simple: We will produce, make available, and widely disseminate professionally done tracts that provide simple primers that will introduce the important ideas that need to be explained, defended, and communicated. 

These short publications will be part of a library of non-threatening resources that begin to appear everywhere (in the best spirit of the religious tract left on the park bench, the pew, the restaurant booth) and handed out with charity and confidence to your new neighbors…and your old ones. 

They will feel as inviting and well-done as the material in the racks at the Welcome Center off the interstate. 

With an ambitious project like this, it is important to have a clear audience in mind. We are writing for normal people, those who are neutral and naturally sympathetic. We are not trying to persuade enemies. The intent is to make others aware of important ideas, deftly clarify misunderstandings, provide a few easy take-aways, and suggest the next best step. We want to humanize and make attractive the rich heritage and the promise that Southern identity offers.

The subject matter for this library is of course broad, but would minimally address things like:

• Southern Heroes 
• That Old Time Religion
• Southern Arts…Humor, literature, and music
• Southern Culture…From manners and hospitality to BBQ and fast cars
• Southern Accents
• Southern Love of the Land
• The Southern Perspective and Lived Reality on Race
• Historical Landmarks, Places and Why They Matter
• The South’s Role in War of Independence
• The South’s Role in Creating Bill of Rights
• Why the South Seceded
• The Truth about Reconstruction
• How to Protect Our Southern Way of Life

The reality is newcomers are already here and they will soon be searching for an identity as theirs finally expires. Let’s give them one. Even on probation, converts often have more zeal than those raised from the cradle. And we need zealots. And for the demoralized Southerners, to remind them who they are. 

We want to hear from you. Tell us what’s missing. And if you can you contribute, reach out and let us know: identitydixie@tutanota.com