Understanding the Reverence for the Confederacy

One particular critique of the Dixian memorialization of the War Between the States and the Confederacy focuses on the tendency for Southerners to remember the War better than the North. The question normally goes: “Why do you want reminders of a war you lost?” Indeed, it is true that Dixians tend to remember the War better than the Yankees. While our memorials tend to be numerous and grandiose, theirs tend to be fewer in number and far simpler in design. When pressed on this matter, I normally turn to Shelby Foote’s quip: “I had maybe, it’s a rough guess, about fifty fistfights in my life. Out of those fifty fistfights, the ones that I had the most vivid memory of were the ones I lost.” Additionally, I would bring up the population differences between Dixie and the North. Starting in 1870 or so, the North had a huge wave of immigration, meaning that for millions of Northerners, the War had no personal connection to them. Their families were in Ireland, Poland, Italy, etc. when it happened. By contrast, and before the 1990s, virtually the entire White population of Dixie had at least one ancestor who fought for the Confederacy. In turn, this gave the War a personal dimension that it lacked in the North. It is not a coincidence that the first large scale wave to remove Confederate memorials started as the demographics of Dixie began to change.

For the most part, I ignore the “reminders of defeat” question; while there are some people who are legitimately curious, many are the jeers of knaves, a number that has increased in recent years. To me, the memorialization of the Confederacy, and even the War we lost, was natural. We may have lost, but we fought against overwhelming odds, and we fought bravely. We lasted far longer than the Union’s advantage in raw numbers – population, railroads, and industrialization – suggests we should have. From further researching history, I have discovered an attitude, that I once considered natural and universal, was in fact unique to Dixie and a few other nations. It is understanding this attitude I wish to explore in this article.

Dixie is among a select group of nations that do remember their defeats, something that is far from universal. For example, Russians do not talk about the Mongol conquests. Normally, these nations are surrounded by a nation (or nations) that hate them and are trying desperately to stamp out their national identity. Thus, the memorialization of defeats becomes, however counterintuitively, a method by which they can preserve their national identity. To fail to uphold your identity is a disgusting act of betrayal.

In fact, Shia Muslims do this on the anniversary of the death of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad. For a quick refresher, Shia Muslims contend that Hussein was the rightful heir to lead Muslims, a right taken from him unjustly and one he tried to win back. He failed to do so, falling at the Battle of Karbala, a battle where he was hopelessly outnumbered. The anniversary of Hussein’s death is an important day for Shia Muslims, especially those living under Sunni rule, but it is far less important for Sunni Muslims. This may appear odd at first – after all, why would the Shia wish to remember a massive defeat while the Sunni barely remember the death of a usurper? It does make sense when one considers the status of the Shia throughout the history of Islamic civilization – a hated minority in all but a few places. The memorialization of Hussein is therefore a strategy to preserve their identity.

Another nation to do this, and the nation where Dixie draws its own memorialization of defeat from, are the Celtic nations, especially Ireland. There have been numerous attempts to break the English yoke, but only one has been successful, and even then, it was only partially successful. Yet, the Irish have written songs and built memorials to more than just the War for Irish Independence in the 1920s. The Irish rebel song “The Rising of the Moon” tells of the ill-fated attempt to break English rule in 1798 in which the Irish, already out numbered, went into battle armed with pikes against muskets. And though the Rising went poorly for obvious reasons, the Irish people still remember the event both in physical memorials and in song. Even today, the Irish will still talk about how brave the men of 1798 were. Even though it may have been a defeat on the battlefield, the Irish used it to strengthen themselves psychologically.

When I first heard of the Rising, I thought it was one of the bravest things I had ever heard: the actions of patriots who could not be stopped in their goal to free their land. I was shocked at how many people I talked to simply thought it was madness. What I failed to understand is that they were coming from a completely different viewpoint. For me, to understand the hopelessness of a battle but still fight on is natural, and I can easily understand the actions of the men of 1798; we are from a very similar cultural framework. But what I once assumed was universal is actually quite rare.

“The Wind That Shakes the Barley” is another song memorializing the 1798 Rebellion. The song’s title is a reference to the barley the Irish patriots would keep in their provisions. When the English killed the rebels, they would frequently throw them in mass graves. Other times, the barley would fall from the soldiers as they walked. Either way, one of the most important visualizations of the Rising were the presence of barley spouting seemingly randomly from the ground. To the Irish, this had a far deeper meaning: it represented the cycle of rebellion against forging rule; and in the defeat of one rising, the seeds of another rising would be planted, until eventually the time would be right to finally drive the invaders from their land.

Dixie’s history is more than the Confederacy, but Dixians cannot reject it or forget about it. Similar to the Shia and Irish strategies of remembering their defeats to maintain their identity, Dixians of the past have done the same, and we must follow in that path. There is a reason why the enemy is so gung-ho about getting rid of all traces of Confederate memorialization – they understand that when it is gone, Dixie cannot maintain its identity. The death of Dixie comes when her sons and daughters no longer remember the actions of the brave men and women who fought gallantly for her. To any true Dixian, such an act is to spit on the grave of those who gave their lives for the South. To honor them, we must continue on and remember our past.