I have recently spent time posting and interacting with members of several “Confederate” Facebook groups. This has been an enlightening experience, giving a glimpse into ideological fallacies that are common in these sort of groups. These ideas are a result of trying to reconcile beliefs concerning the history of the South and Southern culture with Cultural Marxism and modernity. There are several ideas in particular that I encountered that spoke to this cognitive dissonance most acutely.
The first trend I immediately noted after joining some of these groups and perusing the content for a short period of time is that there were a large number of image posts of black people dressed in confederate uniforms. Strangely enough, there were more pictures of blacks in confederate uniforms than there were whites within one particular group that claimed to be for “real” confederates. The comments accompanying these posts were basically people falling all over themselves to signal how great this was. These reactions were basically an attempt to signal that they weren’t racist despite supporting the Confederacy. It is the logic that if a black man is wearing the confederate uniform, it should be alright for white people to wear it as well. How can we be racist then? The better question would have been, “How does a black man in the uniform adequately represent your ancestors who fought and died for the cause?” These types of groups are virtually all white, it doesn’t make sense to use black men as the standard bearers for your cause.
Another common narrative I witnessed many people trying to promulgate within these groups, is that they were descended of Cherokee blood. They were attempting to take up this mantle of identity instead of simply identifying as white. I’ve actually witnessed this phenomena in everyday life while interacting with fellow Southerners. It is a way of trying to shed some of the excess baggage that comes with identifying solely as a white person. The present social climate has become so vitriolic towards white people that it is easy to understand why they would do this. However, if you identify as a confederate, you should have the courage to rail against this.
Even some of the more intellectual people I encountered were still trying to argue for impractical things in order to try and keep in sync with tenets of Cultural Marxism. One such fellow made an argument that if black people were simply educated about the true causes of the Civil War (i.e. The Tariff of Abominations, etc.) and on the true attitude Lincoln had towards the blacks (i.e. believing that whites and black could not live under the same state and that they would need to be sent back) that there attitudes towards Confederate symbols, like the battle flag, would change.
It is certainly true that the educational system in this country has taught that the Civil War was fought over slavery and the evil Southerners needed to be reconstructed. However, the issue is two fold with respect to believing that black people could be taught the correct version of history. Firstly, black people have a far stronger tribe mentality than white people. They have no incentive to believe the correct version of history because it does not directly benefit them as a people. Secondly, the educational institutions of this country have for a long time corroborated the false narrative surrounding the Confederacy and the Civil War. They are dedicated to promoting Cultural Marxism, where the minorities are uplifted and the white man demonized. It is highly unlikely they will change that. Whilst intelligent, this fellow lacked the sense of racial realism that would have allowed him to break free from the pattern of trying to justify the Confederacy to colored people.
All of these ideological fallacies are an attempt to justify the Confederacy and the honoring of our Confederates ancestors in the frame of what modernity has made socially acceptable.
Your ancestors weren’t evil, and you don’t need to justify honoring them to a system that hates you.
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.
Nice post. Rainbow Confederates need to wake up and admit that the Confederacy, America’s Founding Fathers, and our white ancestors in the British colonies in the pre-America period were all “rayciss” by modern standards. To the historically literate, the only question is whether or not we should stand with them.
The part about Rainbow Confederate types falsely claiming partial Cherokee ancestry to dodge the allegation of “raycism” reminded me of Michael Cushman’s excellent article last week over at OD titled “23andMe Explains Cherokee Princess Syndrome”. Cushman puts the smack down on the CPS foolishness.
I understand, Mr. Putnam, my fellow Confederates who are Rainbow, and their desire to demonstrate those values which inhabit the breast of the Southern Man – fairness and kindness.
I am patient with them, while not giving in to them.
I talk to them in terms of family, and in terms of love, and that helps. We have to be patient and work with them, as they will be, in spite of all appearances, the very first group of those who will join us – once the rose-coloured glassed have fallen from their faces.
God bless you and yours, up yonder in The Hoosier State.
In May of 2016, I formed ‘The North Carolina Secessionists’, at Facebook
By October of that year we had grown to be 8,000 members – the largest Southern Secessionist group at Facebook.
While the stated purpose of our group was to unify differing strains of Southerners to rally for independence, by June found that the Rainbow Confederates were very aggressively bullying The White Supremacist Confederates in our group – the former suggesting that the latter were ‘a disgrace to the flag, who had no right to be in our group.’
After that I took the time to admonish all members that, though it does truly have many meanings, The Confederate Battleflag, our great banner, means, first and foremost, the rights of The Southern White Race to live on it’s land free of aliens, alien entities, and alien ideas; and that there would be no adjustment to that.
I pinned that post, and kept it there until I was banned from Facebook (for polite criticism of America, President Obama, Chancellor Merkel, and the Jewish community, and for praising the KKK and The League of The South).
After that, the NC Secessionists has been capably commanded by my executive, who, in an attempt to keep our group alive in such a repressive environment, reverted back to my original group pin that defined our group as that which advocates States’ Rights and which condemns the lawlessness of The Yankee Government.
I really hate people like this because they are completely cucked and we don’t need chucks like them as they will just turn any new Confederacy into a repeat of what we have now. That said I also can’t stand groups like the league of the south that claims NO non-whites fought for the confederacy not realizing that narrative helps our enimies, it also triggers my historical accuracy based autism. While it was rare there where blacks, Latinos, and Natives in the confederate army, sitting bull was actually granted the rank of General by the Confederate government. I’m not trying to make any moral argument here I’m just a stickler for historical accuracy.
Dear Son,
You can pick bones with anybody. In the end, who really cares about agreeing with someone else 100% about history or any other thing?
What is important to stand with your White Southern Brothers in the time of our greatest peril.
I hope you can manage that, even if we don’t have the right academick credentials.
Save your arguments for the Yankee Government.
I really hate people like this because they are completely cucked and we don’t need cucks like them as they will just turn any new Confederacy into a repeat of what we have now. That said I also can’t stand groups like the league of the south that claims NO non-whites fought for the confederacy not realizing that narrative helps our enimies, it also triggers my historical accuracy based autism. While it was rare there where blacks, Latinos, and Natives in the confederate army, Sitting bull was even given the rank of General by the Confederate government (though it could be argued that it was a symbolic gesture as he was never given an army to command and instead lead a small band of tribal warriors). I’m not trying to make any moral argument here I’m just a stickler for historical accuracy.
I’m a LS member. I’ve never heard anyone deny that there were minorities in the Confederate Army. What’s usually denied is the outright exaggeration of numbers used by these Cuckfederates.