What To Do With The Fourth

The 4^th of July – Independence Day – is something of an odd holiday for Dixie when you think about it, and even more so for Dixian Nationalists. On one hand, it does celebrate the birth of the United States, something that Southern men, such as Patrick Henry, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson, had a major part in creating. On the other hand, there is a hypocrisy about this whole day. Why celebrate the birth of a nation that would later conquer Dixie, specially considering that the United States was birthed by secession, something that it would later deny the South? If 1776 is to be celebrated, then why not 1861? If Robert E. Lee is a traitor, then so is George Washington.

And, there is the matter of Vicksburg, Mississippi. For it was on July 4^th, 1863, after a long and cruel siege, that the city surrendered. The people of Vicksburg, for doing what was done in 1776, were starved to death. So traumatic was the event, the city did not publicly celebrate Independence Day until World War II, despite the claims of revisionist historians. Even until at least the late 1990s, many in the city felt uncomfortable celebrating the Fourth. Finally, during the last several years, a new and powerful critique has emerged within Southern Nationalism that rejects the Revolution itself. Whereas classical Dixian Nationalism saw the War to Prevent Southern Independence as a betrayal of 1776, this new critique views the conquest of Dixie as the logical consequence of the American Revolution, as it helped free the leveling Yankees on the world – a people convinced they were on a mission from God to remake the world. And they would, conquering traditional society after traditional society until we are finally left with what we have today. Dixie may not have intended any of this to happen, but as a result of forming an alliance with the Yankees, a “rootless people” as Jefferson Davis called them, happen it did. What is all the more tragic here is that there were other British colonies, those in the Caribbean, that shared Dixie’s ordered and traditional culture and could have formed a longer and healthier alliance.

Several years ago, I tended to fall in the camp that saw the holiday as hypocritical. If America could secede from Great Britain, then Dixie should be able to secede from the United States. However, over the past several years, I have found the radical critique to be more and more compelling. There is simply no way to look at Dixie’s relationship with the United States and not conclude that the Union gave us nothing. The wars we fought in disproportional numbers, cultural changes abhorrent to us and forced down our throat at gunpoint, an opioid epidemic caused by the inept FDA and greedy pharmaceutical companies that fraudulently marketed dangerous drugs as “non-habit forming,” all of whom are in the North – are the direct result of the Union. “I hate the glorious union, tis dripping with our blood,” indeed.

The question still remains – what should Southern Nationalists do with Independence Day? What should we do when we’re invited to the annual Fourth of July barbeque? As tempting as it may be, I don’t think trolling is the best idea, especially to friends and family. Sure, it may be funny to troll your friends and family, but it winds up making you look like a social outcast. Anyone that isn’t Dissident Right will immediately tune you out, or worse. Keep that to online Dissident Right discussions. But, pretending that there are no issues with Southerners celebrating this day isn’t a great idea either. We are celebrating a nation doing something that the very same nation would later deny to our ancestors. July 4^th really is the end of the long and cruel siege of Vicksburg. I think a very good case can be made that we should have let the Brits deal with the Yankees and tried to gain freedom without them, possibly with the British Caribbean colonies which are closer culturally to Dixie than Yankeedom, and gotten a head start on the Golden Circle.

My advice is to go to that party and be civil. Bring up, in a mature way, some of the issues of this holiday. Maybe call July 4^th “Secession Day.” Talk about 1776 and 1861; Washington and Lee. Mention how today is the day Vicksburg surrendered and how they used to not celebrate Independence Day. I would leave the more radical critique on the backburner, at least initially. It’s a longer, more complex, and heavy argument that doesn’t really go over well with summertime festivities. And, of course, only do this if you will be around rightwing (if not necessarily Dissident Right) Southerners. If you are going to be around a bunch of soyboys and catladies, then stick to talking about the weather, or better yet, just stay home. Part of me recommends we wear black on July 4^th – as the ladies of Vicksburg have historically done to mourn their loss. Why would an Irishman want to celebrate a British national holiday? But we are not there, at least not yet.

This day cannot be seen as purely a celebration in Dixie. There is too much of the hypocrisy of this day and this is the anniversary of one of the cruelest events of the War. And, it celebrates an independence that was never a good idea to begin with in the first place. Ultimately, the 4th of July has many meanings. Yes, I do think that the Union was a mistake. Yes, helping to unleash the Yankees on the world has proven to be a disaster. But, when men in South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Maryland took up arms to defend their homes against the British, they were unaware of what would later happen. That can be celebrated. After all, just because thirteen British colonies from what is now Maine to Georgia revolted together, does not necessitate that they form a permanent, everlasting government together. That came later. Defense of home and family does connect 1776 and 1861, if nothing else, those shared sacrifices can be celebrated.

Harmonica