Confederates in the Attic

Casualties in war

“In war, truth is the first casualty” Well this must be true considering that most likely no one will ever find the truth to the conspiracy of the killing of Mr. Westerman, at the of age 19. The truth that the confederate flag was waived because of a school mascot or because it matched the truck that Mr. Westerman was driving. I believe that the war in the south still continues because of how the people are not ready to move on. They need to be able to turn around and face the future, because no matter what happened in the past it cannot be changed.

Like any war there has to be three sides. The two fighting and those who must sit on the sidelines and suffer the consequences. Like most wars is the old people who start them and the young who must fight them. Civil War the south was refusing to stop slavery, causing the south, Confederacy to succeed to the union, and the Union at the north to put a big wedge in the newly born America. Mr. Westerman wife stated that the flag was put on the truck because of how the colors matched those on the truck, also how Mr. Westerman did not know much about the flags history. People should look at themselves and wonder if they really know what or why that flag was made. Some wave the flag around like its there ride and heritage when in reality they have no clue as to what it means, represents or even the simple raw history of it.

The reason that war still rages in the south, is that, it all falls back on how some people are ignorant and they don’t even know the real history about the flag. Just like the Swastika was use to represent the working class before Hitler ever came into the picture. Teenagers these days only follow what they believe to be there pride when really it’s just another excuse to be viewed as cool. A Statement that was said by Billy Laster was that it was a school symbol, that’s was all.

On the other hand, some blame the shooting on the flag. They believe that the flag is the cause of the shooting and some other problems that accured. Maybe that’s why it was ruled that the flag should be taken down from the capital building in Tennessee. The flag could be a sign of the Confederacy, and the slavery of the African Americans, or white supremacy.

All of the problems that have happened in the south could potentially be traced back to the Reconstruction Era. How President Andrew Johnson appointed governors to the southern state and allowed them to be able to made second class rights which was basically the same thing as being a slave. These governors also allowed the Black Codes, which eventually turned into Crowe Laws to be able to keep the African American from beginning to powerful. A big opportunity came when congress had pass a Civil Rights Bill, giving all former slaves what they were fighting for, equality, almost 100 years before the actual bill we know of was passed. This meant that African Americans could have equal rights 100 years before all of the countless strikes and movements. That doesn’t mean there would of not have segregation but it could have been avoided. This has been a cycle that feels like is has come and gone, but in reality it is always in the back of our minds.

In the southern states the groups such as the KKK, White League, and The Red Shirts, they have been constantly working in the shadows. They died down around the 1870’s but they came back stronger than ever around 1970’s. These are some of the groups that have been silently working to stop some of the laws that were passed such as inter-racial marriage. These people were against the reconstruction. They did not want the former slaves to have equal rights as they did, that is why they supported this idea of African American as a Second Class Rights.

Whether this was caused by a misinformation or a racial issue, we need stop looking at what the problems of early America was and start to see what is coming in our future. The American youth cannot afford to keep there eyes focused on the past, we need to make a turn and prepare ourselves for the problem that are waiting for us around the corner. If we don’t stop the ignorance of our fathers to fight for the little things war will rage in America until it takes over us.

Citations:

-“In war, truth is the first casualty.”

Aeschylus
Greek tragic dramatist (525 BC - 456 BC)

-Horwitz, Tony. Confederates in the Attic. New York: Vintage Books, 1998.