Thoughts on Corey’s Departure from Blogging
As many of you know, Corey Meyer took down his blog, The Blood of My Kindred, last week after an incident in which a Confederate flag and a sack of coal, directed at him, were left near his place of work. Kevin Levin sees this as an act of intimidation, and I do, as well. Although several of us have been the targets of threats, violent rhetoric or efforts to make trouble at our jobs, Corey has been a particular favorite of folks employing such tactics; in the last few moths he’s been the target of both a Facebook group and an online petition set up explicitly to cause problems for him at work.
One of the first folks to respond to Corey’s announcement was Dave Tatum, who immediately adopted a “no true Scotsman” refutation, saying that “who ever pulled the stunt with the flag and coal ‘Does Not’ represent The Southern Heritage Community!” I’m not sure why Dave is so certain of this, given that fairly prominent online defenders of Southron Honour™ have repeatedly engaged in threats and endorsements of violence directed against bloggers they dislike. Perhaps Dave has a short memory, and forgot this gem from Carl Roden, posing as a young woman named “Amanda”:
It goes on like that for another 1,650 words.
Or this, just over a year ago, from Josephine Bass:
Bass thinks it’s my “due” to be shot in the face. And she posted that comment about “gone to your kids school and shot up the place” four days after a gunman slaughtered 20 six- and seven-year-olds at an elementary school in Connecticut. Neither Roden nor Bass have suffered any repercussions from Tatum’s revered “Southern Heritage Community” for this sort of foul behavior. There are other examples, but these will suffice.
There’s no reason whatever to doubt that the sort of person who would write something like this — or condone it — would hesitate leaving an anonymous “message” directed at Corey of the type he describes, if that person thought he could get away with it. Furthermore, I’m quite certain that if the person or persons behind this flag business at Corey’s school are found, they will will suffer no repercussions or sincere denunciations from the “Southern Heritage Community.” Because the reality is, they’re just fine with this sort thing, so long as it’s directed at someone they dislike.
The reverse is not true, of course; when I carelessly suggested that the SCV should “stomp” Clint Lacy, who was at the time in the habit of doing lots of really ugly race-baiting on a blog he advertised as being “your voice in the Sons of Confederate Veterans,” Lacy immediately shrieked that I was calling “for a non-for-profit fraternal organization to bring violence to my doorstep.” It was a stupid and careless thing for me to write, but I doubt that anyone — least of all Clint “No Apologies” Lacy himself — believed that was genuinely intended as incitement to physical violence. Nonetheless, I publicly retracted what I’d written and learned a lesson: be careful what you say and do, because it will always be turned back on you if it can be.
Yet, in the meantime, the True Defenders of Southron Honour™ continue to toss violent rhetoric like so much confetti. The day after Corey’s announcement, a foolish young man from Tennessee announced publicly his homicidal intentions to “wipe the yankee scum from the face of the earth.” Fantasy? Undoubtedly, but it’s completely typical of the mindset. It’s just who they are, and they have no compunction about it. The need to fantasize about killing “yankees,” to threaten, to intimidate, to skulk around and try and make trouble for people they dislike, is all part of the same toxic mixture of bile and resentment. It is a mark of their frustration at their own impotence to carry out their agenda through conventional and honorable means, on a level playing field. They seek to silence those they disagree with, by intimidation or threats of violence, if need be. Skulking around an empty school ground over the holiday break to leave an anonymous “message” for someone they dislike? It’s as predictable as it is shameful.
Know them. It’s who they are.
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Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog 
In response to Andy, Corey, Levin and any other bloggers and readers, who share in the approval of attacking Confederate Heritage groups, or any other people or group, who support and defend their heritage or rights against the unfair, distortion, lies, slander and name calling done by people who say they are “Historians “,
“History lovers” Students of the ” Civil War ” or by any name or term, then go out and write their hateful words against the Virginia Flaggers, or Confederate heritage, or other similar Southern groups, then I say, SHAME AND BE DAMNED, if you think this will be allowed to continue unchallenged.
Southern people, and others, Northern, Western, or from where ever they may have originated, will not stand for cowards to call us neo-cons, bigots, racist, and to make jokes about our Southern heritage, or our character. So do this if you must, but be sure you know what this means, and be sure you know the anger, and outrage you will bring to yourselves.
Be adults, be gentlemen, discuss true facts, real events, history, that is wonderful, but to use the platform to attack people due to your hatred, is wrong, and will be met with appropriate action. THIS IS A TRUTH YOU NEED TO HEAR AND BELIEVE.
You have a nice day, Mr. Dunford.
I am having a very nice day, thank you Mr. Hall.
Andy, thank you for your thoughtful post on this distressing event. Bloggers have a right to express their opinions, and those who disagree can and should challenge them. The place to challenge is in the media, on the internet, or at conferences.
The incident involving Mr. Meyer is a “calling-card” threat. The rhetoric from those opposed to Mr. Meyer in reaction to this incident is indicative of the intimidating nature of the incident. For example, on this very blog, Mr. Dunford writes that “Southern people…will not stand for cowards to call us neo-cons, bigots, racist, and to make jokes about our Southern heritage, or our character. So do this if you must, but be sure you know what this means, and be sure you know the anger, and outrage you will bring to yourselves.” It is impossible to separate the incident from the verbal threat contained in that passage which has its echoes elsewhere on the net.
It strikes me that bloggers concerned with free speech should do as you have done Andy with your post today.
Thanks, Pat. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, etc.
Andy, while we are on the subject of some of the evil boys and girls you associate with and their Cowardly acts, the slander, lie’s, name calling, and even use all sorts of fake blog names to get onto sites and condemn the Virginia Flaggers and others, so tell me, why is this done.
Are these the actions of men and women who love The War For Southern Independence,
or as once stated by the famous writer Douglas Southall Freeman, The War to Stop Southern Independence, or for you, you probably prefer The Civil War. Are the attacks about the flaggers, part of a pain the Liberals have in knowing that much of the truth about the war is not very nice in respect to how Lincoln and the Federals look, and the only way to cover up some of the not so nice things, is to spend a of time blogging
on various sites, using false names, and then lieing about it. Is this what men do in your circles, the circles of Core Meyer, Jimmy Dick, Brooks Simpson, Al Mackey, Keven Levin, John Tucker, B.Parks, and numerous others, is this the reason these Cowards have blog sites, to call Southerners names, to show that the hate Southern People, and anything about the Confederacy, old, new, or whatever, am I correct. If not, why the lies,
why the name calling, why the attacks, why has Corey Meyer used numerous blog id’s, about a dozen, and others have also. I suspect his whole story about the flag ect.is BULLSHIT.
One thing you know about dishonorable men, they are hated, and usually they hate themselves the most.
oooohh, looks like sumbody gonna go to da woodpile ova dis. no wat I mean.
Have a nice evening, Jerry.
People who seek to intimidate their opponents into silence demonstrate that they believe that they would lose, miserably, if they actually engaged their opponents in the free marketplace of ideas.
Threats are threats and no amount of excuse makes them anything less.
Even your own post above shows that this happens far too often and shows an acceptance of such behavior of intolerance and threat by Southern heritage advocates.
Their way or threat, insult, and intolerance is their order of the day.
Sad, really.
Neil
Pycarecen, Yes good buddy, bloggers do have their opinion, and I state my opinion, and that is, don’t slander my people, me, or my family, don’t tell bald face lies, don’t call us neo-cons, bigots, racists, So Play Nice, AND ALL WILL BE GOOD, but I somehow can’t imagine you Liberal Progressive Cowards playing nice,
Now Jerry, I’ve been very civil with you, and you’re not being very nice in return.
Andy, how can you be so sure it “was” a member of the “Southern Heritage Community” and not one of Corey’s students ? Just asking.
Go back and re-read what I wrote, Dave. You can offer hypothetical scenatios all you want, but Corey and his place of employment have been explicitly targeted recently by folks claiming to be acting in defense of Confederate heritage. They’ve been very public about doing so, and I know about it entirely separate from anything Corey has claimed. I don’t know who put the flag there (nor do I claim to), but it’s entirely in keeping with what’s gone on before. Things don’t generally happen in a vacuum.
I’m more interested in your assertion that the person responsible was *not* part of the “Southern Heritage Community.” You stated that as an affirmative fact but, as I said, you’re being wilfully ignorant of a long history of actions by other members of the “Southern Heritage Community.” I’m guessing that there will also be no substantive repercussions for this person from the “Southern Heritage Community,” just as there were none in the other cases I cited. The “Southern Heritage Community,” as I said, is pretty much OK with this sort of act so long as it happens to people they don’t like.
I’m inclined to agree with Margaret, that these kinds of threats come from knowing that they can’t win in the marketplace of ideas and facts.
“Although several of us have been the targets of threats, violent rhetoric or efforts to make trouble at our jobs, Corey has been a particular favorite of folks employing such tactics; in the last few moths he’s been the target of both a Facebook group and an online petition set up explicitly to cause problems for him at work.”
“efforts to make trouble at our jobs”
Isn’t this what was done to some of the VA flaggers earlier this year? I believe so…
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“One of the first folks to respond to Corey’s announcement was Dave Tatum, who immediately adopted a “no true Scotsman” refutation, saying that “who ever pulled the stunt with the flag and coal ‘Does Not’ represent The Southern Heritage Community!” I’m not sure why Dave is so certain of this, given that fairly prominent online defenders of Southron Honour™ have repeatedly engaged in threats and endorsements of violence directed against bloggers they dislike.”
I seem to recall an anti-flag petition initiated by a Ms. Konate and endorsed by Brooks Simpson which had several threats of violence in its comments section. Don’t pretend innocence.
Are you referring to another blogger pointing out that a prominent Flagger had a direct and substantial conflict of interest between his/her protest activities and his/her employment? Then no. That’s an entirely fair point to make, in that limited context. The blogger who pointed that out said repeatedly that that person and his/her employer should be left alone. Anyone who did harass that person in that way should be held accountable. But I don’t recall that blogger calling for that Flagger to be “shot in the face,” or starting an online petition calling for his/her termination.
I didn’t sign that petition, nor did I look at it closely, but such comments may have been there. Did Simpson endorse those comments, or have any control over them? I’m guessing he did not. As before, such threats are abhorrent no matter who they come from, but you’re out of line arguing that Simpson bears responsibility for them. The person who wrote them is responsible for them.
Andy, I’m sorry I didn’t get to know Corey’s work before he took his blog down, as I’ve so very much enjoyed dipping in with you and Kevin over the last several years.
Mostly I wanted to thank you for your (typical, thankfully) forthrightness in naming the bullies and the hatred for what it is.