Defenders of Confederate Honour, Ctd.

Posted in Memory by Andy Hall on March 10, 2015

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I honestly don’t know how these people could have made themselves look worse.

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h/t: dmf

GeneralStarsGray

36 comments

36 Responses

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Pat Young said, on March 10, 2015 at 7:36 pm

Sadly, a lot of folks at the CWT message board who complain that the Confederate Battle Flag is wrongly identified as racist defend these Friends of Forrest whose leader says that she is a racist.

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- Andy Hall said, on March 10, 2015 at 7:41 pm
  
  Yep. There’s a lot of willful blindness there. Framing the March on Selma as an offensive military action, directed at them, tells a great deal about their mindset.
  
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- Matt McKeon said, on March 11, 2015 at 4:30 pm
  
  I was disappointed too Pat. The whitewashing and excusing was pretty bad.
  
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Rob Baker said, on March 10, 2015 at 7:44 pm

I though it was about cultural and beating back cultural genocide. In Selma it’s about race? Wowzer.

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- Andy Hall said, on March 10, 2015 at 7:47 pm
  
  I’m shocked, too.
  
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  - Rob Baker said, on March 10, 2015 at 7:55 pm
    
    Well…at least the Selma folks aren’t liars…
    
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    - Andy Hall said, on March 10, 2015 at 8:05 pm
      
      Various white nationalist groups are promoting a rally there at the cemetery in Selma in a few weeks. I’m not holding my breath in expectation of Pat Godwin and her friends disavowing or excluding them.
      
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      - Rob Baker said, on March 10, 2015 at 8:30 pm
        
        Some of these people man, shameful. What’s funny is that I met Pat in Selma a few years ago. She was very cordial.
        
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        Andy Hall said, on March 10, 2015 at 8:32 pm
        
        You’re a southerner, Rob. You know how that works.
        
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        Rob Baker said, on March 10, 2015 at 8:37 pm
        
        That I do.
        
        Woodrowfan said, on March 10, 2015 at 8:44 pm
        
        Are you suggesting she would not have been as friendly to me once she heard my flat Ohio accent?? 🙂
Bob Nelson said, on March 10, 2015 at 9:14 pm

By this, Andy. http://www.inquisitr.com/1904807/kkk-billboard-selma-50th-edmund-pettus-bridge-anniversary-marred-by-klan-founders-sign/ To set the record straight (the article is wrong), Forrest was not one of the founders of the first era KKK. But a preponderance of evidence including an 1885 book by J.C. Lester (one of the founders) and D.L. Wilson indicates he was the Grand Wizard of the KKK. The billboard clearly shows that we have not come as far as I would have hoped back in the 1960s when I was a college student, met MLK once, also Peter, Paul & Mary and played in a folk group that ended each performance with “We Shall Overcome.” Not as far, that’s for sure, as most of us from that generation would like to believe. Add to it the incident at Oklahoma, it’s a very sad day IMO.

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- Andy Hall said, on March 10, 2015 at 9:27 pm
  
  Correct, Forrest was not one of the original founders of the Klan, and the interviewer was incorrect in saying that he was. But I’m not sure that matters much in the big picture. There is ample evidence that Forrest was an early member, and the most prominent member. The old klansmen actually said so. Kiskaden’s assertion that he “has no way to verify that” is just so much willful denial.
  
  Yes, it’s a sad day. But it’s good that folks like Godwin and Kiskaden are making themselves known for what they believe.
  
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  - Bob Nelson said, on March 11, 2015 at 2:09 pm
    
    Well, Andy, the first era KKK was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee in December 1865. Most accounts indicate that Forrest did not join the Klan until late 1866 so he could not have been an “early member.” The convention at the Maxwell House in Louisville (where he was elected GW) was held in April 1867.
    
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    - woodrowfan said, on March 12, 2015 at 2:45 pm
      
      joining at most a year after its founding might fairly be considered “early”
      
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      - bobnelson@comcast.net said, on March 12, 2015 at 4:44 pm
        
        An “early member” to me would mean early 1866 — at least by the summer. But the timing really isn’t that important IMO. What is important is that he was the GW contrary to all the neo-Confederate hype to the contrary. From what I have read (5 books on the first era Klan and if you’d like I can post the titles) his “office” was largely honorary although he did spend a good deal of time “on the road” in the South from 1866-68 ostensibly trying to get support for several railroads he had an interest in but most likely spreading the message of the KKK at the same time.
        
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        woodrowfan said, on March 12, 2015 at 8:47 pm
        
        “…1866-68 ostensibly trying to get support for several railroads he had an interest in but most likely spreading the message of the KKK at the same time.”
        
        that’s interesting, spreading the “New South” while preserving what he could of the old…
        
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        Andy Hall said, on March 12, 2015 at 10:04 pm
        
        Forrest had legitimate reasons for traveling widely, which was perfect for his role as an organizer/recruiter/figurehead for the group.
Jimmy Dick said, on March 10, 2015 at 10:18 pm

There is no honor in racism. The groups that purport to be about restoring confederate honor don’t even know what honor means. They have none of their own.

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- Andy Hall said, on March 10, 2015 at 10:29 pm
  
  They do a very good job of making clear what they believe.
  
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Leo said, on March 11, 2015 at 12:58 pm

As a Mississippian and native Southerner, I am appalled by these fools and wish their ilk would vanish into the night. They do nothing but give life to the Southern stereotype.

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- Andy Hall said, on March 11, 2015 at 12:59 pm
  
  They hate negative stereotypes of Southerners, while doing their dead-level best to validate them.
  
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  - Leo said, on March 11, 2015 at 1:03 pm
    
    One-step forward and two-steps back.
    
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Jarret Ruminski said, on March 11, 2015 at 3:13 pm

These people make for a good sideshow, but even in the Deep South, they seem to be tiny minority these days. The most worrisome thing is that they could influence people who might not know any better.

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- Leo said, on March 11, 2015 at 3:42 pm
  
  They are a VERY TINY minority. It’s just unfortunate for the rest of us down here that these fools make so much noise they attract the BBC.
  
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  - Andy Hall said, on March 11, 2015 at 4:00 pm
    
    There is a certain appeal to doing these stories for the media, in part because they’re easy to do — just turn the camera on and let these people talk.
    
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  - Msb said, on March 12, 2015 at 1:09 am
    
    And the Guardian. This enables a tiny group to embarrass Southerners and by extension all Americans on a global scale. It feeds so nicely into the meme that Americans are loony. Every family has its share of “don’t pay attention to Uncle Dan, he’s just that way”, but our uncle Dans always seem to be on TV.
    
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    - Jarret Ruminski said, on March 12, 2015 at 7:10 am
      
      Well, to be fair, a lot of our “Uncle Dans” play a big role in U.S. elections, especially at the local and state level.
      
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      - Andy Hall said, on March 12, 2015 at 7:16 am
        
        Coming from the congressional district that sent Confederate apologist and gold-buggerer Ron Paul to Congress year after year after year, I can attest that this is true.
        
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- Rob Baker said, on March 17, 2015 at 10:04 am
  
  I wonder about the minority. I think the true minority are those that are outspoken about their bigotry. A larger population exists that frame the argument around some sort of cultural jargon. Ya know, ‘cuz takin’ down the flags is cultural genocide. Then there is the siolent majority. Those that think this way, but keep their mouths shut about it.
  
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  - Andy Hall said, on March 17, 2015 at 10:16 am
    
    It will be interesting to see what, if anything, Pat Godwin & Co. have to say about explicitly white nationalist groups like the LoS and the SNN participating in their re-dedication coming up in May. My guess is that she’s just fine with them promoting the event and attending, but we’ll see.
    
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    - Rob Baker said, on March 17, 2015 at 10:19 am
      
      My guess is that very little will be said and little conversation will be had.
      
      As you’ve noted, Confederate Heritage groups agree with these LOS/SNN groups when it comes to remembrance. Expect the usual apologists to verify for us all that two groups can agree without one being other. (Ex. The KKK dislike Communism. Many Americans dislike Communism. Therefore, Many Americans are in the KKK).
      
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terry6400 said, on March 12, 2015 at 5:12 pm

Andy, Framing the March on Selma as an “offensive military action, directed at them” is not what the man said. He said marching on the cemetery is the military action, and he didn’t know what to expect from the marchers. The cemetery has been vandalized before.

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- Andy Hall said, on March 12, 2015 at 5:27 pm
  
  Thanks for the clarification.
  
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David Corbett said, on March 16, 2015 at 7:50 am

Opinions aside, six people and a dog at Confederate Circle hardly constitute a threat. Please observe that the interviewer did not ask the black visitor to the cemetery if he was a “racist.”

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- Andy Hall said, on March 16, 2015 at 10:39 am
  
  Maybe the interviewer did, and the response was not very interesting, or telling, and so didn’t make the final cut.
  
  Lobbing competing accusations of who’s-more-racist, though, is less important than paying attention to what people actually say and do. Godwin’s explicit disdain for the Selma marchers (both 1965 and 2015 versions) says a great deal about her attitude toward her fellow southerners.
  
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