In Haley Barbour's Mississippi: Civil War Looms Over License Plates Suzi Parker Correspondent Posted: 02/12/11 The South is a place where many folks still want to believe in an antebellum region of moonlight and magnolias. Sometimes, that nostalgia clashes head-on with the politically correct present. In Mississippi, such a battle is raging over -- of all things -- license plates marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The Sons of Confederate Veterans has launched a campaign to issue one of the specialty license plates honoring Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was once the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The NAACP and a Facebook group are protesting the plate, which at the earliest would be unveiled in 2014. This little drama comes at a perilous time for Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who was in Washington this past week attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and positioning himself for a possible 2012 run. So far, Barbour has not responded to the controversy but he seldom shies away from his Southern heritage. And in the South, Forrest is a legend and a hero among Civil War buffs. In Arkansas, the town of Forrest City in eastern Arkansas near Memphis is named in his honor. The Ku Klux Klan hosted rallies in the town as recently as a few years ago. In neighboring Tennessee, Forrest's home state, a state park is named for him. The park's website calls him "the intrepid Confederate cavalry leader." Forrest Gump, the character created by Winston Groom, was named after him. Even Barbour doesn't shy away from Forrest. As governor, he has attended the National Championship Hunt for bird dogs and hosted a reception at Galena Plantation, the original home of Forrest, who was a millionaire when the Civil War started, in Holly Springs, Miss. Forrest was accused of war crimes at the Battle of Fort Pillow in 1864 after his military forces conducted a bloody massacre of hundreds of black Union Army and white southern prisoners sympathetic to the Union. That only endeared him to rebel leaders like Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who lamented that the Confederacy did not utilize Forrest' abilities to mobilize and strategize enough. He joined the Ku Klux Klan, but then left it because he felt the group was too violent. Most academics agree that this was Forrest's reasoning for leaving. "If Christian redemption means anything -- and we all want redemption, I think -- he redeemed himself in his own time, in his own actions, in his own words," Greg Stewart, a member of the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, told the Associated Press. "We should respect that." The group has had a specialty license plate since 2003. Until last year, it featured a small Confederate flag, but a re-design now features Beauvoir mansion in Biloxi, Miss., the final home of Confederate president Davis. Legislators would have to approve the Forrest plate, but they have okayed more than 100 of them over the years. The Sons of Confederate Veterans group evolved from the United Confederate Veterans, which was formed in the late 1800s. The group is "a historical, patriotic, and non-political organization dedicated to insuring that a true history of the 1861-1865 period is preserved." Members must have "descended from any veteran who served honorably in the Confederate armed forces." They often participate in historical re-enactments and also preserve Confederate soldiers' graves. The Southern Poverty Law Center in Birmingham, however, says that the group has been dominated by "racial extremists since 2002." It also states that the radical faction has sought to turn "the SCV into an explicitly political group that pushes racist neo-Confederate ideas and issues." In the South, the push-and-pull of the past looms largely. Martin Luther King, Jr. shares a holiday with Confederate General Robert E. Lee in many Southern states including Mississippi. In Natchez, Miss., the city still hosts spring and fall pilgrimages that showcase the grandest of plantations from the Civil War era. Hostesses wear elaborate hooped dresses and black women dress up like Mamie from "Gone With the Wind" and offer pralines for sale. The town sees it as an economic engine. And it works. Tourists from as far away as Europe visit during the pilgrimages, which began during the Great Depression as a way for the town to make money and restore the palatial homes. The United Daughters of the Confederacy, based in Virginia, also exists as a women's heritage association dedicated to honoring the memory of those who served and died in service to the Confederate States of America. The group began in the late 1800s to collect money for memorials to Confederate veterans and battles. It, too, has a controversial past. It opposed integration of public schools in the 1950s and suggested that an all-white public school rename itself after â guess who? Yes, Nathan Bedford Forrest. In July, the Sons of Confederate Veterans are planning a convention in Montgomery, Ala., celebrating "The Cause for Southern Independence." The first morning of the convention kicks off with, yes, a "Forrest Calvary Breakfast."
Is this part of what makes Southern cities more affordable, cleaner, and less ridiculously taxed? The more the wealth continues to transfer to the sun belt, the more of this southern resentment and jealousy you will see... LOL@ "neoconfederate issues"... that's funny... You DO know that there are many blacks today advocating for segregated, all black schools.... right? For some reason, that's not so "controversial" or "racist"...
It's gone beyond advocacy, it's actually happening. Not only in America, but throughout the world... Some black groups are advocating that this be the standard... Now, let us imagine the response to a notion that white children need an "all white school", or a "euro centered" or "anglo centered" education. Or the claim that white children simply have different learning needs than black children.... It would be an international scandal, with condemnation from the international community. There would be candle light vigils, and imagery of the KKK and nazis would be invoked immediately... Black children 'need own schools' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1398628.stm WANT TO SET UP AN INDEPENDENT BLACK SCHOOL WHERE EVER YOU ARE IN WHITELAND? CHECK OUR THE COUNCIL OF INDEPENDENT BLACK INSTITUTIONS(CIBI.COM)-THEY WILL SHOW YOU HOW! http://yeyeolade.wordpress.com/2009...k-institutionscibicom-they-will-show-you-how/ Board okays black-focused school After a heated but civil debate, Canada's largest school board voted 11-9 last night to open an alternative Africentric school to help fight a 40 per cent dropout rate among Toronto's black teens. http://www.thestar.com/News/article/298714 Similarly, advocates of all-black schools believe that single-race learning environments could benefit black students by neutralizing the stigma of doing well in school. McArdle summarizes the argument in favor of all-black schools thus: [T]he phenomenon of socially punishing students who "act white"--i.e. focus on grades--is something that happens mostly in mixed-race schools, where black students are trying to maintain a distinct identity. When all the kids are black, getting good grades is just . . . getting good grades. http://ricochet.com/main-feed/All-Girl-s-Schools-All-Boy-s-Schools-All-Black-Schools Racism fears as city school opens for black pupils only http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2381488.ece The African American Academy draws students from across the Seattle Public School District. An African-centered education recognizes the undisputed fact that humanity began in Africa, and acknowledges contributions of all peoples and cultures. http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/aaa/
Most of this stuff is outside of the U.S. and on the fringes on all sides. What the hell is a "senior race advisor to the mayor of London"? I'd love to see that job description.
The south is moving forward ,states rights and the concept of limited centralized govt is deservedly making a resurgence throughout the nation.
its high time the north stop supporting the south,,the redistribution of wealth from the north to the south has got to stop, and let them stand on there own two feet without them crying for uncle sam everytime they get into some difficulty.
Its true. The argument is that white teachers have neglected black children and not given them help when they fell behind. Excuses.
The south as region has moved forward tremendously. There is nothing wrong with a region celebrating it's heritage. If Mississippi want to issue confederate plates, then Im good with that. I like to see my enemies coming As a free republic, people have a right to move. They have a right to vote with their feet. It is an infringement of states rights to deny Mississippi the right to publish plates of any kind they want. The plates to do violate any of three inalienable rights of it's citizenry. Why anyone would celebrate a defeat is beyond me tho.
I'm all for it. Problem is every time a southern state even hints at cutting the umbilical cord from Washington northerners and liberals start screaming bloody murder. In fact the last time some southern states actually tried to cut ties from uncle Sam well over 600,000 Americans died because the north/Lincoln insisted on bringing them back under Washington's control. "The Union armies had from 2,500,000 to 2,750,000 men. Their losses, by the best estimates: Battle deaths: 110,070 Disease, etc.: 250,152 Total 360,222 The Confederate strength, known less accurately because of missing records, was from 750,000 to 1,250,000. Its estimated losses: Battle deaths: 94,000 Disease, etc.: 164,000 Total 258,000