By renaming military bases, the Defense Department dismantles an enduring legacy of the Lost Cause.
Tag Archives: Confederate States of America
Only the Feds Can Disqualify Madison Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene
State courts or elections boards lack jurisdiction in keeping alleged insurrectionists off a congressional ballot.
Black Troops Who Served in the Civil War Could Get Congressional Honor
Legislators have introduced a bill to honor their contribution with the Congressional Gold Medal.
Time Capsule in Virginia Yields a Trove of Memorabilia, but No Prized Picture
Historians had hoped to find a rare, century-old photo of Abraham Lincoln in a box discovered beneath a pedestal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. It was not to be.
Time Capsule From 1887 Possibly Found in Robert E. Lee Statue
Virginia historians are confident they’ve located a time capsule beneath a former monument to the Confederate general Robert E. Lee. They are less confident about how to get it out of a 1,500-pound granite rock.
Was the Constitution Pro-Slavery? Jefferson Davis Thought So. Abraham Lincoln Didn’t.
Noah Feldman’s “The Broken Constitution” argues that Lincoln had to remake the American Constitution in order to battle slavery.
Army Base Names Are Changing. But to What?
Congress mandated renaming military bases that commemorate Confederate leaders. The communities around them are now weighing in.
Book Review: ‘Robert E. Lee,’ by Allen C. Guelzo
Allen C. Guelzo’s “Robert E. Lee” offers a nuanced portrait of the Confederate general who chose his state over the nation.
Robert E. Lee and the Importance of Biography
Exposing the complicated truth of America’s past is the real work of historians.
The South Must Teach Its Children the Truth
Attempts to restrict how students are taught about racism in schools have multiplied, but some in the South are standing in defense of real history.
‘Critical Race Theory’ And How American History Is Taught
What progressives want, and what conservatives are fighting.
Trump and the Republican Party’s Cruel Logic
Why there was Trumpism long before Trump — and there will be long afterward.
The Remains of Nathan Bedford Forrest Are Being Exhumed in Memphis
The remains of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a slave trader and leader of the Ku Klux Klan, will be moved from Memphis to a Confederate museum 200 miles away.
Stone Mountain’s Giant Confederate Monument Avoids Removal
Officials at the Georgia park voted to move flags and create exhibits to put the Civil War into fuller context. But the likeness of three Confederate leaders carved into stone isn’t going anywhere.
Over 160 Confederate Symbols Were Removed in 2020, Group Says
The Southern Poverty Law Center said more “symbols of hate” were removed from public property last year after the death of George Floyd than in the previous four years combined.
John C. Calhoun: Protector of Minorities?
Robert Elder’s new biography, “Calhoun,” recounts not only his life, but also his ideas about minority rights and his legacy on democratic political thought.
North Carolina Discontinues License Plates With Confederate Flag
The Division of Motor Vehicles said it had received complaints about the specialty plate, which had been issued to members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Confederate Battle Flag in the Capitol: A ‘Jarring’ First in U.S. History
Historians said it was unnerving to see a man carry the flag inside the Capitol, something not even Confederate soldiers were able to do during the Civil War.
What Trump Shares With the ‘Lost Cause’ of the Confederacy
It is hard to miss the parallels between now and then of rewriting history and campaigns of disinformation.
For a Civil Rights Hero, 90, a New Battle Unfolds on His Childhood Street
Before he defended Rosa Parks and became a leading legal force, Fred Gray grew up on an avenue named for Jefferson Davis in Montgomery, Ala. Now a push is underway for a new name for the street: Mr. Gray’s.
Police Chief Who Backed Charges Against Lawmaker in Confederate Statue Case Is Fired
Angela Greene was fired in Portsmouth, Va., on the same day that prosecutors dropped charges against a state senator and others for damaging a Confederate monument in the city.
How Lincoln Survived the Worst Election Ever
There are many parallels between 1860 and 2020. Let’s hope there aren’t too many.
Despite Everything, People Still Have Weddings at ‘Plantation’ Sites
Weddings help pay for education at American labor camp sites and connect us with history. Is that good enough?
Is There a Place for the President of the Confederacy?
Moving troubled monuments to museums for context may sound like an easy answer, but the story of trying to send a statue of Jefferson Davis back to his hometown shows how difficult that really is.
The Trauma of the Civil War Lives On in Faulkner’s Fiction
“The Saddest Words,” by the scholar Michael Gorra, argues that America’s troubled racial past is the central, if often unspoken, theme at the heart of Faulkner’s work.
Hurricane Laura Topples Confederate Statue That Survived Protests
Officials voted two weeks ago to keep the monument on courthouse property in Lake Charles, La., but Hurricane Laura toppled its statue from the base.
The South’s Fight for White Supremacy
Immediately after the Civil War ended, the South began a campaign to deny the true meaning of the conflict.
Massachusetts Court Won’t Use Term ‘Grandfathering,’ Citing Its Racist Origins
The term was “adopted by some states after the Civil War in an effort to disenfranchise African-American voters,” the court noted.
House Votes to Remove Confederate Statues From U.S. Capitol
The bipartisan vote to banish the statues from display was the latest step in a nationwide push to remove historical symbols of racism and oppression from public places.
University of Texas Won’t Drop Song With Racist History
“The Eyes of Texas,” once sung at minstrel shows, will remain a campus anthem at the University of Texas at Austin, the school announced on Monday.
Mississippi Governor Signs Law to Remove Flag With Confederate Emblem
The state flag, which features the blue bars and white stars of the Confederate battle flag, had flown over Mississippi for 126 years. It must be removed within 15 days.
Trump, Not So Statuesque
Things are looking down for the Donald.
As Symbols of the Confederacy Fall, Activists Say Mississippi’s Flag Should Be Next
A renewed challenge to the state flag, the only one with the Confederate battle flag embedded in it, has stirred a familiar debate between tradition and changed views on race.
NASCAR’s Confederate Flag Ban Faces a Test in Alabama
Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway will come after a black, Alabama-born driver took on a stubborn ritual of racing and Southern culture.
The Confederate Flag Didn’t Bother Bubba Wallace. Until It Did.
The only black driver in NASCAR’s top tier, he has emerged as an impassioned activist who got the flag banned at races in the largely white sport after years of putting up with it.
Pelosi Orders Removal of Four Confederate Portraits From the House
The move, on the eve of Juneteenth, came as part of a nationwide outcry for racial justice that has included the removal of historic symbols of racism in America.
Juneteenth Pleas: Take the Statues Down
“Respect those who died, but do not celebrate their beliefs with statues,” writes one reader of Confederate soldiers.
5 Years After Charleston Church Massacre, City Says Calhoun Statue Will Go
Five years after the mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, officials in Charleston, S.C., announced a plan to remove a monument to the prominent slavery defender John C. Calhoun.
From Columbus to Confederates, Anger About Statues Boils Over
From Virginia to New Mexico, protests over police brutality have brought hundreds of years of American history bubbling to the surface.
The A.P. Apologizes for ‘Thought for Today’ From Jefferson Davis
The wire service, which serves more than 2,000 newspapers, published a quotation from the leader of the Confederacy on his birth date. It ran in dozens of papers.
An Insatiable Rage
It is an everyday struggle to neither fall into despair nor explode in anger.
Who Is Bubba Wallace?
He is the only African-American driver in NASCAR’s top-flight racing series, and this week got the organization to bar the Confederate flag at its events.
These Are the 10 U.S. Army Installations Named for Confederates
A debate is unfolding over whether to rename the installations, as part of a broader national reckoning over buildings, monuments and memorials to men who fought to preserve slavery and uphold white supremacy.
Reactionaries Are Having a Bad Month
But they’ll be dangerous in the months ahead.
Protesters Topple Statue of Jefferson Davis on Richmond’s Monument Avenue
A symbol of the Confederacy falls as demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd continue across the country.