THIS JUST IN--CIVIL WAR HAD EVERYTHING TO DO WITH SLAVERY

A letter titled "Mississippi flag represents hate" appeared in my local paper yesterday.

Most posters to the forum thought that the symbols in the flag were/are essentially meaningless and that the flag doesn't stand for hate. I of course submitted that it does. I even wrote a song about it that appeared on my band Buffalo Nickel's first album "Up On Blocks" back in 2002. The song is called "Take Down The Rebel Flag" and here's a sampling of the lyrics:

"The Southern Cross sure looks great to some southern natives
Like a swastika makes a Nazi feel alive
Some of us just can't relate to a flapping symbol of endless hate
Hey, the Civil War ended in 1865
Take down the rebel flag
Burn it instead of crosses
Let's cut our losses
And take down the rebel flag"

Causes of Secession

Anyway, the conversation on the forum got me to doing some research, and I ran across a document called "A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union." I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in history from the University of Southern Mississippi and took a course in Mississippi history from one of the foremost scholars on the subject, John Gonzales (R.I.P.). But I don't think I'd ever read that document before.

This document so easily puts to rest the faux-sophisticate argument that the southern states didn't really fight the war over slavery, but instead fought it over some high-minded, esoteric, principles about economics and state's rights. Actually, that's kind of true, but slavery was at the heart of the matter, at least where Mississippi was concerned, and they said so very plainly in their "declaration of independence" from the Union. Here's an excerpt:

"Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun.

These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin."

Argument over. The Civil War was about slavery.

My Forum Posts About This Topic

Count me as one who thinks symbols matter and thinks the Mississippi flag is a disgrace. I'm white, my ancestors fought for the Confederacy, etc.--and I find the Confederate flag portion of the state flag both embarrassing and purposely provocative and divisive.

There are plenty of other symbols representative of Mississippi's heritage that are inclusive and positive. We could have a book, a guitar, a microphone or all three to symbolize this state's immortal contributions to literature and music. Or just have a white flag with a single blue eighth note to symbolize the fact that blues, country, and rock 'n' roll all came from here.

Why is it such a tribute to Mississippi's heritage that the state withdrew from the union less than 50 years after joining it in order to defend the institution of slavery? Don't believe that Mississippi's motive in secession had everything to do with continuing slavery? Ever read Mississippi's "Causes For Secession" document? If not, here's an excerpt:

"Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun.

These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin."
http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/reasons.html#Mississippi

Brilliant, inspiring stuff, huh--"a blow at slavery is a blow at...civilization"? Does that sound like something we should be "celebrating" almost 150 years after the defeat of the movement that produced this kind of evil thinking? To me, it doesn't. Oh, and just because all races may have been slaves at one time or another or in one place or another doesn't mean that arguing for the preservation of slavery and/or actually preserving slavery isn't evil.

Would that make a good present-day slogan for Mississippi--"a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization"--you know, something harmless like that? What's the big deal? It's just "our heritage." Heritage is harmless and should be celebrated and promoted without qualification, right?

Give me a break--take down the rebel flag!

In response to this post--"I would suggest he and others on here look up the old "Black Laws" enacted by many Northern states before the Civil War. The library has many books on this and of course, you can find anyting now on the internet. Maybe he should accept history for what it is, learn from it and move on. It's amazing........the northern "free states" hated blacks as well. Who knew?"--I wrote the following:

No one is denying that prejudice against blacks existed and still exists everywhere in the U.S., even in the north. However, the point being made in this thread is that Mississippi, as of 2003, is the only state that incorporates the Confederate flag into its state flag.

Given that fact, is it merely coincidental that we are also the only state that:

-has the lowest percentage of people who've completed high school (including equivalency)

-has the lowest median household income


-has the lowest median family income

-is the state with the highest percentage of children below the poverty level (Washington D.C. has a higher percentage but isn't a state--but seems to be considered a state for the purposes of the census...even so...)

-has the highest percentage of people 65 and over below the poverty level

And so on. Our glorious yet benign heritage at work!!! Let us celebrate it with great fervor, shall we?

And the last one...

I merely suggested that the flag and the sorry state of affairs in MS may be related...

The chain of causation if the two things were related might go like this:

-Slavery exists in MS
-Slavery in MS threatened
-MS leaves union to maintain slavery
-MS is on the losing side
-MS forced to free slaves
-MS resents this
-MS determined to keep former slaves and their descendants down
-MS largely succeeds in that effort with overt Jim Crow policies; Confederate flag incorporated into state flag, symbolizing success of Jim Crow
-Policies of oppression create a large underclass
-Underclass creates burden on state economy
-MS forced to stop keeping down former slaves and their descendants
-Underclass persists and grows through covert, subtle, neo-Jim Crow means; state given opportunity to change symbol--rejects change
-MS continues to rank at or near bottom of lists of most good things, at or near top of lists of most bad things

The state flag is not the cause of the state's societal ills, obviously. But the mentality that keeps the Confederate flag on the state flag IS the cause of the state's societal ills. That's my argument.