The Record-Bee erred in using the staff reports byline for an article in the news section, “Civil War Round Table kicks off Sesquicentennial.” This article is not “news” – it”s mostly commentary consisting of neo-Confederate Civil War revisionism. A similar piece is currently featured on the Sons of Confederate Veterans website, was also printed in another local publication and has now been printed again verbatim on the editorial page of the Record-Bee.
This news article refers to slaves receiving “cradle to grave” care from their owners. The words “cradle to grave” refer to continuous or lifelong use of welfare benefits. Have you ever seen that term used in any other way? The clear implication is that black slaves got a cushy deal and slave owners had to foot the bill. This is very offensive. Who on the R-B staff holds this view of slavery?
An online search turned up a few things that were not brought to light by the staff reporter: the sources for this article are far from a dispassionate and objective historic accounting. Neo-Confederates believe that Lincoln”s presidency was not legitimate; that he waged a war of aggression and was a war criminal; that the Southerners were (and still are) unfairly victimized; and ? drum roll ? the war really had nothing to do with slavery!
It”s a fundamental principle of “lost cause” revisionism that slavery was not the cause of the war. Here is a very key element of their logic of which you may not be aware: if there were “black Confederate soldiers” then, obviously, the war couldn”t have been about slavery. For about 10 years this absurd claim has been a staple of revisionist websites and articles. It”s a classic application of the “big lie” propaganda technique, if a lie is repeated often enough, it will eventually be believed (by some people, anyway).
We should keep in mind that for the next five years neo-Confederates are going to use the 150th anniversary of the war as an opportunity to rewrite history. As a subscriber, I”m not pleased that the Record-Bee gave an entire page to an apparent attempt to lay the groundwork for this misinformation campaign.
It”s hard to see why the Record-Bee and, by extension, MediaNews Group would want to board this particular ship of fools.
Roberta Actor-Thomas
Lakeport
