People separated from their history are easily persuaded. --Karl Marx Though I rarely have the need for quotes - preferring to speak my own mind rather than echo the thoughts of another - I have often referenced this quote from Karl Marx, specifically with regard to the Southern people of this once-great land. There has indeed been quite a concerted effort to remove my kinfolk from our history, and our history from my kinfolk; to teach a highly subjective, pro-US government version of history to generations of Americans; to glorify the Union, and demonize the Confederacy. But, in truth, the application of Marxs philosophy in practice has gone far deeper than that. I warned many years ago that once the flags of my Confederate ancestors were disparaged, the US flag would be next. And so it has. We now see Old Glory banned from neighborhoods, schools and many public buildings as being offensive and inflammatory. We hear our Founders referred to as traitors and villains (sound familiar, my Southern brothers and sisters?), and the Constitution - that inspired document which limits the power of government and guarantees the rights of the People) denounced as archaic and thus no longer valid nor applicable today. And, as a descendant of Northern European folk, I see Marxs philosophy applied with increasing success to people who share my ethnicity, if certainly not the honor I have for such. What does it mean, precisely, to proclaim, I Am Ashamed To Be White!? I cannot fathom this sentiment, it being so horrendously distant from the love I have for my people, my ancestors, my very blood. How might I be ashamed of my Celtic, Teutonic and Scandinavian ancestors, knowing their histories as I do? Their struggles, their hunger, their battles, their sacrifices, the continuation of their very existence in the face of disease, hardships, oppression and tyranny? I am here because they survived. No power on this earth could compel me to hang my head low when speaking of them! I know not what stock those who profess shame in their heritage are derived from, but I can safely attest that it does not possess a fragment of the wisdom, courage and honor of my own. Shame belongs to any man or woman, of any honorable culture or creed, who professes shame in what they are! My roots run deep in this earth. The wind is the very breath of my ancestors; the rain, their tears; the thunder, their defiance! I am my people; thousands upon thousands who came before me, passing all that they were down to me. They are in my blood, my flesh, my marrow; my soul, my spirit, my life! Hang your head in shame as you were taught if your lot in life is to be a sheep. If that be your choice, then I can assure you that I am as ashamed in you as you are in yourself! As for me, I feel my ancestors breath upon my cheek, their tears upon my head, as I add my voice to their own in thunderous defiance: They survived, and thus I AM!
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 21:55:59 +0000