Unfortunately, today I stumbled upon the new line of Dixie Outfitters t-shirts. I was particularly impressed with their emphasis on the Confederacy’s diversity. It was also interesting to see who made the cut for their “Modern Day Southern Heritage Heros” as well as the quotes for the “Reveal the Truth” lines of t-shirts.
Token Confederates
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Kevin as a fellow Jew how can you describe the effort of our people who fought for the Southern Confederacy in the War as “TOKEN”. It was FAR more than that. How do you view the welcome of our people in the South and the Anti-Semitism that was so rampant in the North? How can you EVER look at Genl Grant as a hero knowing that he thought Jews were something that could just be ORDERED out of his area of operations?
You missed the point of the post entirely. It was just a brief commentary on DO’s attempt to make the Confederacy look like some kind of Progressive wonderland.
No I got the point, but in the interest of accuracy you should have pointed out others above may have been “tokens” but that the Jewish contribution to the CSA was real and it was “all in”. No comment on the sectional difference in the view of the Jews or Genl Grant’s infamous order?
If you are interested in the subject of Jews and the Confederacy I highly recommend Robert N. Rosen’s The Jewish Confederates (University of South Carolina Press, 2000). I am not sure why I need to say anything about Grant’s “infamous order.” It has nothing to do with the subject of this post.
I bought Mr. Rosen’s book about 10 years ago and see him at synagogue from time to time. He is a fine gentleman and a gifted writer. Geez Kevin I was only asking for your thoughts on those subjects as I am genuinely interested in what you think about them.
No problem. The order clearly reflected anti-Semitic beliefs in Grant. He later expressed regret over the order, but there is no doubt that Grant probably failed to bring his beliefs about Jews into question to the extent he did when it came to African Americans. That’s about all I have to say. Hope it helps and I apologize for the previous response.
Shalom!
“Unfortunately, today I stumbled upon the new line of Dixie Outfitters t-shirts…”
Kevin – the frequency with which you seem to blog about that particular company suggests that your latest visit was neither a stumble nor an undesired act of fortune.
Rather, like the light up confederate choo choo train village from the other day, it suggests you actually take joy in seeking out confederate kitsch, as if doing so somehow permits you to present these flea market menageries and the caricatures they entail as the public face of your opponent’s argument. In short, you take your “discoveries” of what can only be described as cheap pro-south tourist crap far too seriously, especially since that sort of thing goes both ways. And while you contemplate that point, here’s a Chia Lincoln for you to chew on:
http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=226787&aid=337953&aparam=chia_proud_to_be_america&CAWELAID=408736371
Thanks for calling me out on that one, but that you felt a need to do so and that you failed to sign your name to it tells us quite a bit about you.
I love the Chia Lincoln link.
Admittedly, Dixie Outfitters, the Bradford Exchange, ProudRebel.com and similar vendors are low-hanging fruit.
But it does highlight what I see as a fundamental credibility problem within the Southron heritage movement. Various heritage groups, who devote much of their time and energy to publicizing and organizing letter-writing campaigns, boycotts, phonebanking and the like around “heritage violations,” and use those cases to solicit donations, seem to be absolutely silent about this “cheap pro-south tourist crap.” They scream bloody murder if some kid gets sent home for wearing a Confederate Battle Flag t-shirt — that he knew violated school rules to begin with — and yet say not a word about the most outrageous commercial crap imaginable, so long as it’s marketed in the name of “Southern pride.” The hypocrisy on the part of those who claim to be defending the honor and dignity of Confederate symbols is just breathtaking.
Admittedly, Dixie Outfitters is an incredibly easy target, but their website has proven to be incredibly helpful in the classroom: http://cwmemory.com/2008/12/02/thanks-dixie-outfitters/
The third image is my personal favorite. It’s good to know that all those cross-dressing Cuban secessionists will finally have that historical role model they’ve always wanted.
On a different note, has anybody done anything scholarly on the Confederacy’s Jewish population? I’ve seen anecdotal references in the usual apologist literature, but it does seem like a subject worth looking into.
–ML
Check out Robert Rosen’s _The Jewish Confederates_ (University of South Carolina Press) http://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Confederates-NS-Robert-Rosen/dp/1570033633/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301697105&sr=8-1
One of the “Modern Day Southern Heritage Heroes” honored is Maurice Bessinger, was West Columbia, South Carolina barbecue entrepreneur and
Mr. Bessinger is best known today for his efforts in recent years to promote the display of the Confederate Battle Flag. A generation or two ago, though, he was a staunch segregationist, heading up something he called the “National Association for the Preservation of White People.” Classy folks.
Just in case you missed it: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-21-2002/civil-whites
Enjoy
Hah! Bonus points for a cameo by Glenn McConnell.
It’s easy to forget that Colbert himself grew up in South Carolina.
It remains one of my favorite Colbert interviews.
More Hispanics actually did fight for the Confederacy than the Union, although it probably had more to do with geography than anything else.
These neo-Confeds can be a pretty shameless bunch, though. On Amazon.com I found a review of a book about Ft. Pillow in which the reviewer argued that the massacre was justified because the Confederates were protecting their women from the black troops.
Yes, but at least it mirrors the sentiment contained in scores of letters and diaries written by Confederate soldiers following the Crater in July 1864. 🙂
You’re exactly right, Kevin. At least that particular fellow was judging people by the standard of their time, as modern Confederacy supporters so often urge us to do but fail to do themselves!
In the Confederate writings a century ago, such as “Confederate Veteran,” they were more likely to complain about all the “foreigners” and “Hessians” that the Yankees used as troops (i.e. immigrants) than they were to brag about Confederate diversity.
So their token Jew is some lieutenant? Judah Benjamin anyone?….Bueller?
I especially love the woman listed as “Cuban Lady”.
After looking over the T-shirt designs on their website, all I can say is…wow. Hardcore Confederates!
“Why, some of my best friends are. . . .”
There’s also this one, that blames the perfidious Yankees for all that ugly slavery business. The text:
Check that last line. Have these folks ever owned up to bearing moral responsibility for anything?
Beautiful! Hilarious! April…. Damn, you’re not kidding.
Speechless.