One of the richest sources for a black counter-memory of the Civil War is Ebony magazine. Throughout the Civil War Centennial in the 1960s and beyond the magazine published articles that addressed the crucial role that African Americans played in Union victory. No topic received more attention than USCTs. You can view old issues through [...]
Civil Rights History
but probably not in the way that the Sons of Confederate Veterans intended. Today members of the Virginia Assembly in Richmond wore arm bands to commemorate the sacrifices of Virginia’s slaves. From the Virginia Politics Blog: The move was prompted by McDonnell’s proclamation declaring April Confederate History Month. When first issued, the proclamation did not [...]
There is an interesting article over at Psychology Today, if only because it takes a different perspective on the controversy surrounding Confederate History Month. Molly Costelloe Fong suggests that Governor McDonnell’s proclamation may have certain psychological effects within the black community owing to the long-term legacy of slavery: When one group deliberately inflicts suffering on [...]
Update: Thanks to TF Smith for the following comment, which I decided to add to the post. He offers some very interesting observations about this image that are worth serious consideration. Your thoughts are much appreciated. Actually, this was obviously a posed studio portrait, and there’s probably a case to be made the weapons – [...]
Thousands of Americans are expected to crowd the streets of Columbia, South Carolina today to demand the removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds. This is the 10th such rally in South Carolina. I published this post back in 2008, but thought it might be appropriate to highlight it once again. By now most [...]
It’s difficult to tell whether much of anything is going to happen here in Virginia this weekend in acknowledgment of Lee-Jackson Day. Yes, there is the parade tomorrow in Lexington, but that’s not surprising given the fact that the city serves as their final resting place. It would be very strange indeed if the city [...]
Over the past few days I’ve been rummaging through research files that cover the history of the Crater during the 1950s and 60s. Thankfully, I’ve been making steady progress on my manuscript revisions. I am playing around with an opening to this post-WWII chapter that tries to imagine what a family would have seen and [...]
I don’t know how I failed to comment on this, but the discussion early on in the interview is important. It is unusual to hear two African-American men talk about the importance of the Civil War as one of the most important democratizing events in American history. Of course, Coates is referring to the end [...]
