Two Virginias

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By Melissa Harris-Lacewell, The Nation

Governor Robert McDonnell declared April Confederate History Month in Virginia. In his declaration Governor McDonnell called for Virginians to "understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War."

In his original declaration, McDonnell made no mention of slavery as a root cause for the Civil War. His insistence on remembering only "leaders, soldiers, and citizens" refuses to acknowledge the existence of black people in the South. There were some black soldiers who fought in the Confederate army, but the vast majority of African Americans contributed to the Confederate effort through the violently coerced, unpaid labor that was part and parcel of the their dehumanizing, totalizing, intergenerational, chattel bondage. McDonnell seems to believe that this reality is unworthy of remembrance.

It's taken me nearly two days to respond to the Governor's declaration of Confederate History Month and his flip erasure of black life, suffering, and struggle because this particular news story is profoundly personal.

On my father's side we traced our family tree as far as we could follow it and discovered we are descended from an African woman sold into slavery on a corner in Richmond, Virginia. My father and his siblings grew up in the Church Hill neighborhood in Richmond. They attended racially segregated schools. Despite being nearly starved for school resources by the state, my father and his twin brother became the first in the family to attend college. Both became college professors. My uncle had a distinguished career as a student at the University of Virginia. My father went on to become the first Dean of African American Affairs at the University of Virginia in 1976.

I grew up in Virginia. I had social studies teachers who referred to the Civil War as "the war between the states" or "the war of Northern aggression." My interracial family experienced harassment and abuse during the two decades we made our home in the Commonwealth. But Virginia is also the place where I made lifelong friends, found spiritual communities and was educated by many tough and loving teachers. I came to political consciousness in Virginia and distinctly remember listening to every word of Douglass Wilder's inauguration address as the first black governor. I cheered on election night 2008 when Virginia turned blue just moments before Barack Obama's presidential win was announced.

I share this personal history because it is not exceptional. Black Americans are, by and large, Southerners. Our roots, our stories, our lives, our struggles, our joys have a distinctly Southern flavor. Slavery and Jim Crow are part of our experience, but so are church picnics, HBCU football games and jazz music. There is no Black American history that is not deeply intertwined with Southern history. It is extraordinarily painful to watch an elected official in the 21st century engage in an act of willful and racist historical erasure of our very selves.

Virginia history is my history. Yet the story of the Confederacy that McDonnell seeks to propagate and profit from is unrecognizably alien.

There are two different ways that we can tell the Southern history of Virginia. One narrative is rooted in Virginia's colonial past and centers on the contributions of Thomas Jefferson and other patriots who gave their talents and their lives to resist tyranny and craft the Union. Jeffersonian Virginia history is not free from the ugly stain of slavery. Jefferson was an enslaver. His great architectural contributions were made possible by the slave labor that built the majestic Monticello and the breathtaking University of Virginia. His intellectual and political contributions were undergirded by wealth generated by the forced labor of dozens of black men and women.

Yet Jeffersonian history is surprisingly transcendent. When Jefferson was faced with the task of declaring an independent nation he chose to write a document motivated by a nearly unimaginable claim of human equality.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

When Jefferson asserted the self-evident nature of human equality there were few things in the world less self-evident. Monarchy, feudalism, imperialism, slavery, rigid caste systems and profound inequality were the realities of the 18th century. But Jefferson wrote for our new nation a broad and sweeping document that was bigger than himself, greater than his own historical moment, and unconstrained by the realities of inequality. It audaciously asserted that the natural order rested in equality and self government. This document became a promissory note.

Jefferson's Declaration of Independence did not bring a free and fair American into being. But it created a vision for a free and fair America that generations of social movements could point to as the nation's promise. The Declaration of Independence required the nation to respond with social change when its citizens fought for greater equality.

As I child I lived in the shadow of Monticello. As a teen I lived on Jefferson Davis Highway, and there I discovered the other Virginia history. This is the Virginia history that is etched in the stony faces of confederate traitors who line Monument Avenue in Richmond. This narrative of Virginia laments the end of slavery, romanticizes traitorous action against the state and memorializes sedition. This history is built on a false and romantic notion of an imagined Confederate past that refuses to acknowledged the ways that slavery degraded not only black labor, but white labor; how it destroyed the land; and how it starved the region of innovation.

This is the history that Governor McDonnell is attempting to resurrect.

Without a hint of irony McDonnell suggested that he hopes to profit from Confederate inspired tourism. Clearly he hopes that the racial anxieties brewing in America will serve as a tourist boon for the former Confederate capital. Having profited for centuries from the forced labor of enslaved black Americans, Virginia seeks to further commodify black suffering in the 21st century. McDonnell is welcoming Rebel flag waving whites from rural Pennsylvania, downstate Illinois, and Southern California to come spend their money and steep themselves in Virginia past when white citizens, determined to keep black people as non-humans, fought back against the federal government.

Virginia has other histories that we can use to resist this false and frightening narrative. We must insist on remembering Jefferson's Virginia that called us to be better than ourselves, to defend freedom, and to hold together our union. We must remember the histories of all the black families like my own whose struggle and strength cannot be erased from Southern history.

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[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Virginia is an interesting state. Jefferson was an interesting man. Avoiding the bias in the above article and just focusing on Jefferson, he was very conflicted on the subject. On one hand he was a slave owner and on the other he supported legislation to end slavery multiple times.

I think by my statements people like Danno think I believe the people of the Confederacy were morally wrong. I would say that is not true, the Confederacy as a government yes, but not the people. Take Robert E. Lee, he was great man that chose to fight for the Confederacy not so much for the Confederacy's sake but Virginia's. That's something I can respect.

Likewise, I've always had a deep respect for Saburō Sakai even though he served Imperial Japan. He recognized what was wrong with his government but still served for his homeland's sake.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Virginia is an interesting state. Jefferson was an interesting man. Avoiding the bias in the above article and just focusing on Jefferson, he was very conflicted on the subject. On one hand he was a slave owner and on the other he supported legislation to end slavery multiple times.

I think by my statements people like Danno think I believe the people of the Confederacy were morally wrong. I would say that is not true, the Confederacy as a government yes, but not the people. Take Robert E. Lee, he was great man that chose to fight for the Confederacy not so much for the Confederacy's sake but Virginia's. That's something I can respect.

Likewise, I've always had a deep respect for Saburō Sakai even though he served Imperial Japan. He recognized what was wrong with his government but still served for his homeland's sake.

Well said. Our country's rich history is full of people who were multifaceted - people like Andrew Jackson. That's why commemorating an era of our past means embracing both the positive and the negative.

Edited April 11, 2010 by El Buscador

[luckytxn 2,265]

The civil war had been brewing long before actual war occurred.From its inception the United states had to contend with slavery. Many on both sides of the issues had to compromise to forge our nation. Even our constitution was a compromise to this. Almost every decision since its own inception and laws made had to be a careful tightrope walk. The writing was on the wall with our race to the pacific ocean and the bringing in of new states. The south knew that slavery was dead if more non slave states were admitted and congress and senate would have the votes to overturn the practice.

Yes it was all about slavery but it was about state rights too. The bloodletting had to come eventually and the one tragedy was that it had to be so bloody. Many had ties to their states that transcended the nation. It was hard to imagine for us in the present times how it was then. When your state back then said to come home then one went even if you didn't want to or disagreed with the reasons. Not to do so was a traitorous event and reflected on your family and ancestors.

I think honoring the biggest significant event in our history is the right thing to do. It gives us a chance to remember history and the sacrifices that were made. If we don't remember history then we are doomed to repeat them. The moronic talk from the few of succession is an example. It would be so much better to have let the changes that come from the ballot box come. If the south had understood this and let an evil practice expire then the bloodiness could have been avoided. They would have seen that it would have been better in the long run and the hatred and reconstruction and jim crow laws would never have happened. Instead they did what humans always do when they feel threatened and that was to lash out even knowing that they were besieged on all sides and could never have won.

[wayno 10]

Robert E. Lee was one of the great generals of the time and was offered the position in the union army. However, he could not fight against his native state (Virginia) so he became a confederate general. Many people had that same feeling at the time. They were, Virginians, North Carolinians, Georgians, etc...etc...They went with their state. I have said before, they were all Americans and should be honered and rememnbered IMO.

If your home locally (your state) seperated from your country, what side would you choose?

[luckytxn 2,265]

Robert E. Lee was one of the great generals of the time and was offered the position in the union army. However, he could not fight against his native state (Virginia) so he became a confederate general. Many people had that same feeling at the time. They were, Virginians, North Carolinians, Georgians, etc...etc...They went with their state. I have said before, they were all Americans and should be honered and rememnbered IMO.

If your home locally (your state) seperated from your country, what side would you choose?

There is no more bigger Texas booster than I and am a very proud Texan but if Texas separated I would side with my country first. Divided we fall.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

There is no more bigger Texas booster than I and am a very proud Texan but if Texas separated I would side with my country first. Divided we fall.

You are a true patriot.

[luckytxn 2,265]

You are a true patriot.

Most Texans are. :dance:

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Most Texans are. :dance:

Not your governor though...he wants to secede.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Most Texans are. :dance:

Yes, 76%.

But 18% of Texans would support secession.

[scandal 951]

This is the Virginia history that is etched in the stony faces of confederate traitors who line Monument Avenue in Richmond. This narrative of Virginia laments the end of slavery, romanticizes traitorous action against the state and memorializes sedition.

Just in case anyone missed what the other Virginia was, in the eyes of the author. No sugar coated glamorizing of Johnny Reb here.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Not your governor though...he wants to secede.

LOL. Running for office again I see. He is a nice guy and all but but every politician that runs in Texas always says this. We just laugh at it and it has become a long time joke.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Just in case anyone missed what the other Virginia was, in the eyes of the author. No sugar coated glamorizing of Johnny Reb here.

I agree. Slavery sux, always has and always will. Whether it is in Egypt or the US, it still is odius. I wonder if we should similarly celebrate the treatment of women at the time, especially those of color. Johnny Reb was a criminal, a simple traitor, period. No false heroism, nothing of the sort. West Point was packed by Southerners, which is why so many of the top generals were from the South. The Union plan (Anaconda)was devised by a native son of Virginia, General Winfield Scott.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Yes, 76%.

But 18% of Texans would support secession.

I seriously doubt that many support it but as I said most do not. Majority would rule on this.

[wayno 10]

There is no more bigger Texas booster than I and am a very proud Texan but if Texas separated I would side with my country first. Divided we fall.

I agree totally, Divided we fall. Once again I love my country, the USA, and in no way want any kind of seperation. I love every part of this great nation and have stated many times in other threads. I asked that question based on how I percieve people may have thought in the past. Heck, I could probably think that way at the present. If my state and all I know, everyone, and everything I know wanted to seperate, it would be hard for me not to go along with them IF THEY HAD ALREADY SUCCEEDED. Believe you me, I would not want that to happen but that is how I would feel if they did. Again I am not advocating any of this, just trying to think how someone would back then.

Why would I want to go with the rest of the country if all, everyone, and everything I know is going the other direction? In a time of no cars or jets and even the railroad was new, your world was your locality andf one would have to have some super strong beliefs to go against their family and all they know. Just my thoughts for the night. Once again I love the USA and nobody can tell me I don't for thinking this way.