South Carolina's Secessionist Ball

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Well, just in case you missed it, 6 days ago (December 20th) marked the 150th anniversary of South Carolina's secession from the Union. To commemorate this momentious event, 300 of the good citizens of the Palmetto State thought it appropriate to hold a Secessionist Ball.

Honestly, what were these people thinking? I suppose to an observer who had never ever heard anything at all about the Civil War this event might seem benign enough. A bunch of smiling white people dressed up in old-timey garb dancing around and stuff.

But how likely is complete ignorance? Even die-hard neo-Confederates must have known that their event would stir controversy. The more gentile "Heritage not Hate" crowd surely knew that their Ball would greatly offend many many people. So I guess they didn't really care.

Within sight and ear-shot of a large gathering of protesters, the would-be secessionists went on with their plans and essentially commemorated what some say was the execution of treason undertaken to protect the institution of slavery.

According to reports, the Ball's organizers rejected accusations that their event commemorated the protection of slavery. Rather, they insisted, it was a celebration of those who were willing to sacrifice their lives to protect their rights. (which, by the way, were the rights to own slaves - something the organizers didn't mention).

Now while the NAACP leadership compared Confederates to Nazis, Michael Givens, Commander in Chief for the Sons of Confederate Veterans stated,"We honor our ancestors for their bravery and tenacity protecting their homes from invasion." The group's central purpose, he noted, is to preserve the history and legacy of the South's "citizen-soldiers."

Mr. Givens - even the authors of South Carolina's Ordinance of Secession remark that slavery was being threatened, and thus the state had no other choice but to leave the Union. So quit squawking about all this bravery and tenacity whoop-dee-do.

Sure, Confederates were not Nazis - not even close. But let's be honest. They saw growing opposition to southern slavery in the North and were scared shitless. I mean...of course they were. The South's entire economic and social system rested on it.

So call it heritage all day long - good for you. You are commemorating a heritage of committing treason to preserve human bondage.

Peace,
Keith