I'm curious, why is it only in the last few years that people in the political mainstream have been objecting that Confederate flags, monuments, etc. are symbolic of racism, hatred, etc., and demanding they be removed? Is this all because of Dylann Roof? Roof himself wrote, "I was not raised in a racist home or environment." He cites his research into issues like the Trayvon Martin case and the European migrant crisis as what radicalized him. Getting rid of Confederate flags and monuments would probably not have prevented that shooting. Maybe it would've even radicalized him more.
In the future, I think Confederate flags and monuments (and anything else that challenges the mainstream narrative) will need to be paid for and maintained by private organizations. In Virginia, after the Confederate battle flag was removed from the Confederate Memorial Chapel in Richmond, the Virginia Flaggers took on the responsibility of erecting flagpoles and flying the Confederate flag. Some local governments have tried to block them from doing this, but that hasn't hindered them too much because they've been able to just go down the road a few miles to a different jurisdiction and fly the flag there.
Cuckservative politicians are running scared at this point, worrying that the Trump resistance is going to target them if they don't fall into line. A Virginia gubernatorial candidate, Corey Stewart, defended a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, and recently Republicans have been pulling their endorsements of him and endorsing his opponent instead. Stewart said, "They’re blaming this Confederate flag issue, but they’re not following this race very carefully. Because this is not about the Confederate flag. It’s about out-of-control political correctness that shames people for celebrating their ancestry and their heritage." His campaign is partly a cultural referendum, just like Trump's was.
People criticize the Confederacy, but the United States also promoted slavery, through laws like the Fugitive Slave Act. Slavery was written into the U.S. Constitution. Yet the politicians still fly the U.S. flag and celebrate American heritage, because they'd get criticized as unpatriotic if they didn't. The 4th of July is still observed as a holiday, even though American independence probably prolonged slavery beyond how long it would've existed under British rule. (The British finished abolishing slavery in 1843.)
My guess is that if the Confederates had won, they would've had slavery for awhile, and then phased it out, just as most other first world countries did. The Confederate Constitution, like the U.S. Constitution, banned the international slave trade (except between the U.S. and the Confederacy), which suggests to me that they were headed in the direction of eventually freeing their slaves. They just wanted to do it on their own timetable and in their own way. Maybe there would've been a buyout at some point.
If we're going to get rid of Confederate symbols, then I guess we should also get rid of all the statues of Washington, Jefferson, and other slave holders. It'll never happen, though, because whatever regime is currently in power always gets a free pass on whatever genocides, enslavements, oppressions, etc. they were responsible for. They have to glorify the rebels who created this country, and demonize those rebels who wanted to break away from it, as part of their narrative that those who support this country are mostly good and those who oppose it are mostly evil.
In the future, I think Confederate flags and monuments (and anything else that challenges the mainstream narrative) will need to be paid for and maintained by private organizations. In Virginia, after the Confederate battle flag was removed from the Confederate Memorial Chapel in Richmond, the Virginia Flaggers took on the responsibility of erecting flagpoles and flying the Confederate flag. Some local governments have tried to block them from doing this, but that hasn't hindered them too much because they've been able to just go down the road a few miles to a different jurisdiction and fly the flag there.
Cuckservative politicians are running scared at this point, worrying that the Trump resistance is going to target them if they don't fall into line. A Virginia gubernatorial candidate, Corey Stewart, defended a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, and recently Republicans have been pulling their endorsements of him and endorsing his opponent instead. Stewart said, "They’re blaming this Confederate flag issue, but they’re not following this race very carefully. Because this is not about the Confederate flag. It’s about out-of-control political correctness that shames people for celebrating their ancestry and their heritage." His campaign is partly a cultural referendum, just like Trump's was.
People criticize the Confederacy, but the United States also promoted slavery, through laws like the Fugitive Slave Act. Slavery was written into the U.S. Constitution. Yet the politicians still fly the U.S. flag and celebrate American heritage, because they'd get criticized as unpatriotic if they didn't. The 4th of July is still observed as a holiday, even though American independence probably prolonged slavery beyond how long it would've existed under British rule. (The British finished abolishing slavery in 1843.)
My guess is that if the Confederates had won, they would've had slavery for awhile, and then phased it out, just as most other first world countries did. The Confederate Constitution, like the U.S. Constitution, banned the international slave trade (except between the U.S. and the Confederacy), which suggests to me that they were headed in the direction of eventually freeing their slaves. They just wanted to do it on their own timetable and in their own way. Maybe there would've been a buyout at some point.
If we're going to get rid of Confederate symbols, then I guess we should also get rid of all the statues of Washington, Jefferson, and other slave holders. It'll never happen, though, because whatever regime is currently in power always gets a free pass on whatever genocides, enslavements, oppressions, etc. they were responsible for. They have to glorify the rebels who created this country, and demonize those rebels who wanted to break away from it, as part of their narrative that those who support this country are mostly good and those who oppose it are mostly evil.