Civil War and opened eyes

[Jeanne in MN]

Being Minnesota born and bred, I have sometimes wondered (from what I've seen on tv and what I've read) why the Civil War seems to still be near and dear to the hearts of many Southerners. It seems so long ago.

Last night on Extreme Home Makeover, the dad, from VA, had a collection of Civil War artifacts that he treasured. The show did a call up for any local people who had Civil War artifacts to donate and then Ty put them all on display in a small building they errected just for the dad's Civil War stuff. I'm looking at these people thinking, wow, that's a lot of stuff! I can't fathom people around here having that kind of stuff or having much interest in collecting it. I think I know why now.

After watching that dad last night and hear him talking about the war, the family home where his ancestors cared for injured soldiers from both sides and after studying the Civil War with my kids these past weeks, I'm trying to imagine what it would have been like to have battles taking place across our backyards. I'm imagining what it would be like to have the stories passed down from generations about specific hardships and horrors that happened right there. I'm imagining what it must have been like to try and survive in the aftermath of the war with your world literally torn apart around you, no food, no home, no clothing. Reading about Sherman's March nearly brought me to tears today. What a nightmare that must have been and I'm sure the stories have been passed down and the generation that experienced it weren't from that far back.

(I suppose some of the pro-south sentiments today aren't so pure in thought, but I'm trying to be positive.)

Any thoughts? Am I on track, still blind or other?:o

[Kelli in TN]

When I first moved to the south I was so offended and so angry about all the pro-south displays. I thought the Confederate flag was simply a racist symbol, I really believed the southern cause had been led by traitors.

My husband had his hands full with my wild yankee ways.:p I was pretty outspoken back then.

I still can't sort it all out, but I have great empathy for the families who had to live here and live through it. I cannot imagine the horror of trying to keep your children safe from stray bullets while the war is fought in your fields. On the other hand, when my oldest child was about 9-10 we were doing a research project on the history of the rural county we lived in at the time. In our research we found a copy of a bill of sale to a local farm......for the purchase of an 8 year old boy.

This Illinios born, Missouri raised gal still can't quite sort it all out now that I am here in west Tennessee where cotton was indeed produced in large quantities. And yet, I read and hear the arguments that it was not about slavery.

But wasn't it, a little bit? Even just a little bit?

When I really think about it my heart just breaks for everyone. Such suffering could have been prevented if such evil had never been allowed to take root.

Now the wild Confederate symbols don't bother me. It is a lot of bravado. And it is a lot of just honoring the bravery of ancestors. I am of Norwegian descent and I am proud of it, but lets face it, those Vikings were not always friendly. Or right.

But what bothers me the most are the the occasional subtle and not-so-subtle reminders from people that it has not been that long, really, since the black customer had to use the back door of the barbeque restaurant. My husband remembers desegregation and that just freaks me out, I never went to a school that was not a pretty even mix of races!

Anyway, it has been an interesting life, being a yankee married to a southerner from a family of very proud southerners and trying to raise my children to be mostly yankee! I think we have all learned to put aside our preconceived notions about everything, including "The War of Northern Aggression"!