Confederacy Archives - Public Seminar

Democracy

Confederate Monuments Are Not History

Like the contemporary war on “critical race theory,” these statues of the defeated prop up white supremacy in the name of a false past

June 15, 2021 • by Claire Potter and Karen L. Cox

_____ It seemed as though monuments were suddenly in the news during Donald Trump’s presidency, but they have always been controversial. Monuments to the Confederacy were contested by African American citizens as soon as they appeared after 1865. Black citizens understood these monuments for what they were: a rallying point for ...

Activism

Saying Goodbye to Aunt Jemima Is Not Enough

What we really need to do to address the economic impact of systemic racism in the United States

July 9, 2020 • by Elwood Watson

When Dinah Washington recorded “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes” in 1959, the blues diva managed to imbue the Tin Pan Alley lyrics with a kind of haunted hopefulness, the same kind of soulful yearning that would reappear a few years later in Sam Cooke’s monumental ode to the civil ...

Saying Goodbye to Aunt Jemima Is Not Enough

Activism

Protestors Aren’t Destroying History, They Are Recasting It

When monuments to racism, slavery, and empire come down, new possibilities rise up

June 25, 2020 • by Durba Ghosh and Kelly King-O’Brien

In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police, the movement to remove Confederate monuments has accelerated rapidly as part of a new wave of Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Protestors argue these monuments represent institutional racism and should be removed immediately. Many governors and local politicians readily ...

Protestors Aren’t Destroying History, They Are Recasting It

Past Present

Larry Kramer, Playwright and AIDS Activist

Past Present Podcast, Episode 233

June 16, 2020 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Pioneering AIDS activist Larry Kramer died this month. Natalia referred to this Vulture interview about Kramer’s legacy. Neil commented on Kramer’s autobiographical play, The Normal Heart. In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History: Natalia recommended the Netflix documentary, Crip Camp: A ...

Activism

A Letter from Hillsborough

A Modern Southern Fairy Tale

August 27, 2019 • by Dorothy Potter Snyder

On the list of the endangered are people of color, women, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, refugees, children, the elderly, and the disabled. Last month, in Hillsborough, North Carolina, once upon a time was now. *** Matthew Shepherd, a gay chocolatier, qualifies for a spot on the endangered list. These are tough times ...

Race

Why Are American Military Bases Still Named After Confederate Soldiers?

In failing to realize that individuals are the sum of their actions — all of their actions — the Army is perpetuating hate, subjugation, and inequality.

July 10, 2019 • by Troy Mosley

The great irony is that many of these lieutenants will serve at bases named after Confederate leaders. As of this writing, there are 10 bases on American soil named in honor of men who betrayed their oath to protect the United States Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic — ...

Blue Monday

Cindy Hyde-Smith, or Mississippi God Damn!

Why the history of white supremacy matters for the last Senate election of 2018

November 26, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

On Tuesday November 27 -- tomorrow -- voters in Mississippi will go to the polls to choose their next U.S. Senator in a runoff election pitting incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith, a far-right Republican and Trump supporter, against Mike Espy, a moderate Democrat who served as Secretary of Agriculture in the Clinton ...

Cindy Hyde-Smith, or Mississippi God Damn!

Feature

Confederate Statues Preserve Southern Heritage the Way Klan Billboards Did

Advertising for racial terror

January 5, 2018 • by Mark Allan Williams

“Join & Support The United Klans of America, Inc.” Those were the words next to the image of a horseman in white sheet and hood, on a large billboard in Fayetteville, N.C., not far from Fort Bragg. “Help Fight Communism and Integration!” was also printed on that billboard, which wasn’t ...

Confederate Statues Preserve Southern Heritage the Way Klan Billboards Did

Feature

Mayoral Statements on Confederate Memorials

Misrepresentation and Misrecognition, yet again (Part Two)

June 12, 2017 • by Michael Weinman

In this second part of further reflections on misrepresentation and misrecognition building on posts from earlier this year, I explore this rhetorical practice with reference to the current debate concerning the removal of statues of and to “Confederate heroes.” These debates have centered on the removal of four statues in ...