I was born, raised, and resided most of my adult life in Richmond, Virginia, USA. This is an old town as compared to most in North America, with most of its’ formative years centered around the slave trade. Richmond was the capitol of the confederacy, and is second to none in the perpetuation of the Lost Cause mythology. I was indoctrinated into this brainwashing culture as an infant, and in my formative years looked to the civil war generals as heros. We were taught this school, and everywhere one looked was some effigy lording over you. Now if I were a black person, this would have left me befuddled and angry. Didn’t those traitors lose the war to keep me a slave? As a citizen, why am I not afforded the same reverence these people who basically wiped their ass with the constitution are? US Grant referred to these insurgents as “those that suffered so much for a cause which I believe to be one of the worst causes ever fought for, and one for which there was the least excuse.” The rationalizations for insurrection in the south were/are as numerous as they are flimsy: states rights, honor, tradition, economic necessity, human nature…. Wrong is Wrong, always has been, always will be.
