A few months ago, we discussed the speech by the Mayor of New Orleans and the removal of Confederate monuments in that city. As a comment, I mentioned that if the Monuments in Richmond were ever removed, that would be the crack in the Wall for the apologists and the movement toward a realistic discussion of the “Lost Cause”
Well the cracks are beginning to form-
http://www.nbc12.com/story/36152055/mayor-stoney-tells-monument-avenue-commission-to-consider-remova
l-of-statues
The first real shift was after the tragedy in Charleston, SC; after which the governor and state legislature moved to remove the Confederate element of the state flag. An issue that had been stalemated for years. Hard headed looks at the Confederate history and legacy began.
The movement to remove Confederate symbols from cities began to accelerate. New Orleans and the speech by Mayor Landreiu gave the movement much needed credibility. Such forceful sentiments from a white mayor of a majority black city could not be argued.
Then Charlottesville, a rather liberal enclave in the red portion of Va. There is no legal argument. The City Council voted the Lee monument in during the 1920s. The City Council voted it out in 2015. The attack by Nazis and Klan members will do nothing to prevent it and accelerate the process in other cities.
For the majority of Americans, its not cool to fight for slavery or return of Nazis, and its not good to see their antics on the TV. The minority who want to play Brown Shirt or Laundry Sheet ghost just did their cause damage. It forces America to confront an uncomfortable past, and deal with it so they can go back to their oblivious lives. Just as the TV images of hoses and dogs set loose on civil rights protestors was the beginning of the end of Jim Crow. The torch light processions, shouting, screaming, and attacks is the beginning of the end for the white supremacists and Lost Cause apologists.
Plus its not economic for Southern States, who tout business friendly atmosphere and No Unions to overseas investors and NE manufactures, to be identified with over weight would be fascists and Klansmen. How would BMW feel about expanding their plant in Spartanburg, SC. Their parts suppliers right next door? Executives’ wives feel safe? Would Daimler Benz officials feel safe sending their kids to school in Vance, Ala if they have overt fascists running around the town and in the hallways.
No matter how much they sputter, there ain’t no money in being a Nazi. And the South knows it. And now, with the Confederacy now being identified with violent thugs in modern times, there ain’t no money in that as well.
Ridge
