What does the American Confederacy have in common with Hitler’s Nazi regime?
Both Germany in World War II and the Confederacy in the Civil War were essentially white supremacist states bent on enslaving millions of other people based on racist ideologies. Both were unconditionally and catastrophically defeated. After the wars, both viewed their militaries as apolitical and not motivated by racist ideologies. Indeed, many in both societies viewed their veterans as having fought to defend their country and its values valiantly, resulting in the myths of Germany’s “Clean Wehrmacht” and the South’s “Lost Cause.”
In Germany, there is much more of an emphasis on honoring the victims of the Nazi regime than the soldiers who died fighting for it. But it’s still possible to find memorials to the country’s war dead–most prominently, the official “Mother With Dead Son” statue in Berlin. Tellingly, though, Stuttgart unveiled a memorial in 2007 that honors “those who deserted from the German Army, including 20,000 who were executed as a result.”
In America, the South does not honor those who deserted, which is a shame. But it should be acceptable to acknowledge Southerners who fought and died in the war without dishonoring those that died on the other side or making apologies for the Confederacy. If Germany can do this for World War Two soldiers, America can do it for Confederate soldiers.
But this is as far as we should ever go. Mississippi celebrated Confederate Memorial Day on Monday–a state holiday. Governor Tate Reeves just declared April as Confederate Heritage Month. Then, Gov. Reeves went on Fox News to insist that there is no systemic racism in America.
Needless to say, the balance is all out of whack here. Where is the concern for the victims of slavery or those who died keeping the American Union together? You don’t have to disown the entirety of your history to do an honest appraisal of where you went wrong.
More than anything, this is why America can’t get past its problem with racism. Germany provides a good model that Mississippi could emulate. It would be nice if they would.
The Nazi leaders were tried as war criminals. The leaders of the confederacy were able to return home defeated but heroes.
Well, yes, but it was the Allies that tried the Nazis as war criminals.
And just a few were tried, as a means of setting a new precedent. Within a few years, we were white washing Germany history and forgiving the convicts. It was a younger generation in Germany that ultimately sought to make amends. Had it been left to the old folks, the vast majority would have stuck with the old tropes and bromides, minimizing their sins all the way.
Honestly, Germany is the exception. How many peoples have taken responsibility for their genocides and ethnic discrimination? The Japanese don’t own their sins. Neither do the Turks. It’s really just in recent years that some segments of American culture have begun to own ours. Growing up in New York, I was educated in rationalizations like “manifest destiny” (as an example). African-Americans were presented as scary and uncivilized. Homosexuals were held in utter scorn, completely unworthy of any sense of human dignity. It is our natural state to hold those different than ourselves in contempt. Takes a lot to overcome our prejudices and it’s really easy to fall back into them (or new ones).
i think the model to follow is Nelson Mandela and his Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In Canada we are trying to deal with our shameful history with the first nations in our country. We have miles to go on the reconciliation part, but the public hearings – the truth – destroyed all of the white rationalizations for our behaviour and the cultural genocide of our indigenous brothers and sisters.
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The issue is fear and shame. Also the feeling that there is no cultural value of the south other than the Confederacy.
Unless I am totally off base, I dont believe Germans share much of any space with the descendants of who they tried to murder.
The South however, always had to share space with Black people. Walking reminders of their greatest shames; evil and defeat. Whereas the North was able to (erroneously) wash their hands of the whole “slavery thing”.
And so, they (wrongly) believe their true legacy is evil and defeat. And they are ashamed of it. This mix is what makes a bully, btw.
Instead of coming to terms with it, they simply pretend this is not the case. And clap louder while holding on tight to the illusion.