On race, history, honor, and statues

This might upset some people. I can understand. Bear with me here though...

In 1828 the United States Congress passed what came to be called "the Tariff of Abominations". It was meant to protect northern industry. Instead it inflicted enormous harm on southern manufacturing and agriculture, especially the cotton industry. And no place was more hit by the consequences of the tariff than South Carolina.

This led to the Nullification Crisis of 1832. South Carolina declared that the Tariff of 1828 did not apply to within its borders. It effectively set the state of South Carolina against the United States of America. Fortunately cooler heads eventually prevailed, a new tariff was approved to South Carolina's satisfaction, and everyone was happy.

But think about it: the American Civil War could well have broken out thirty years earlier.
I believe that civil war was going to happen regardless. It was inevitable. In fact, it was practically guaranteed when the Founders approved the 3/5th compromise that counted black slaves as "three fifths of a free white person". The Founders may have been the greatest collection of minds in modern history. But they were not infallible. Whether they understood the consequences of their actions or not they had set in stone regional differences and rivalries that would explode into open conflict nearly eighty years later.

It was just a matter of when. It was also just a matter of who it would be who fate decided would be the ones who fought in that war. And no matter which side it was - be it Union or Confederate - those men were faced with the hardest decision of their lives. It certainly weighed on Robert E. Lee, who had to choose between the country his grandfather had helped to found and the people of Virginia: the ones he considered his countrymen.

The best that could have happened for the Civil War was that it would be led by good men, whose wisdom had failed to avoid the conflict, but nonetheless trusted in higher Providence to establish a final justice. And I believe that's what happened at Appomattox Court House. When Robert E. Lee - still resplendent in his officer's gray - surrendered to the ruffian-looking Ulysses S. Grant.

Grant said something that day. He told it to his fellow officers and to the men under him: "they are our countrymen again". Indeed, they were. The great controversy had drawn to a close. It had cost each side dearly. It no doubt hung on their consciences for all the rest of their lives. But that was the die that had been cast and they could not have avoided it.

And over the ensuing decades, they WERE countrymen. Fellows who had shared a common bond. Together again. With no animosity among them. One of the most beautiful photos I've ever seen is circa 1910, depicting two then-elderly former opponents embracing as brothers. And why shouldn't they be?

I believe that no matter which side of the conflict, they found with as much honor as was afforded them. We may not agree with who fought on what side, but that's really not for us to judge. Those men (and women) did the best they could do with what was given them.

Let me be blunt: they all fought with honor.

And I do believe, with utmost sincerity, that we can honor them all.

My heart has been breaking to see the statues of so many fine and honorable and decent men being torn down, by people who have no grasp of real history whatsoever. They certainly are not people of honor. And now they are venting wrath against the statues of individuals who had no part whatsoever to play in the Civil War. Last night it was a statue of Francis Scott Key that was toppled and vandalized. A rational person must ask: "Why?"

I have a private ritual, every January. I've honored it for a long time now. I remember the lives of two great Americans, whose birthdays are very close together. They are Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert E. Lee. I can't see how they are all that mutually exclusive. Why? Because each was a Christian man of deep faith, who was a person of his time. And he did the best with the hand dealt. Indeed, I can't but believe that on some level they were as kindred spirits. What a meeting that would be!

What am I trying to say with all of this?

There is a rage loose upon this land that is NOT representative of who we are called to be not just as Americans, but as friends and neighbors. As family. This isn't what we're supposed to be at all. It's not just the statues. I'm seeing worse than that between people who just weeks ago lived in contentment with one another. What happened? A very terrible turn of events was exploited, by people who devote their lives to exploiting, and it set off a powder keg that didn't have to be there to begin with.

Am I arguing that the status quo should have been maintained? Certainly not. I don't believe in a "status quo". I believe that there is always going to be room for improvement. I believe that ours is a family that can strive together to find ever more who we are supposed to be. We've come a long way already toward that. It would be a tragedy if that was undone now.

But that is what I am seeing happen now. All the progress that we have made, together, is being torn apart.

We have had people of honor, throughout and across the entire spectrum of American history, whose examples we are meant to heed. We stand on the shoulders of giants, no matter their skin color or creed or whatever. Not perfect people... but then again, who has ever been perfect? Only One who I know of, and He lived two thousand years ago. We have squabbled over what it is to follow His example ever since. But for all of our failings, we still have that sense of common decency and respect for one another.

It would be an enormous crime against our ancestors, if we continue to destroy their legacy.
I will not, in the demanded context, agree that "... lives matter" except to say that "all lives matter". And they DO. But I choose to go deeper: "All INDIVIDUALS matter". And isn't that what has come before has been all about? That we are not judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character. A great man said that. I prefer to believe that he was correct.

We are better than this. It's not too late to pull back from the present madness.

It's not too late to be countrymen again.

And it shouldn't take someone like me to be saying all of this.

Just my .02

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Son of ex-slave and Union soldier passes away (you read that right)

It's stuff like this that never ceases to fascinate me.  These things impress upon us that so much of our history... isn't that long ago after all.

Luke Martin, Jr. passed away a few days ago in Raleigh (that's the capital of North Carolina for those who might not know that).  Mr. Martin was 97.

He died 179 years after his father was born.  His father, by the way, was a former slave who escaped to freedom and then fought in the Civil War as a soldier in the Union army.

Fox News has more about the life of Luke Martin, Jr. and his father.

It wasn't all that uncommon for soldiers on both sides of the conflict to, long years later, marry much younger women.  A lot of it was because of the considerable pensions that soldiers received.  But the general consensus is that there was never a lack of true love in such relationships.  Many of which produced offspring such as Mr. Martin.

He died the other day and he was one generation removed from the greatest and most trying  war in American history.  A war that ended 150 years ago this year.

Think about that.

Historian though I be, it honestly astounds me that we could have that kind of connection to the past in our own day and age.

I'm reminded of something else in this kind of vein: Samuel Seymour, who at age 96 appeared on television (along such notables at the time as Lucille Ball) in 1956 to describe how he witnessed John Wilkes Booth assassinate Abraham Lincoln...



Gotta appreciate the pronounced presence of Winston cigarettes and the can of Prince Albert pipe tobacco in that segment, aye?  That's something nobody could get away with on television today.

It's been suggested that some people living today, perhaps even born in the 1960s, could live to ages approaching 200 years old. Can you imagine someone old enough (like myself) telling his great-great-great-great grandchildren about watching on television the destruction of the Challenger (which was 29 years ago yesterday)?

I suppose that anything is possible.

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The Battle of Gettysburg began 150 years ago today

On July 1st, 1863, what is considered the greatest and most decisive battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere began on the outskirts of the sleepy little college town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania...

Entire volumes of books have been written about this engagement (some devoted solely to Day 2).  Even now, historians discuss and debate the tactical decisions made at Gettysburg, along with its impact.

I have respect for the soldiers and officers of each side.  Without regard to their earthy perspectives, those men were only fighting for what they believed was right according to their conscience before God.  It is our limited understanding which leads to things like war... but I have to think that in the eyes of the Almighty, any sincere seeking after His will is going to be a credit to those striving to follow Him.

In honor of those men, be they Confederate or Union, this blogger salutes them.

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Rockingham County commissioners UNANIMOUSLY approve restoring the Confederate monument!

The message went out loud and clear last night from citizens and their elected representatives alike: "Mayor Festerman, tear down this tree!"

Confederate Soldiers Monument in downtown
Reidsville, North Carolina prior to the
May 2011 accident

Lots of friends who went to yesterday evening's meeting of the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners conveyed the good news: that by unanimous vote, all five board members passed a resolution calling for the return of the Confederate Soldiers Monument in downtown Reidsville.

And what's more, there was not one person at the near-capacity public hearing in Wentworth who spoke against restoring the monument.

Let that lil' detail sink in, friends and neighbors. During a two-plus hour public meeting that had been announced and advertised well in advance, nobody came to the podium to insist or remotely suggest that the monument remain absent from the town's landscape. That alone indicates the overwhelming belief across the community is that the Confederate Soldiers Monument should go back to its rightful place as a memorial to the men of Rockingham County who, for whatever reason God or conscience led, volunteered to serve and defend what they saw as their homes and their loved ones.

The Confederate Soldiers Monument (seen at right in its proper glory) had stood vigil at the intersection of Scales and Morehead streets in Reidsville since its dedication in 1910. But in May of 2011 the monument was severely damaged and the statue atop it smashed into pieces when a driver fell asleep and crashed into it.

In any other municipality to be found across America, the logical and obvious thing would have been to repair the statue, restore the monument to its previous condition and then let it all stand anew, as if nothing had happened and none the worse for wear. The driver's insurance would have paid for all the work that would have been required.

Except this is Reidsville, North Carolina we're talking about. Oh the people here are fine. But this town's current administration is so drunk on power that it would put Boss Hogg to shame.

So instead of letting things run their proper course, Reidsville's city government removed EVERYTHING pertaining to the monument and WITHOUT consulting the citizenry or even letting it be known that the monument was going to be pulled out at all! There was no due process whatsoever on the part of Reidsville City Council and Reidsville Mayor James Festerman.

Mayor Festerman arbitrarily chose to have the Confederate Soldiers Monument removed wholesale. In its place has been a butt-ugly eyesore that has variably taken the form of a massive planter or the town Christmas tree (the current occupant of the site). I've taken to calling it "Festerman's Folly".

And what has Maximum Mayor James Festerman the First of His Name to say about it? He's gone on record as decreeing that the Confederate statue is "never" going to be returned to its original location.

Huh. If that isn't the mentality of a dictator, then I don't know what would be.

Festerman insists that the monument is a magnet of "controversy". But it had never been before. If there is any now it is only because some people demand to see controversy around the monument. Apparently the fact that it's a (gasp!) monument to soldiers who fought in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War is enough to... something. Rationale on the part of Reidsville government in the matter has been spotty at best.

Confederate history enthusiasts - many dressed in period costume - have protested for the return of the monument at the site for most of the past two years. It should also be borne in mind that these have been people from all walks of life, both white and black. Those peaceful assemblies ended when the Reidsville Police began prohibiting the protestors from the traffic circle. Okay, actually the protestors were limited to six inches of space in which they could stand (for realz, folks).

Anyhoo, for most of this time a group of citizens calling themselves the Historic Preservation Action Committee (HPAC) has been doing some admirable work toward restoring the monument to downtown Reidsville. As HPAC members have noted, the monument is one toward all the Confederate soldiers of Rockingham County, not just the ones from Reidsville. And that's something that shouldn't be done away with at the whim of one person.

Last night the county commissioners weight in. From the Save the Reidsville Confederate Monument page on Facebook...

Big news tonight from Wentworth, North Carolina! The Rockingham County Commissioners unanimously adopt a resolution in favor of putting the monument back up in Reidsville.The County Commissioner's chamber was filled with those in favor of the monument being restored. All those who spoke from the public were in favor. Not a single negative comment from the public! Emotions were high and it was a standing ovation as the commissioners voted all in favor. Although this resolution has no legal binding withing the City of Reidsville, the Reidsville City council has some pressure on it and now has some explaining to do to the public. More to come as it develops.

Commissioner Craig Travis remarked that "We're talking about a City Council that's run amok. If you don't like what they do, vote them out. The cities need to be held accountable." Indeed, it is now coming to light that there have apparently been some seriously under-handed shenanigans on the part of Reidsville officials to not only obscure and obfuscate its citizens in regard to the monument, but also some illegalunethical legal finagling involving the United Daughters of the Confederacy. I'm gonna be listening for more about that particular item especially...

If you wanna read more here are all the posts that have appeared on this blog about the monument since the 2011 accident. And fellow Reidsvillian Rob Jernigan has been all over this matter since Day One: here's his Speaking Up & Out news site, which Rob has said will be hosting video of last night's meeting later today.

If this momentum keeps going, it wouldn't surprise me if Festerman's Folly was ripped out by the end of the year and the Confederate Soldiers Monument put back where it belongs.

I'll be praying that there is enough shred of sanity to make it so.

EDIT 10:39 a.m. EST: D'oh! Rob works fast! Here's the video from last night's meeting that he just posted...

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6 Inches of Freedom: City of Reidsville discriminating against disabled! Pro-Monument protestors given "ridiculous" amount of space! ADA violation could incur $$$ penalties!

The Police Department of the City of Reidsville has as of late last week implemented and begun enforcing a policy of limiting those protesting for the return of the Confederate Soldiers Monument to a six-inch wide raised enclosure surrounding the former site of the monument, The Knight Shift has learned. Those who do not limit themselves to this "area" will be arrested.

This writer has attempted to contact Chief Edd Hunt to learn why. As of this evening I haven't heard from him or from anyone else in the police department. However one source did suggest that the policy came from "higher up".

Obviously there is a question of whether this policy violates the First Amendment of the Constitution, in that it is restricting of the rights of free assembly, of free speech, and also of petition (in the form of protest).

But that might be the least of the City of Reidsville's worries, folks...

Because this policy is also apparently in violation of Title II of the American with Disabilities Act of 1990!

A bit of refresher for those not up to speed (no pun intended). Early on the morning of May 23rd, 2011, the driver of a van crashed into the Confederate Soldiers Monument that had been standing at the intersection of Scales Street and Morehead Street in downtown Reidsville. The monument was erected in 1910 in honor and memory of those from Rockingham County who served in the Confederate army.

Now, you would think that the City of Reidsville - and its mayor, James Festerman - would have done the responsible thing, the right thing, by having the monument repaired and replaced with the insurance money. That's what's supposed to happen in a situation like that. But for the past year Mayor Festerman and the city council have done their absolute darndest to ignore this issue, hoping that it will simply "go away". In place of the monument there is now a plum-ugly planter sitting in the center of what most still refer to as Monument Circle. That hasn't stopped many people - from all walks of life - from standing on the circle to protest the city government's negligence. The protests are still going on strong more than a year later. A group called the Historic Preservation Action Committee (HPAC) has formed to pursue legal action in order to restore the monument.

(I have written about the monument issue previously, in an open letter to Mayor James Festerman and some thoughts about what the monument honestly stands for, in spite of "political correctness".)

But now it looks as if the City of Reidsville intends to wipe out peaceful demonstration in favor of the monument... or at least sparing it a half-foot of liberty.

The Reidsville Police Department is as of last week warning individuals that they must stand on the concrete enclosure surrounding the flower bed at the center of Monument Circle, if they wish to protest at all. Failure to do so (i.e. standing on the brick walkway) can and will result in arrest.

As of this evening, no one in the Reidsville Police Department has been able to tell me what city statute this policy derives from.

Here is Monument Circle this afternoon, looking east from Morehead Street...

I didn't know how much space exactly it was that the protestors now have to stand on (other than it was, as one pro-monument leader told me today, a "ridiculous" amount) until I whipped out my tape measure...

Six inches! Six measly inches in which those standing on the site petitioning for the monument's return must be restrained to, under threat of arrest. The enclosure is almost twice as high off the surrounding walkway.

Why should anyone be given such an insanely tiny amount of public land - technically park land - in which to peaceably assemble and exercise their right of free speech? Especially when there's a whopping FIFTY-THREE INCHES of brick sidewalk on which they can safely stand?

But in doing this the City of Reidsville is also - as best as I can tell - in gross violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Specifically, Title II of the ADA, which pertains to discrimination on the basis of disability by state and local governments.

Six inches of "free speech zone"? Deviation from which will result in arrest?

Because I cannot for the life of me figure out how a person whose mobility is limited to a wheelchair, or a motorized scooter, or even one who must employ crutches or some other aid, can protest under such a ludicrous policy and not be arrested. For nothing more or less than the obligations demanded by their individual circumstance.

If the City of Reidsville insists upon limiting protest to those six inches of cement, then per the ADA it has the legal obligation to construct equal access to those with disabilities. Ever seen a wheelchair ramp leading up to a six-inch wide strip of concrete? Me neither.

But I can see this much: the City of Reidsville is discriminating against disabled individuals on top of some possibly egregious violation of constitutional rights. And for actively violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, that alone could make the City of Reidsville liable for $50,000 in penalties. Perhaps even as high as $100,000. Maybe even a lot more, if it's found that the city government is committing multiple violations of the ADA.

Mayor Festerman, members of the Reidsville City Council, I ask you...

...is it really worth trying to shut up the majority of public opinion about the Confederate Soldiers Monument with six inches of free speech? Is this attempt at political correctness honestly worth possibly losing a hundred thousand dollars of money that Reidsville doesn't have?

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"Although you shot at me twice before I left, I did not want to hear of you being hurt."

Jourdon Anderson was a freed slave who for thirty years had been the property of Colonel P.H. Anderson, a Tennessee plantation owner. Four months after the end of the Civil War, Jourdon Anderson wrote a letter to his former master, who had asked Jourdon to return to work on his farm.

Jourdon's letter was subsequently published in The New York Daily Tribune later that same month, and it then found its way into Lydia Maria Child's The Freedman's Book (which is enjoying republication this very week!). And now Jourdon's letter to his previous owner has been published at the Mail Online's website.

Y'all have got to read Jourdon's letter! This freed slave - who had to dictate it to a writer - uses better English than a darn lot of modern-day college students. And then there is the wit and irony that Jourdon employs... along with a considerable amount of great humor. It's not terribly long, but there are some real gems in Jourdon's letter. And the final sentence is a real zinger.

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A prayer for all people, in all times

Confederate Soldier's Prayer

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve,
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked God for health, that I might do greater things,
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy,
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men,
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing I that I asked for but got everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among men, most richly blessed.

-- Found on the body of a Confederate Soldier, 1861-1865

Good friend, fellow historian and Civil War buff Taryn Farmer shared this with her friends earlier today. I thought it would be well worth sharing with this blog's readers.

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On wars and monuments and such...

I hadn't wanted to revisit the issue of the Confederate Soldiers Monument in my hometown of Reidsville this soon. But earlier this morning I was led to consider something, and I think it's worth sharing and asking others to ponder it also...

I have visited many historic battlefields, and cemeteries, and locations of monuments. Both in my own country and also abroad.

I have seen many memorials honoring soldiers who fought in war.

But I have yet to see a single memorial honoring any war.

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A monument to brave duty in a broken world

My original plan for this day was to head out around lunch to grab a spot at the back of the chamber and do live blogging of this afternoon's meeting of Reidsville City Council. Agenda Item #5 was public comments on how to proceed with the Confederate Soldiers Monument, which was greatly damaged in an unfortunate vehicular accident on May 23rd. So I was going to be there and blog/tweet during the session.

In the end however, I chose not to attend, for a number of reasons. There was already going to be quite a large crowd in attendance with limited space available, and since I don't live in the city limits proper I didn't think it was going to be fair. Citizen journalist though I am, I'm also a citizen who's already publicly stated that the monument should be restored. There were a number of associates who had more reason to be there than I, and I greatly appreciate the reports that they have sent to me.

The biggest reason why I didn't go however, is that in my mind, at this time there is no "controversy" about the monument. It was damaged in an accident, the driver's insurance will certainly pay to have it repaired (as happens countless times across the country each and every day). Did I have a reason to be there as an independent journalist of some repute (hopefully good)?

It began dawning on me yesterday evening that I should just steer clear of this meeting, to not "dignify" a non-issue with attention, and be content to give Mayor James Festerman and the city council the benefit of the doubt and trust them to do the right thing. As of this writing, I'm still counting on them to do that by letting the monument be repaired. Besides, I know that at least one of the Reidsville City Council members is a regular reader of this blog, so my thoughts and observances are going to be considered even if they aren't in the official record.

I'm thankful for those who came to speak in favor of the monument. And I think that I did the right thing in being an absent presence of publick reporterage on this occasion. But based on what I'm hearing this afternoon, I'm gonna keep a really hairy eyeball on this... and if Mayor Festerman and council doesn't do right, I'm gonna be on them like white on rice!

Here's to hoping them to do the right thing, however. The Confederate Soldiers Monument (shown before the accident), contrary to what some speakers at today's meeting asserted, is not a monument to a lost cause. It is not a monument to a slavery. It is absolutely NOT a monument to racism!

You want to know what that's a monument to?

It is a monument to nearly two thousand men of Rockingham County - more than most other counties in the state which sent the most soldiers to serve in the Confederate army - who arose to the task of defending their families and their communities in a conflict that certainly not one of them had wanted to see in their lifetime or the lifetime of their children.

It is a monument to men who lived in unenviable times and had to cope with those times per an all too natural wisdom that it can not be said a century and a half later has appreciably deepened in clarity... by any of us under the sun.

It is a monument to men who went to fight in a war that was clearly unfortunate... but only the most ignorant or the most foolish would call it a war with any side that was clearly evil.

It is a monument to men who were only doing what they knew best to do in this fallen world, not out of hate but out of love.

It is a monument to men who did what they did, out of duty to God as best that they understood that duty.

Who are we, who are any of us, to presume that we know better or that we would have done otherwise?

Because as far as this writer is concerned, the men who went out from their farms in Rockingham County, were fighting as much for the freedom that we have today... including the freedom to never have to make the choices that they were forced to make... as they were fighting for their own families and friends and communities.

Nearly two thousand men in Rockingham County served in the army of the Confederate States of America. More than six hundred never came home. That too, is a higher percentage than this county's fair share of participation in the Civil War. Either across the state or across the states of the Confederacy.

If none of that is worth remembering, honoring and even celebrating, then... I honestly don't know what would be.

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Breaking News: Reidsville's Confederate monument smashed to smithereens!

The Confederate Soldiers Monument that has served as the best-known landmark of downtown Reidsville, North Carolina for more than a hundred years is a shattered ruin this morning. The Confederate soldier statue himself? Resting in pieces.

Around 4:30 a.m. today the driver of a van apparently fell asleep at the wheel, sending his vehicle plowing into the monument. The impact was enough to shift the pedestal on its base and toppled the statue. As of this writing an auto shop is working to free the Confederate soldier's head from the hull of the van.

No word yet on what's going to be done with the monument. It would be great to see it restored, given how it's become such a notable figure on the downtown landscape.

Special thanks to Ernie Morris for providing the photo!

EDIT 12:12 p.m. EST: WGHP Fox 8 photojournalist Chris Weaver has posted this pic of the statue on his Facebook page. And there are more photos accompanying the Fox 8 story about the accident...

Okay, 'fess up: who else living around here has Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" running through your head while looking at this?

In all seriousness though: it's great that nobody was injured, and here's hoping that the monument can soon be restored to its former condition.

(And hey, who knows: this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. I mean, it could finally give us Reidsvillians the opportunity to settle once and for all which direction the soldier is supposed to be facing! :-P)

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The American Civil War began 150 years ago today

I have heard many dissenting opinions during my lifetime as to who fired the first shot: the Union army that was holding Fort Sumter, or the newly-minted Confederate army (which is said to have initiated hostilities with a 10-inch mortar round from nearby Fort Johnston).

But there is no dispute about the fact that the bombardment of Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina - an act which had no combat casualties - would lead to the greatest conflict in American history and the loss of more than six hundred thousand lives on both sides.

It was one hundred and fifty years ago today, on April 12th, 1861, that the North and South first clashed at Fort Sumter.

The American Civil War had begun.

This blogger pauses to remember those on both sides of th ewar, who fought only for what they sincerely believed to the best of their mortal minds was the right thing.

On that note, I think I'll pop in my DVD of Gods and Generals for the rest of the evening, if only for background noise.

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I'm beginning to seriously wonder...

...if the next American civil war might begin over, of all things, health care.

No, really.

I've openly mused on this blog before about what issue it would take for this country to begin tearing itself apart. Previously I thought it would be about illegal immigration (which is still a huge problem and one that very few elected officials seem inclined to address).

But now, having seen numerous videos coming from "town hall" meetings between members of Congress and their constituents, and seeing the very real disdain that too many politicians obviously have toward the people they have sworn an oath to serve...

No, I don't think this is "partisan" very much at all now. I do however believe that the disconnect which has been growing for many years between regular citizens and their elected representatives - during times in which both major parties have been "in power", it should be noted - is finally come to the point beyond mere "strained" and hurtling toward complete breaking.

I don't want the United States government managing my health care. As "Cash for Clunkers" has demonstrated, this government can't even run a used-car business. And that is a legitimate enough thing for anybody to be worried about. Most likely, a lot of people, And it's also quite probable that darn near as many will be honked-off enough to fight against it. By any means necessary, if push comes to shove. If for no other reason than because I like to believe the American people for the most part do not cotton to being dictated to by unaccountable bureaucrats in a far-off city.

For what little that it's worth... 'cuz hey, I'm just a guy with a blog... I'll simply note this: that if President Barack Obama continues pressing ahead with his "health care reform", nothing good will come of it for him.

And neither do I believe that this should be seen as a ripe "political opportunity" for the Republicans, either. This is something that must be opposed for the right reasons: on grounds that it is the scariest push toward socialism in living American memory.

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Some very neat photos of American history

HBO's John Adams miniseries has left me still feeling both floored and haunted. If only everything else on television could be so powerful...

Ever since Sunday night when the finale ran, my interest in real American history (as opposed to the fake pageantry of, say, the current election cycle) has been stoked. Not that it ever went away or anything, but I guess that after becoming so cynical about what America is turning into, I felt a need to look back at what we used to be, and what we could still be again.

So one thing led to another and I found myself looking for the earliest photographs of Presidents that we know are in existence. I wasn't expecting to find any of John Adams (photography was invented the year he passed away and it would be some time before the process was perfected) but I did find this daguerreotype of his son John Quincy Adams: as the sixth President, he's the earliest for whom we have a photograph. This was taken in 1848, not long before he died while serving Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As you study this picture, think about something: you're looking at a photo of a man who was not only the son of John Adams, but who also knew George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and most of the other Founding Fathers. Look into his eyes and realize that he looked into their eyes. This isn't some artist's fanciful rendition, but the actual image of a real person who was very familiar with those great statesmen.

Suddenly, 1776 doesn't seem that long ago after all.

Thomas Lincoln was born the year before in 1775. A photo exists of him also. So far as I've been able to find, this is the only one of Thomas Lincoln. But his son Abraham ranks as the most photographed man in the world up to the time of his death.

Speaking of Abraham Lincoln, here's the photo of him delivering his second inaugural address in 1865 on the steps of the Capitol. It might take you awhile to find him ('cuz it did me too) but if you look very carefully, you can make out one other very well-known visage of the time: that of the famous actor John Wilkes Booth.

Which brings me to the real inspiration for this post. That I wanted to share one of my all-time favorite "interesting" photos from history. Ever since I first saw this as a high school student, something about this one has greatly captivated me. After Lincoln was assassinated by Booth, his body was embalmed and put on a black funeral train that would make a 1,700-mile long winding route back to Illinois for burial. At various stops during the trip, his casket was taken from the train and then carried in a procession to some location where he would lay in state so that mourners could file past and pay their respects.

On April 25th, 1865, Abraham Lincoln's casket was solemnly carried through the streets of New York City...

There was such a demand to watch the procession, that the owners of many houses along the route charged $100 for people to come into their homes and watch from the windows.

So, you see that house on the left-hand side of the street in the above photo? On the side of the house immediately facing the camera, in the second story window, you can see two small figures watching as President Lincoln's casket goes by.

Those are two little boys peering out of that window of their grandfather's house. One of them - presumably the taller - is six-and-a-half year old Theodore Roosevelt, with his younger brother Elliot.

35 years and another assassination later, "Teddy" would be sworn in as the twenty-sixth President of the United States. When he took the oath of office after his own election in 1905, Teddy Roosevelt wore a ring embedded with a lock of hair that had been posthumously taken from Abraham Lincoln as he lay on his deathbed across the street from Ford's Theatre.

For many years I've heard that there might also exist a photograph of John Wilkes Booth, dressed in uniform, at the hanging of radical abolitionist John Brown. If anybody knows if that's true and where it could be found, I'd sure appreciate having you drop me a line about it :-)

So many other photos that I could talk about here. I need to wrap this up 'cuz I've plenty of stuff on my plate today. But before I do, there's one other photo that I'll share with y'all. This one isn't necessarily a "famous" pic but the person it depicts is certainly... interesting.

Boston Corbett, born in 1832 in England and then his family moved to the United States. Died... well, no one knows. In 1858, in order to avoid "sinning", Boston Corbett castrated himself with a pair of scissors! He then went straight to a prayer meeting, which he soon had to leave in order to go see a doctor because he was feeling faint from loss of blood (Gee ya think?!?).

A few years later, as a sergeant in the Union Army, Boston Corbett defied orders and fatally shot John Wilkes Booth. When interrogated by his superior officers (who had been trying to take Booth alive), Corbett explained that "God Almighty directed me" to open fire.

Ya see, if they'd just let us teach this kind of history in the schools, we'd have no problem getting the kids interested in their education :-)

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Review of MEETING DAVID WILSON

Today I was accused of being a racist.

You need to know that, because that's been on my mind all evening and that's what I went in with when I watched Meeting David Wilson, which just premiered on MSNBC. And it would be doing a disservice toward my opinion about this film without disclosing what's going on in my gray matter this evening, especially in light of the fact that much of Meeting David Wilson takes place here in Reidsville, North Carolina and the surrounding area.

The circumstance in which it happened, it doesn't matter. Nor does it particularly bother me that I was accused of being a racist. I know better of myself than to let something like that bring me down. When I meet a person for the first time, the color of their skin or their creed or where they're coming from... that doesn't matter to me and it never has. I just see a person: someone made by God, worthy of all the respect that's due the potential He’s given them. And I like to think that God gives all of us such wonderful potential, being no respecter of persons.

No, what bothered me about being called a racist was the fact that in 2008, it's still too easy to call someone a racist without even bothering to understand what that really means.

I wasn't angry about it. Having anger would not have helped. It would not have enlightened the person who labeled me a racist, and it would have clouded my own judgment and vision. Anger would have solved nothing.

More than anything else, I was disappointed with the person who told me that. Because I know something that this person doesn't understand nearly enough: that this person is better than this. And just because they may have been born in a situation, doesn't mean that they have to endure that situation for the rest of their lives. Anyone can work toward escaping and making something better of themselves, if they want that. But they have to freely choose to want that, and then choose to strive toward it.

I hate to see anyone surrender from using his or her own free will. And I sure as hell cannot stand to see anyone make excuses for giving up without even trying.

I wish that I could have said something. To be honest, I didn’t know what to say. And even if I had known... what then?

As it turned out, I didn't have to say anything. David A. Wilson, the talented filmmaker from New Jersey who produced Meeting David Wilson, said it all in his documentary. And I absolutely hope and pray that Meeting David Wilson might make its way into every classroom and church in the country, because I sincerely can't remember watching a film quite like this one, ever.

The hype was well-justified, folks: Meeting David Wilson delivers.

And less than 16 hours after admittedly feeling crushed about wanting to believe that we as a people can rise above wherever we might be coming from, Meeting David Wilson has restored my hopes.

David A. Wilson, from one filmmaker to another: if that ain't the fulfillment of what we aim to achieve with our craft, then I don't know what is. My hat's off to ya, dude.

If you've been reading this blog over the past few days, then you know the premise of the film: David A. Wilson is a 28-year old journalist and filmmaker from Newark, New Jersey who took some time off to delve into his family's history. David A., a man of African descent, knew that his lineage stretched back to Reuben Wilson, an emancipated slave from Caswell County, North Carolina who after the Civil War founded that county's oldest predominantly black church.

David A. Wilson took to the Internet and made phone calls. And it wasn't long before he made a discovery that as he put it "knocked the wind" out of him: he shared a name with a man in North Carolina whose great-great grandfather had owned Reuben Wilson, the great-great grandfather of David A. Wilson.

And so David A. Wilson of Newark, New Jersey sets out to meet David B. Wilson of Reidsville, North Carolina.

Graced with sage wisdom and occasionally laced with cutting-edge humor ("You going to ask for reparations?" if the white David Wilson is rich, asks co-director David Woolsey. "You are my reparations," David B. tells his white friend, who is about to drive him twelve-some hours to North Carolina), Meeting David Wilson is a very personal and utterly personable journey in self-discovery from start to finish. Upon his arrival in North Carolina, David A. Wilson sets out to understand the experiences of his family. He finds the church founded by his great-great grandfather. From Caswell County, David A. speaks on the phone with an uncle back home in New Jersey after a day of working in a tobacco field.

The hard labor was going to purify him, his uncle tells David. He could have been talking about the cathartic nature of the entire project.

These scenes alone make Meeting David Wilson compelling to watch. It's almost enough to make you forget momentarily that per the title of the film, this is a story about meeting a man named David Wilson. And when the two Davids finally have their encounter on the grounds of the plantation where their respective families lived and worked, the film becomes something quite unlike anything that I can remember being broadcast on American television in recent memory.

David and David talk about their families' shared history. David of the Tarheel State points to some overgrown woods where the slave quarters were said to be, which prompts Newark David to go traipsing through dense foliage looking for it. The quarters are soon discovered, a moment that proves particularly humbling.

David A. probes David B. with questions about issues such as reparations, but it's never with an intent to convey or even suggest any pre-determined agenda. In other hands... in anyone's hands... this could have become a work of raw propaganda. Meeting David Wilson doesn't "avoid" that trap at all. It doesn't even need to try. Because it becomes exceedingly obvious during the course of conversation between the two Davids that in flagrant disregard for everything this world screams and expects about "the way it's supposed to be" between white and black people, here are simply two men, each as comfortable with examining his own psyche as he is with sincerely trying to understand the other's perspective.

Stripped of agenda and bereft of "expert commentary", Meeting David Wilson become about two men with the same name and no pretensions about what their conversation should become. Indeed, Meeting David Wilson is one of the most refreshing dialogues that I've ever seen in a documentary. Others looking to attempt this kind of filmmaking would do well to not only study it but take it to heart. I would even dare say that the film suggests that we as a people don't need some among us who profess to be our "leaders", because Meeting David Wilson amply demonstrates that we can take care of this sort of thing ourselves, simply as the individuals that God made us to be.

The North Carolina scenes are by far the most powerful of Meeting David Wilson. It's especially fun to watch David B. Wilson treating his northern counterpart to a meal at his Short Sugar's restaurant in Reidsville. Not long afterward, David A. returns to New Jersey, then buses his entire family back down to the Wilson plantation in Caswell County, where the two Davids have an extended family reunion.

And then toward the end of the film David A. makes a pilgrimage to Ghana, on the west coast of Africa. David A. visits the trading fortress where his ancestors were pushed through "The Door of No Return" and onto the ships that would take them to distant shores across the Atlantic. This is David A. Wilson's great victory, and that of all of his family and those of African descent who live in America. That he is able to return to this place, and that those of his generation have the opportunity to make a better life for themselves than that which their parents knew, is how God answered a prayer.

This was perhaps the weakest segment for me as a viewer. But that's with a caveat: as much as I would have liked to have seen more of the North Carolina material, as a filmmaker I can also understand why David A. perhaps felt not just moved but personally obligated to take this step. This was something he needed to do for sake of himself as much as it is for his project. And in that regard, Meeting David Wilson is as much about the filmmaker becoming introduced to himself as it is about an encounter with another man sharing his name, related by history if not by blood.

Meeting David Wilson is being touted as a documentary about race relations. Don't believe it one bit. I didn't see a film about race or ethnicity at all here. Instead Meeting David Wilson is about coming to terms with a minority more despised than any other in this world: the individual. And it's as much about daring to examine one's self as much as it is about daring to look past something so ultimately meaningless as factionalism. That point is brought home in, what was for me personally anyway, the most powerful moment of the film: David A. Wilson and David B. Wilson, standing side by side during a service with their families at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Caswell County. They take communion together and remember who they are in Christ: their movements in perfect unison. I can't imagine something like that being choreographed. It's as perfect a moment as has ever been captured in a documentary.

I've known David B. Wilson for a long time. Everyone in Reidsville eats at Short Sugar's on Scales Street. My sister worked there for a number of years. We even filmed the final scene of Forcery at Short Sugar's a few years ago. People literally come from all across the country to try the barbecue there. It was already world-famous and after tonight it's going to become even more renowned. And speaking of which: David B. and his boys had darned well better have brewed eight or nine batches of the Short Sugar's Barbecue Sauce, because there is going to be a stampede for it. Short Sugar's special sauce is one of the most exotic concoctions you will ever find and I'm glad to see this establishment get nationwide airtime tonight.

So everyone here knows David B. Wilson. And right now, tonight, I would like nothing better than to meet David A. Wilson and shake his hand, and thank him for this remarkable and powerful film that he and his crew have crafted.

All afternoon and evening, I've harbored a lot of frustration from things that happened today. If I hadn't watched Meeting David Wilson tonight, I would have probably gone to sleep with those things still on my mind, and I wouldn't have wanted that. That's not what God would have wanted me to do, either. I can let go of anger, but frustration is a whole 'nother animal that's hard for me to wrestle with. After seeing this film, I think that for once tonight that won't be a problem.

And wouldn't it be wonderful if Meeting David Wilson was someday looked upon as being one of the definitive benchmarks in our culture's maturity regarding how we respect each other as real individuals? If it can ever be said that the turning point finally came and that it happened in Caswell County and here in Reidsville... then as a proud son of this town, I'll be even more proud of it still.

What else can I say about Meeting David Wilson? Only that it comes with my highest recommendation.

For more information about Meeting David Wilson please visit the film's official website and it's Myspace page.

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Greensboro in the final days of the Civil War

There's a very fascinating article in today's News & Record about what Greensboro went through in April 1865, as the American Civil War drew to a close. Upon reading the story, one would easily get the impression that the spring of that year was the moment that forever defined Greensboro, as a relatively small town became a crossroads of military and political activity. Greensboro is where Jefferson Davis and his remaining cabinet fled to after abandoning the last officially recognized Confederate capital in Danville, and it was here that Davis received word that Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse. Thousands of soldiers filled makeshift hospitals throughout the town (including First Presbyterian Church, shown in the photo). The town also suffered an immense amount of looting and rioting as resources became scarce. Well worth reading if you're into Civil War or local history.

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Coud YOU have won the Battle of Gettysburg?

Military.com poses the question: Could YOU Have Won the Battle of Gettysburg?

In this simulation game, you take on the role of General Robert E. Lee as you command the forces of the Confederate Army beginning with their initial clashes with Union soldiers on the outskirts of town, on through the final push two days later. Can you pull off a victory where one of the greatest generals in American history failed to win? I was able to do it: my command of the Army of Northern Virginia handily split the Union lines and captured several thousand prisoners from the Army of the Potomac in the process.

Hit the link above and start playing. It's pretty fun! And if you've ever seen the wonderful movie Gettysburg, that will probably help you a lot.

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