It’s been 150 years since the brave soldiers of the Union Army fought in the Battle of Gettysburg, and some news reports speak of how people are becoming very emotional at the scene of the reenactment. It seems, however, that all of those articles are about people mourning the loss of Confederate, not Union, soldiers. Folks, it’s time to move on.
The South is still fighting the Civil War, and Southerners are still unhappy that they lost. They call it “The War of Northern Aggression,” a ridiculous attempt to make it sound as though they were, and remain, the victims.
Down South, residents still fly Confederate flags proudly, and erect statues of Confederate generals in town squares. It’s enough to make any Northern soul want to get the hell out of town and back to the land of the sane and rational; that is, the soil above the Mason-Dixon Line.
The Civil War was about slavery, and no matter how much Southerners will say differently, there’s no denying history. What they really should be mourning is the bitterness and ugliness of slavery, not the soldiers who fought on the wrong side of the war.
Yes, it was the wrong side, and no amount of revisionist prattle will change that. Those who cry over Confederate soldiers cry because they can’t escape their own underlying racism. The old saying goes “time heals all wounds,” and if most folks can recover from the loss of a loved one within a few years, surely 150 years should be enough time to heal from the loss of Confederate soldiers that were known to no one who lives today.
It’s not the Confederate soldiers they’re really crying over; it’s their own sense of loss of control. They speak of “state’s rights” but what they really mean is the right to own slaves. Their pity would be much better directed by learning how to open their minds and expand their way of thinking rather than boo-hooing over someone they’ve never even met.
It would be quite a rarity indeed to find a born-and-bred Northerner sobbing over the losses sustained by the Confederacy. Perhaps there are some Yankees who would defect to the side of the Grey, but their lot is quite small and most probably very narrow-minded. Most Northerners feel elated at the scene of the battle, not sad.
Do not stand at the graves of Confederate soldiers and weep. Doing so disrespects the ground on which you stand. That ground saw victory for the right side, the side fighting for freedom. Instead of crying, teach your children to love all people and rejoice that the liberties we all enjoy were won by those who believed in the Union- the United States of America.
Getting emotional over the Battle of Gettysburg is understandable if that emotion is born from happiness for the land that we now share, but for those lamenting the Confederates who died while battling on the wrong side; it’s truly time to move on.
By: Rebecca Savastio
(Op-Ed)
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3 Responses
I totally agree Ms. Savastio! You said it short, simple, and to the point. Flying the confederate flag means you stand for slavery, for evil, and for a return to times when fear and power ruled with an iron fist. People can argue the war was over economy, politics, etc… But the truth is many slaves and even Northerners died trying to help slaves get free and live free from abuse and from demented thinking that not all men are created equal. I am glad the Confederacy was crush and that free men and the spirit of Freedom and the American way won the war. The confederate flag signifies all that was evil, corrupt, and Satanic.
You talk about “narrow minded”. Ms. Savastio your opinion is inane and un-informed. You apparently skipped history books in school and just read pamphlets. I am person born and raised in the North and if you flipped the sides and said I was “ridiculous” for honoring my fore-fathers I’d feel sorry for you because you obviously have no sense of your own family background. Of course we know slavery was wrong, but if you had any inkling of what Lincoln wanted after winning the war in a re-United States of America, it was to recognize the bravery of ALL Americans who fought and gave their lives in that great conflict. To bring the country together regardless of their beliefs. 88% of Confederates who fought for the south did NOT own slaves, they were loyal to their States first before the Union which at the time was less than 100 years old. The way you write is a divisive thing, not a unifying one which was the point of the war in the Union perspective in the first place.
WOW Ms. Savastio, sounds like you’re very angry with southerners. Who are you to tell people they shouldn’t mourn the loss of a relative (distant or not). I am a northerner and take offense to your attitude towards people from the south. BOTH sides were fighting for freedom and what they believed in. Maybe you don’t know that northerners also owned slaves, one would think that from your article. If the south had won, would you be calling them the “right side” ?