On April 8, 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant was having a hard night. His army had been harrying Confederate General Robert E. Lee's for days, and Grant knew it was only a question of time before Lee had to surrender. The people in the Virginia countryside were starving and Lee's army was melting away. Just that morning, a Confederate colonel had thrown himself on Grant's mercy after realizing that he was the only man in his entire regiment who had not already abandoned the cause. But while Grant had twice asked Lee to surrender, Lee still insisted his men could fight on.
What a wonderful column, Dr Richardson. I hold an MA in History, and 42 years ago I taught college history in NH for 17 years as an adjunct. I moved south 25 years ago, but I still lecture at senior centers and to senior groups here in South Florida. I recently came upon your magnificent work, "How the South Won the Civil War", and I had an epiphany. I knew facts -- the war, its aftermath, the end of Reconstruction, the lost cause, and the rise of post-bellum Jim Crow -- but I never "heard" them expressed so cogently as an argument that explained our political malaise in our day. It all fell into place. I now read your column with great interest and marvel at your ability to marshal facts, weave narratives, and present powerful insights. Thank you so much for your ongoing work.
What a beautiful and thoughtful reply to Dr. Richardson's ongoing generous work. Thank you, Richard, for expressing pieces of how we all feel about receiving her daily ponderings and stories and knowledge.
Make sure to check out all of her recordings on Youtube and/or Facebook. The Thursday discussions focus on History; Monday discussion is Politics and some history.
As a historian myself, I encourage all to read scholars' more formal writings: books and peer-reviewed articles. I love LFAA, and it serves a good purpose. But Dr Richardson's professional work is not to be missed. How the South won the Civil War is closest to LFAA in time, tone and content.
Richard I too read Dr Richardson’s work for along while before subscribing. The commentaries were what lead me to subscribe. Thank you 😊 for joining us! You won’t regret it. As TPJ wrote welcome to the tribe.
If only President Lincoln could have lived the remaining years on his term after he was shot. I have no doubt we would have had a much smoother road in the Reconstruction years.
Oh my god, Andrew Johnson. The most racist president ever. His presidency did much to squander the fruits of Union victory in the Civil War. Lincoln considered MA general Benjamin Butler as running mate in 1864. Butler, a Radical Republican, played a key wartime role in ending slavery and was lead impeachment manager for Johnson's trial. He would have been a good Reconstruction president, likely punishing leading traitors properly, but might have precluded Grant's presidency. Who knows?
Did you listen to this podcast? It's a dramatization, but I found it riveting. I actually looked forward to going out to do yard work so I could listen to it!
At the suggestion of the ailing Thaddeus Stevens, Butler became the lead House prosecutor at Johnson’s removal trial in the Senate. The Massachusetts Congressman’s poor performance, however, has often been cited as a factor in Johnson’s acquittal.
Thanks, Bruce. The trial wasn't Butler's finest moment, but he fought the good fight. Many senators did not want their colleague, the abrasive, extreme radical Ben Wade, to become president. Lack of an acceptable successor was a real factor.
BTW, does anyone else think that as Thad Stevens, Tommy Lee Jones all but stole the show from Daniel Day Lewis in "Lincoln?"
Thank you Heather for that important history. I have had some difficult mornings getting up for work but keep moving forward. That being said I have clean clothes, a shower and usually not a migraine. It is so impressive and amazing what we can do when we know what is right and persevere.
Know that we “civilians” appreciate and worry for the long-term emotional health of our nurses, doctors, EMTs, etc. It was that loser president and his minions who were ungrateful and in selfish denial.
So true. The daughter of a former co-worker of mine (whose two sons are following his footsteps in law enforcement) has undertaken nursing training at the age of 19. Her statement was "I need to help the profession".
Difficult mornings are part of the "reward" for the helping professions. I hear in your "usually not a migraine" comment that you are a fellow sufferer, and I hope that yours are responsive to medication, precluding resorting to mustard soaks.
As much as I love tonight's story and hope we gave people of that ilk in this time, I wanted to talk about the trial today. The pulmonologist was riveting in his clear expert testimony. It was amazing what he could conclude from the videos even the exact moment when George Floyd's life left him. And, how Chauvin pinned him down for another three minutes. He totally debunked any theory that there were drugs involved. He was amazing. I'm sure the defense is re-formating their defense strategy. I questioned MSNBC running the entire trial and I wasn't going to watch it but this caught my attention.
I've avoided watching the trial until now. But you prompted me to go find this testimony. Wow. Your description is head on. I know this one piece of many many pieces of damning testimony. Maybe I shouldn't dare to write these words, but I find it hard to imagine someone hearing even only this man and acquitting.
I was riveted yesterday by both Dr. Tobin's (pulmonologist) and Dr. Smock's (police surgeon from Kentucky) testimony. I thought both of these expert witnesses presented their opinions clearly, in lay terms that anyone could understand.
A pool reporter from the NY Times noted that the jurors were listening intently to Dr. Tobin's testimony.
It appeared to me Dr. Smock became emotional as he recounted those final seconds of life.
Both witnesses dismissed the notion, and explained why a drug overdose was not likely the cause of death.
I have chosen not to watch the trial. I have watched snippets of testimony, and am impressed by the day at the case the prosecution has built. (Watching the police use of force experts was fascinating. That is the kind of thing I would have been called upon to do the last 5-10 years of my career. The things they were saying about force application and justification were spot on.) I had commented last week that the young deputies in the section where I work one day a week were pretty confident in the defense work being done. This week, the trial was not on the TV at noon, and in the couple breaks I took in the office, no discussion of the trial was taking place. Sadly, the UoF instructor in that section was on an extradition, so my training plan must wait until next week. (If you missed it, I want to use the video to ask these young deputies how they will step in when they see a senior deputy behaving as they see Chauvin's actions.)
Unfortunately it will take only one racist watching from the jurors box to give us a hung jury. IMHO the results of this trial will come down to jury selection alone.
I too watched snippets. One comment from a former law enforcement person struck me: the pulmonologists' testimony that being able to talk does NOT mean one is capable of breathing...the law enforcement expert said that this alone would cause a major change in training.
I’ve not been able to watch, or listen, to all if it. After the prosecution’s witness gives such compelling testimony, then the defense attorney tries to undercut it with all kinds of nonsensical questions impugning his credibility. For example, in the bit that I heard before I turned it off, the defense attorney tried to imply that because the expert witness trained in California he wasn’t qualified to speak to the policies in Minnesota. The witness, however, was able to tell him that the majority of the policies were the same.
Tears! This is what I wish I knew when I taught in public schools. Textbook companies gave us scooting little flecks of history very selectively. Contents were driven by the states that would purchase the largest number of books. When I retired , angry parents who listened to early Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck were pressuring building Principals to transfer sharp young Social Studies teachers into other subject matter for fear they were being too truthful with their students. If only there were more hours in the day, I wish I could have been personally more well-read. Between writing lesson plans, prepping to guide my students, grade their work, cook, clean and raise my family, personal reading time was a dream reserved for retirement. But now, I bet there are many young teachers reading Dr. Richardson's Letters. What a gift!
I wish my history and social studies teachers had been truthful with us. I grew up in California next door to a Japanese-American family. I didn't learn until I was in my 30s that the US government had imprisoned Japanese-Americans, including the mom next door, during the war. It still makes me cry.
I only learned about the Wounded Knee massacre years after I had been a student in an AP U.S. History class in high school. After finishing Dee Brown's classic and heart-rending book, I held it in my hands and sobbed---not only for the horrible wrong done to Native Americans, but also for not having been taught about it in school; it , and all the rest of the ugly underside of the American "story."
OMISSIONS OF HISTORY. June 12, 1967 - Many here know the significance of that date as well as Dec 7, 1941 or Sep 11, 2001. However, I never heard of the "Loving v. Virginia" Supreme Court case until my adult years and tho it was legal for me to date or marry a black woman in St. Louis before that, I was thinking about asking a black co-worker out while stationed in Maryland in 1967 before June never realizing it was illegal. Luckily, I was hesitant & never asked.
In 2016 when the movie "Loving" was in theater, I asked several young ppl black & white if they knew what it was about and none did. They still don't teach all the ramifications of our American Apartheid in school. Perhaps too embarrassing.
Perhaps less grave but my chemistry teacher in the uk finally admitted when i was leaving school that most of the then syllabus had since been dissproved. It was fed to the students because it was easier to understand. Perhaps well intentioned but chemistry was the only exam i ever failed!
A bigger problem at the time was the proximity of the lab to the school's sports fields and during my chemistry classes the girls school seniors were always out playing field hockey. I was a little distracted!
Too bad I can't post pix here. I have drawings from my 1962 HS Chem Workbook blank pages of "Miss Experiments" "Miss Exercises" & "Miss Appendix" (If you can imagine)
or should i say...Aether you got it or you didn't. I was on fire for what was going on below on the earth needing perhaps a little bit of fresh air to renew concentration and a glass of water to slake the "thirst"......I was 16!
Thank you Carla for your years of being a committed educator! Do you ever think of those adults who are grateful for your effort and influence on them?! I never knew of the control exhibited over publishers of text books by those who purchased them. But then there is so much I never knew.
Yes, I think of them often and am still in touch with several of them although I moved to another state after retiring. I had such a great student population to work with. I always considered them to be such a gift in my life. As for the text book situation, most often it was driven by states with very large populations.
Tell the rest of the story. Grant insisted Northern troops treat Lee and his troops with dignity and respect during the official surrender. No jeering or whooping and hollering. Lincoln and Grant fought to keep the country together so at the end of the war they wanted to build unity - not more division.
THAT is the moral of the story that needs to rise in our nation today. Would Lee and his troops have behaved in the same respectful way if Grant had surrendered, requested help and food for his 25,000 starving soldiers without batting an eye?
So, what is a new word for such acts of kindness that benefit the Whole? Socialism does not describe these incredible loving acts. Wholism? Collectivism? Kind-ilism? We need new words for today that are not tarnished to encompass interest in the well-being of The Whole, where we take care of and respect one another. That is the world I want to help create. Why would anyone want anything less. Ego? Fear? Individualism, Capitalism and Racism can swing way too far on the pendulum and have created this serious abyss between our people. We need solutions instead of civil war this time. What is civil about war anyway? Grant's actions in the end, with the South were Civil.
Let's begin our futures from that civility and move forward, all of us together, and avoid the losses of fighting and killing one another. Can we do that? Pretty please? Sugar on top? Non-violent communication? Is it too much to ask Americans (and the World) to step into maturity and become diplomatic? Is that a forever lost art?
Preservationism? Decisions to preserve one another, our cultures, our environment, our climate for the next generations Drop the imaginary separations of color, religion, state, country and get on board that we are all the most powerful animals (of all colors and shapes), together, on this tiny, spinning planet? I really liked hearing Heather's story of Grant this morning. Someone I wish I could have over for dinner tonight for a heart to heart chat.
When I was an active Master Gardener (no longer - let my "credentials" expire), we referred to the concept of "interdependence" which had great relevance to the environment. I think of that now in answer to your quest for a "new word."
Yummy word "Interdependence," Ellen! I do envision our society, frequently and metaphorically, as a, interconnected forest or garden. And those words feel so much more relevant for today for some reason. And within that interdependence and interconnectedness are the qualities Molly suggests below. Or above depending on where this comment lands.
The understanding of "interdependence" is an original "war cry" of those who are trying to explain why rapid climate change matters. The interdependence of everything will soon be viscerally understood.
Let's not forget Sherman's March to the Sea. "Sherman's march frightened and appalled Southerners. It hurt morale, for civilians had believed the Confederacy could protect the home front. Sherman had terrorized the countryside; his men had destroyed all sources of food and forage and had left behind a hungry and demoralized people."
Can any man explain for me why men do these kinds of things? Or Agent Orange or landmines? It is such a foreign concept to want to destroy innocent people and animals.
Study the Army of Northern Virginia's invasion of Pennsylvania and Sherman might not seem quite so bad. Murders and rapes were few, but Lee's men stripped south central PA bare several times over. Worst of all, they kidnapped, brutalized and enslaved over 100 Blacks: fugitives, liberated, even many who were free their entire lives. Infamous!
On June 26, 1863 my ancestor, untrained after just four days in the PA Emergency Militia, risked his life in a losing skirmish and was captured by Jubal Early's men. While Early badgered and insulted his prisoners, who were prepared to give their last full measure of devotion to save their neighbors, thousands of residents, including hundreds of Blacks, were able to flee to safety. THAT is a heritage to be proud of.
You will greatly appreciate Raoul Peck's documentary on HBO Max entitled, "Exterminate All the Brutes", an almost poetic production about the brutality sanctioned by the belief in "white supremacy." I say "poetic" only to reference the uniqueness of the production and unspoken moments of a kind of revelation.
The completely destructive way the north applied their overwhelming military against civilian targets was brilliant strategy and most noble indeed.
But it was quite nice of Sherman to spare Savannah and present as a Christmas gift to Lincoln. Now folks have a way to visit and think they are in the old south, adorned with ante-bellum townhomes as they parade past the azalea-filled squares under cool crowns of ancient oaks draped in Spanish moss.
Even though Lee signed the articles of surrender in April 1865, there are STILL some folks down here fightin' the damn Civil War...or War of Yankee Aggression...or The Late Unpleasantness. THEY didn't surrender and are still just basically "waiting for ammunition". If you've never read it, I HIGHLY recommend "Confederates in the Attic" by the late, and ever-so-great Tony Horwitz--though I would expect most of y'all have probably read it because this is a savvy group! He wanders all around the South exploring people's feelings on the war and what it means/meant to them. It's at times funny, poignant, and infuriating. But, he always manages to find some fascinating people and some interesting facts. His last book, "Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide" from 2019, the year of his death. In this book he retraces the epic 6,000 mile journey undertaken by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted across the South in 1850. He was traveling incognito and sending back dispatches to the NYT about various things going on in the South. Horwitz then compares the places Olmsted visited and wrote about to what they are now. It's quite a portrait of the contemporary American South. Though Lee surrendered, a lot of people for a long time afterward were still fighting the war figuratively, and some are to this day. I was brought up to not particularly like "Yankees", and I remember in grade school there was only maybe one kid from up north (Ohio) and he was pretty exotic to us--he talked funny, for starters! Ah, youth...of course by the time I hit high school kids from up north weren't so rare. I remember the first time I ventured north of the Ohio River to go to grad school in the Midwest, I thought I was in another country! Kind of odd, looking back...
My family is from Delaware, and we always considered ourselves ‘northern.’
When my sister moved to Monroe, LA in the 1980s, she began hearing about “The War of Northern Aggression.” At first, she thought that maybe she was asleep when they taught that is school. Then she figured out the folks there were speaking about the Civil War. That was when she came to the conclusion that the South still has never accepted the outcome of that war.
FYI—all southern accents are not the same. I am from eastern NC, I have a drawl. A dear friend from the mountains of western NC has a twang. The difference comes from the pronunciation of the vowels, especially the letter A. I have also noticed that people who grew up in rural communities have a slower manner of speech than people who grew up in urban areas. I have lived in rural northwest Ohio and the suburbs of Detroit. Two very different worlds.
JennSH I agree with what you say about accents and manner of speech. I had a similar experience but in the opposite direction- raised in MA and moved to SC in my 20’s. It was, indeed, another world but I adapted, met many wonderful friends, and came to love it there. I lived there for about 20 years until life circumstances brought me back to MA about 10 years ago. I still feel like SC is ‘home’ and miss it, hoping to return some day when circumstances allow.
We've lived around northern Virginia for almost two decades and the natives have very soft drawls if at all. The only time their "accent" comes out is when they say words with the long "I" sound - it comes out as a very LOOOOONG "I". When we lived in the Dayton Ohio area, we knew we were talking to natives when they pronounced "bush" as "boooosh" and "dishes" as "deeeeeshes". Every region has their own thing.
My husband’s first job out of college (1978) took us to a small Midwestern town (15,000) in northwest Ohio. They thought we were exotic. I had people constantly saying, “You’re not from around here, are you?” Some folks thought we were hillbillies because of our southern accent. One third grader in a class I substituted in asked if l was a cowgirl because l sounded like l was from Texas. I was SURE I had moved to another country!!! It was constantly brought to my attention that l was different from the locals, not from around there. Because my manner of speaking marked me as different, there were days when I was out doing errands, etc. that l did not open my mouth. I simply smiled and nodded.
When I first moved to SC I met a delightful Scottish woman who worked at our local Sumter County Museum. We were laughing about our accents and she related a story. Apparently some locals from The rural part of Sumter South of us had noticed her accent. One of the men stated exactly as you had written Jenn, “You’re not from around here here, are you?” And she answered “No I am from Bishopville.” I laugh every time I remember that story. Bishopville is in Lee County about 35 minutes to the North of us. Thank you for the memory.
Try moving from north Louisiana to south Louisiana, to north Mississippi to Memphis, to Houston, to San Antonio, to Austin...I've always had an "accent" no matter where I lived, despite being south of the Mason Dixon line!
Southern reactionaries have long said to those who migrate, then return as liberals: "You ain't from 'round here no more." Cf. the film Mississippi Burning.
Jenn, we have recently moved from the foothills of New Hampshire, by way of Boston to the west coast of Florida. I have experienced the same comments on my accent. Oddly enough I guess I sound like "Boston" whatever that is. Even more oddly when I was traveling through Vermont I sounded like I was from "Boston", although I lived over 70 years in New Hampshire. I love to entertain folk with my newly acquired accent. After all who uses "r's " at the end of their words.
Mostly it is a friendly chiding. Mostly I am friendly about it. I suspect you may be too.
Kathi, I was also born in Columbus and lived there for my first 8 years. I remember that there were separate "white" and "colored" drinking fountains in the department store we went to, one white and the other tinted brown. This was around 1960.
I remember that same feeling being brought up in Northumberland, near the Scottish border and thinking that London and the South were most definitely another very different country......and it is still ....another people, another culture at the very least.
Sister Simone Campbell, an organizer of the famed Nuns on the Bus, is now featured on The Last Word w Lawrence O’Donell. This discussion, of two progressive and devout Catholics, reveals the social justice teachings also shared by President Biden. The friendship of the president and Sister Simone shines as O’Donell highlights a letter the president recently sent to the sister.
I feel if you are reading this, then you will appreciate this segment, at the very end of the program
Welcome Mike...this HCR community gives me a daily dose of focus and strength. Knowing there are other like-minded people out here gives me hope to to get up each day and fight the fight like Grant.
I am in tears each time I witness this community welcome another friend. This is how the world at large should feel, isn't it? You humans rock and keep my fires lit!
As we deeply appreciate the comfortableness we can mostly take for granted--clean clothes, shoes that fit, food to eat, place to sleep, and basic safety--we are commemorating the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust.
Survivors' memoirs document the horrors of grief, fear, the next Selection, chronic hunger, pain from beatings or torture, humiliation, fatigue, dysentery, typhus, itching from lice, hypervigilance, succumbing to deteriorate as a Muselmann who'd given up the will to live. As they say, it started with words. Then restrictions posted in the public square. Then more and more new laws. Fear of getting reported by your neighbor, or your own children.
Survivors' memoirs document perseverance of the human spirit, and the willingness to call upon incredible courage when a moment presented itself--be that moment stealing a potato, lying about your work skill, forging a work permit or identity paper or travel document, giving up your child to be smuggled to safety, hiding in a cellar or attic or literally underground in the forest, jumping off a train. Survivors' memoirs document the necessity of hope and faith in humanity, and forgiveness. Survivors' testimony supported accountability, prosecution, and culture change. L'Chaim.
I've heard that the British Museum has, or had, and exhibit on the Holocaust that starts with an exhibition about German social upheaval and the rise of societal divisions. The patron follows a line on the floor past all the evidences of the Nazi rise from street gangs through Kristallnacht, and then you go around a corner and you're inside a boxcar... All journeys, it seems, start with a single step.
I visited a museum in Bonn, Germany that was very, very similar. It was in 2012, and as I read some of the reports of what the social upheaval and societal divisions were like struck me as similar to what I was watching with the rise of the Tea Party and the urge for control of the nation by the "right". Spooky.
We have a dozen Holocaust museums across the U.S., from DC to NYC, Miami and St. Petersburg, Houston, Dallas, El Paso, Terre Haute, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
The message: Remembrance is not only about the past, but about creating our future.
Absolutely spooky. Our days, starting with the Reagan Republicans and Newt Gingrich then the Tea party - have brought us all here. To this very moment in time. Our present. The history has delivered us to a scary place, indeed. But I do read Heather Cox Richardson's daily posts to help me keep my feet on the ground. THAT said - I'm learning to read and skim a LOT of the comments that just hover on one issue. That's okay with me because people come here to this community of its very own to converse, and try to make sense of our present state of political and governmental being. Reading the comments as well as HCR's n/l helps me get into my day. With a bit more confidence about time moving along, as we are creating our own history.
Thank you for this note about the British Museum exhibit. I didn’t find it yet, but put it on my bucket list. In the meantime, links offer opportunity to spend hours from the comfort of home.
Thank you again, Ellie, for reminding me of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Around 25 years ago I happened to be in Israel for this day. At an appointed time on the day, everything and everybody in the country stopped as the air raid sirens wailed for a full five minutes. Traffic stopped, people got out of their cars and stood silent, in stores and businesses everyone stood in silence. I will never forget the effect it had on me. It was very moving. I had something similar happen when I was living in Holland right after 9/11. On the Friday following it at noon, all of Europe stopped. In Holland, all the church bells rang for 5 minutes and everyone was silent. I was in rehearsal, working on Beethoven's Mass in C and right at the moment it was noon we stopped right in the middle of the fugue at the end of the Credo: "Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi sæculi, Amen" ("...and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.") The timing of that happening, on THAT text in THAT music got to me. We sat there in silence, me bawling my eyes out. Whenever I hear this piece that precise moment in the music comes back. The point is, the importance for those of us left to remember those who died. Never forget. We owe them that much. Seeing whole populations grind to a halt and fall silent to stop and remember victims of violence and hatred is a moving experience. Thank you again for reminding me that their memory is truly a blessing.
If I still lived in Florida (left more than 50 years ago!!! - escaped rather), I would be very frightened by the dogma that DeSantis preaches. And leave again. Hell, Rick Scott won two terms as governor. Then brought in big money from one of his grifter oligarch buddies to defeat Senator Bill Nelson for his current Senate seat. Well, I might move back to Florida to defeat both Scott and DeSantis. Politics HAVE been better in florida - but only in brief interims. Oh, I grew up in now very red St. Petersburg, too, Diane Love. Best wishes to you, I mean that. I'm in blue Colorado now, 36 years now.
Beautiful, Ellie, and thank you for the reminder of the Days of Remembrance. As you describe the memoirs of survivors, I could almost imagine Lee's soldiers experiencing similar things. Amazing how we tend to repeat and repeat.
Unfortunately Lee's soldiers, and other Confederates, were the ones inflicting suffering and injustice on the innocent, before, during and after the Civil War.
Thank you for this remembrance. My idea is that we do not "forget" the Holocaust, while forgetting so much else, because brave survivors and their families refuse to let it be buried and continually speak, write, make movies about it, and establish memorials and museums of remembrance. If this pattern was used to address other genocides---the Crusades, white invasions of Africa for profit by Europeans and the accompanying genocides, the genocides in Turkey and Greece, the genocide of the Rohingya, the endless murders between the Shiites and the Sunnis, the genocide of Native Americans and all indigenous people---there would be a deeper understanding of murderous human arrogance. Instead, we "forget" these other genocides. They are linked inexorably with the understanding of the holocaust's terror and a repetition of the propensity of we humans to create an "other" to hate and, in many examples, to kill. As much as I trust and love the people in my world, I am still astounded by the human capacity for murder and destruction on a global scale.
When I visited the Mémorial de la Shoah, the Holocaust museum in Paris, a few years ago, I was surprised by an exhibit on the genocide in Rwanda. Then I realized, of course! And saw that many Holocaust museums and organizations make this global connection to other genocides.
Like I saw on one website and as you suggest:
Remembrance of the past helps create a better future.
My apologies if someone has already mentioned this. After reading Heather’s essays I find her words need to percolate in my brain for a while before I begin to draw connections. Thinking of Grant willing to feed 25,000 Confederate soldiers makes me think of Biden, willing to feed, wanting to feed, reaching out his hand to help all citizens of the United States in this time of need.
In my personal view of our history, the American Century begins that day, April 8, 1865, at Appomattox Courthouse, and ends 99+ yrs later with the Gulf of Tonkin Incident; Aug. 4, 1964, the first great shining lie of the Vietnam War, with many more lies to follow.
It's sad to think how much greater we might have become had Lincoln lived through his second term and really ended the Civil War.
The optimist in me hopes we are beginning a new era, and finally ending the Civil War, with the Biden Administration, BLM, etc., and marked by the death rattles of the Republican Party; the party of Lincoln. A monumental irony there.
If we can really beat the pandemic, and Biden can get his infrastructure legislation through Congress more or less intact resulting in a burst of high-paying construction/manufacturing jobs that gains support from the white working class, (and the Republicans continue to let the public face of their party be clowns like Matt Gaetz,) the Democrats maybe can build on their congressional majority in the 2022 mid-term elections, bucking the historic trend. If this happens, I may start to believe a new era has started for our nation.
It feels like if we just push a little more, just keep striving, the dam of racism, inequality and hate finally will burst, and goodness will wash over us.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat
Be swift, my soul to answer, oh be jubilant, my feet!
His truth is marching on
-- Julia Ward Howe, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," sung by Odetta
Can the optimist in you see H.R. 1 passing? It will take that, too, and more to end the Civil War. The conviction of Chauvin and unexpected victories for Democratic Party candidates in the mid-term elections are crucially important as well. Generations Y (Millennials) and Z will be boost, if they vote in record numbers. Unfortunately, this list may need to be added to. The problem doesn't rest only with the Confederates; Trump, the donor class... There is a lot force against the Union. Ulysses, you fed the Confederate Army; now, please send us a division of U.S. Grants.
The Civil War, our bloodiest, was won by abolitionist white and Negro Northerners, and lost by slave owning white Southerners, won by those with the belief that all men are created equal, and lost by those content to buy and sell human beings because they were Negro...
White history by white historians offers the big lie of omission to a collection of boring whites in comfortable denial... that’s playing out till this day and here by Dear Heather of white Maine.
That whites can talk about history without a word about Lee’s people’s banality in slavery ... is the insanity of racism today with a sanctimonious smile playing out daily in our still racist nation.
The greatest curse upon this nation is ignored, that curse is driving a just trial in Minneapolis and the unjust laws in Georgia and coming in 40 odd state legislatures packed with white racists, nation wide... all pandering to active white suprematists oblivious to the history of “Wilmington’s Lie, The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy” by David Zucchino, 2020, Atlantic Monthly Press.. white history by white historians recording color blind for whites to read that ignores justice on white campuses across the nation, ignoring white cops suffocating Black men, ignored by whites, everywhere... unless filmed by a Black teen girl...
Stay tuned, dear whites, one white racist in denial on that Minneapolis jury can destroy the nation’s inner cities... much like Flint, Michigan and dozens of others are destroying the Black minds of those crammed into our slums, liberally ignored by today’s whites.. white governors, white campus historians babysitting the whites of our still sick nation... content to read substack... not Wilmington’s Lie...
What will it take? We know the answer.. it’s 2021 and we are reverting to segregation and tokenism...with sanctimonious whites patting themselves on the back for nothing.
Reading this sanctimonious drivel that fusses over Dear Heather’s long nights is as sweet as it is revolting. Dear white as white can be Heather is in business to entertain the vestigial organ of her readership: the conscience, America’s endowed sleepwalkers..
Why not. FOX is our most popular and Tucker of St. George’s whore house is preeminent ... let’s hear it for America, land of the free.
Children in our slums are hungry tonight. Many are brain damaged.
You are an interesting and colorful writer, but not a particularly accurate one. To hear you tell it, any ‘Dear white historian’ cannot possibly relate the complicated questions of race, in our history or at present, with any truthfulness. That she chooses to tell this story tonight, based on the writings of U. Grant who, whether you credit him with wisdom or not, DID have some ‘skin in the game’ of the Civil War, seems to irritate you. That she chooses to take that moment in history to illustrate one aspect of our national identity crisis—are we to be ruled by an entitled oligarchy or a representative democracy?—and that her readers appreciate the point seems to aggravate you. Perhaps it is a ‘luxury’ that she does not necessarily choose the topics YOU feel are an obligation, that she teases out the sources of both the evolution of our ideals and abhorrent realities that plague us today. She tracks the incidences of abysmal failure and near-sublime realizations, the myths that have driven our stories and where they have powered our achievements and, often simultaneously, our most brutal and callous crimes against humanity. Her books and substack writings may not be as presumptuous as your own, in that she has enough humility to realize that much of the history leading to the current atrocities are ones that she, as a white woman, can only relate with careful abstraction and analysis as a historian and compassionate awareness and acknowledgment of experiential limitations as a person.
There is a theme that has prevailed in her current work, maybe you have missed it: every voice and vote matters if our government is to be any valid reflection of the people. And that impacts all the rest of it. Amazing that you have so obliviously missed that.
Thank-you, Fern. Although I have been reading Letters for a while now, I rarely dip into the comments because I find many of them to be disturbing in one way or another. I'm basically here to learn from an historian who has mastered the art of story-telling and is able to tie events and people together in a way that promotes a better understanding of our country. I did as you advised - and it was very helpful.
Hello Cheryl, welcome. You are among good people, eager to learn as you are. Thank you for your reply. I have learned a lot from comments. After the Letter, I read a small number of them (don't have much time to do otherwise) and skip the ones that I believe will not be illuminating. See what works for you. I loved the Letter today. Heather's pieces and comments encourage me to read and reflect on some of the subjects more fully. I hope that we have other opportunities to communicate.
Are we talking about the same Sandy Lewis, born in NYC? Salim B Lewis, AKA Sandy, son of Salim Lissner Lewis, managing partner of Bear Stearns for almost 30 years? He may have family of European origin that suffered the holocaust and thus he by extension. But he, personally, certainly did not.
I’m guessing Fern may be familiar with: “intergenerational trauma is a psychological term which asserts that trauma can be transferred in between generations. After a first generation of survivors experiences trauma, they are able to transfer their trauma to their children and further generations of offspring via complex post-traumatic stress disorder mechanisms. This field of research is relatively young, but has expanded in recent years.” From wiki
The term "fucking moron" comes to mind, reading the blather above. Another example of why The American Left has been so successful as it hasn't, the past 100 years.
I don’t see it as sanctimonious. I rather enjoyed it. I don’t believe Sandy needs protecting. Despite the traumatic experiences he is a grown man and he comes here with fists up looking for fighting words. I suspect it stimulates his amazing brain when others sort of fight back with their own words. Some don’t like the distraction from Heather’s work, but I’m if the mind we are able to scroll on by that which we don’t like.
You missed her point. Grant and the North, mostly humble, hard working white people fought a war defined by slavery. Lee, representing the South, surrendering his army and his cause and reuniting the Union that had already lost so much. There is no perfect in war but Grant and Lee made a noble decision that night, that is felt even today in our collective history in our imperfect but good country. Heather’s story was simple and straightforward, like the surrender that followed. I commend her. Our country had paid a high price. Still does.
But we miss Sandy’s point which is we don’t recognize our own racism. We often think ourselves superior to the biggest racists ignoring our own individual inhumanities to others. Sandy’s comment is a call to activism, it is a call for us to stop being complacent.
I can’t recall traveling through the South and not having seen some thoughtless denigration by color of skin, which I have seen only once in the North. Why don’t more people of African decent live in the North?
I’ve lived in the North and racism exists there as well. It’s quieter but it still exists. I have been called the n word in the North and the South. In the South, they let you know you’re unwanted and unequal with a sneer. I think the North, it’s with a smile or a “polite” phrasing.
Wow! I live in the North...born and raised...have traveled extensively and worked in the South. Racism in this country is everywhere. Period. Sandy’s less than accurate point about racism in all-white Maine IS accurate about the attitude toward Blacks and Hispanics in the North. There is an ignorance of how entitled even non wealthy Whites are in general; while even wealthy Blacks and Hispanics in the North fight a daily battle of a lack of equity.
I do not remember the Black American who said or wrote that a black person is more often safer in the south than in the north. In the south, people are open and loud about their hostility towards blacks, thus, forewarned blacks know whom to avoid.
I recommend The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson for a thorough discussion of the Great Migration of freed slaves from the South to the North from the early 1900's to 1970. The author is a bit repetitive, but I learned a lot that I didn't know about Jim Crow and that time period.
The South never had an exclusive on racial hatred.
1974.
“In Boston, Massachusetts, opposition to court-ordered school “busing” turns violent on the opening day of classes. School buses carrying African American children were pelted with eggs, bricks, and bottles, and police in combat gear fought to control angry white protesters besieging the schools.
The beginning of forced busing on September 12 was met with massive protests, particularly in South Boston, the city’s main Irish-Catholic neighborhood. Protests continued unabated for months, and many parents, white and black, kept their children at home. In October, the National Guard was mobilized to enforce the federal desegregation order.“
But i remember it very well too and during my first trip across the northern states in 1974 but the skin colour was so to speak different...red!
On the African-American migration to the north which was massive and in several waves many books exist that will tell you all about it...and the welcome they got when they arrived in Chicago!
David, I would argue that Lee’s surrender was not “noble”; it was pragmatic, to say the least. He should have known when he agreed to lead the Armies of the Confederacy that the South could not win the war. He should have known he would be outmanned, out-gunned, and out-financed. Arguably, he bears some responsibility (along with Jefferson Davis) for the loss of 750,000 lives.
The blame Goes back to the origins of slavery. As far as “ knowing” he would lose, history is easy in hindsight. I wonder what King George thought? It to me was noble. Lee was being pulled in the direction of a Guerrilla war, or a war of attrition. Lee rejected it thinking it too much a price to be paid by a country that had already paid a dear price. It is subjective, but I think it was a decisive and noble act as was The way Grant received it. It was a big moment in possibly the darkest moment of our Republic. A moment Heather wrote of simply and so well. A moment we should all remember and think about.
Yes he did it well...with integrity. Much in the tradition of "an officer and a gentlemen" of the time. War used to be considered as being between gentlemen. I will always remember the battle ending the siege of La Rochelle after the St Bartholemew's Day massacres in France (1572-3) where the Duke of Buckingham leading English naval forces invited the leaders of the opposing french side to dinner on his flagship the night before the battle...to wish them luck! Another era, a bygone civilization.
It is unfortunate that the gentlemen involved do not dine together more often before most conflicts begin. Today’s rules seem to be more of simple cruelty.
I'd prefer to lock them all in a room with order to either find a solution or beat each other to death with the balloons that i would provide. Ridicule might not kill but it can help one see another side of things.
War is an agreement to commit mass murder. There are no exceptions to that. Murder on any level is never good. There are no exceptions to that either. The officers celebrating war were fools then and so they are now.
Grant and Lee do not belong in the same category. Lee was a slaver and traitor who violated his oath and prolonged the war through his generalship and dedication to the Confederacy. Dr Richardson shows that Lee surrendered because he was totally defeated. Though Grant urged surrender to avoid further loss of life, Lee persisted for several days, leading to unnecessary suffering. Despite a few noble gestures and words, he continued to work against equality. As postwar president of Washington College, he encouraged students who committed racist, vigilante acts of violence during Reconstruction. Grant was the complete opposite, a mostly exemplary person whose life is well worth studying.
Stuart, while things went relatively well for the Confederate forces for awhile, Lincoln made changes in strategy and personnel, after which the military superiority (and its greater resources) of the Union took over.
Lincoln should have gotten rid of McClelland much earlier. It's conceivable the Union might have lost though had Stonewall Jackson not been killed. Stonewall was an amazingly competent general, who had the respect even of a lot of Northern soldiers See Rufus: A Boy's Extraordinary Experiences in the Civil War, by Phoebe Sheldon. Sheldon took her great great grandfather's letters home from the war and turned them into a narrative, so you get a soldier's eye view of the war. Rufus Harnden was a very observant, mature person for his age (he enlisted at 17 in 1862). One of the most extraordinary scenes in the book is when Harnden, now working in an army hospital in Vicksburg, overhearing several Southern generals at dinner, learns that he may have been responsible for Jackson's death (I suspect he was indirectly, rather than directly responsible, but that is unclear). Although Harnden was strongly anti-slavery, he felt terrible about having (he thought) killed Jackson. (I highly recommend the book.)
Lincoln bemoaned the massive incompetence of his own lazy generals in the initial years of the war. The North should have been able to win much earlier. They did not because they were fighting men committed to their cause. Often those men had no idea what their leaders really wanted nor did they care. Most of us have no idea why we fight we are just along for the ride.
Yes. Blood lust is an acquired taste and it took a few years for the north to cultivate an appetite, particularly because the reasons for war was mostly not personal to them.
Not sure if an early and relatively easy Union victory would have been good for the country. It would have left slavery intact, fundamental issues unresolved, and most likely led to further war(s) with real danger of foreign intervention.
Stuart, Lee did not nearly win. He lost and he lost entirely. His army was starving. It was unable to perform. It could not and did not win. That is a fact.
As for his loyalty? Lee had no loyalty. He broke his voluntary oaths that he
took as he advanced up the chain of the United States Army. He was a professional soldier without loyalty to his country, nor his fellows, nor his own future. Lee was defeated.
Yes Joe but before Grant ran him into the ground he made fools of a lot of Northern Generals and got very close to Washington. I wasn't making moral judgements.
Yes but the idea of fighting to the end was to change the way people thought. Johnson through the chance away after Lincoln's assassination. A funny thought occurred to me while reading some comments below ...in 1939 before the war Chamberlain and Daladier tried to give it all away to Hitler in the name of peace to stop the war. In the US Andrew Johnson was your Chamberlain but gave it all away after the war in the name of peace and thus sabotaged all the necessary sacrifice n suffering and effort of the war
It would be nice to think so but then you get into the "phoney war" for 6 months after the invasion of Poland...and the Dunkirk. Preparation for war? No, i don't think so! Totally unprepared but they got on with it nonetheless.
Agreed. A failure as PM, Chamberlain belatedly came to regret Munich and bitterly resented Hitler's betrayal. If his health was better (he died 6 months after leaving office), as a patriot he would have contributed to the war effort.
Johnson was a southerner heart and soul. He was a disgrace as a President of the United States along with such other disgraces such as Donald J. Trump. Everyone make a mistake and we have made more than one.
Mr. Lewis reads today's letter for the worst it might conceivably mean. He would do a lot better carefully to read what Ms. Richardson (contemptuously and gratuitously referred to as "Dear Heather of white Maine") writes, and she must be taken to mean. Texts have import.
I appreciate your perspective and would like to learn more, if only it was written respectfully. We are all have a lot to learn from each other. There is a lot of healing that needs to take place. I was never so hopeful as when the BLM movement began last summer with so many whites joining the cause only to be subsumed by being blamed for riots (and the insurrection?!). Steps forward, steps backward. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Please don’t alienate those that are trying to help this arc move forward. Educate us. Don’t turn us away with your own denigrating words. It doesn’t help. “Reading this sanctimonious drivel that fusses over Dear Heather’s long nights is as sweet as it is revolting. Dear white as white can be Heather is in business to entertain the vestigial organ of her readership: the conscience, America’s endowed sleepwalkers...
Requiring a person to speak respectfully before you’ll listen to their message is ...not good. It’s used all the time as an attempt to silence and dismiss. We saw it with Kaepernick kneeling and then being called disrespectful, we see it anytime there are BLM protests. There’s examples everywhere.
Also, it’s a game some of us can’t win. The “respectful” rules only apply to some of us and change on a whim.
That is true, but basic respect is what gets most people to a table. It has happened at times in our country and with other nations. People kneel because injustice and inequity results in burdens of anger, death and poverty. My flag has offended some because it has been hanging upside-down for the last few years as a sign of distress. Does it matter? To me, it says that my son has put his life on the line in the military to defend radical principles at home that have only begun being realized before they could be surrendered completely state by state and inevitably in the Nation’s Capitol. The driver of the truck that passes by flying the American and Confederate flags offends ME with his disrespect. We have lost hundreds of thousands of lives this year because of faulty narratives and agendas. It has been treacherous to find common ground.
President Biden’s efforts to address the roots of poverty, discontent and inequity where they have been watered and fed for so long may help bring about fairer prosperity, but how do we breach the seemingly intractable walls of prejudice and ignorance? There is ‘good trouble’ and ‘bad trouble’ and where do we hold the line? ‘Respect’ has become as much of a chameleon as ‘freedom’ these days. So I see your point, up to a point...
Basic respect does get most people to the table as you say. But I still don’t want to lose sight of the fact that basic respect, while demanded from them, is not usually given to the oppressed.
He does now!! He was part of this movement in his non-violent approach (at the beginning of a violent game). I thought it was beautiful and it got America's attention right in her core issues-- racism. And white men threatened black me that they earn good money playing football and they should be grateful. That is how white privilege works. Hmmm...what did they say to the white players and refs who began kneeling to support Kaepernick? I do not remember that.
Yes, I did not mean to imply I disagreed with you. We are inundated with so many opinions that can sway our own before we’ve even used our own brains to gather the facts and think them through.
Most healthy people will not listen to someone who actively insults them unless there is some larger relationship at play requiring such, at least in the short term. If you want to be heard then don’t insult the listener. It ain’t rocket science.
I admire Colin Kaepernick. Thank you for shining a light on his courageous stance. Your point about demanding respect is thought-provoking. It seems to be a strategy often used in fear, to establish control. Thank you R for this reminder. Having said all that, I agree with Betty that it is difficult to listen to and learn from someone who is ranting. But it’s good to try. I am learning so much here.
Sandy, you bring up several salient points but sully their impact with your mean disrespect for the HCR. And, in all honesty, you, too, are as white as white can be; name dropping and shoving your white privilege down the throat of anyone willing to read your words. You have done extraordinary things in your life. You have a storied reputation for aggression and disrespect. Those traits have been successful in your other roles and endeavors but they are not necessarily effective or appreciated here.
Ignorance is bliss. You Daria Wilber are the Greek Chorus expat from Mexico..Try the very back end of Hurricane Sandy, by the very able Pulitzer James Bandler - SevenDaysVT - his lede is garbage, his kicker is accurate, he was rushed. Mark Forrest Gunther Kimball spins, lies, is charming, angry, a friend that feeds us all honest good food. We’ve lived with Blacks in the hundreds, saved their lives, know racist whites, latent white racism, color based racism is world wide and HCR is a passively racist historian with a good heart - deaf and indifferent to the racism of her readership and the US now. We are in crisis. In danger. Recall, Mussolini and Hitler were elected. Trump was elected in the Obama backlash. The whites of America are racist indifference personified. The North Country is nuts see www.sblewis.com study with care. Harvard is racist. Princeton is racist. We had two there, one was summa. He is mildly racist D. Phil from Oxford, our youngest loved a Black, we got it right with him. Sadly, he died saving the life of another in Ecuador.. at 26, 12.14.98. The HCR entertainment list is passively racist... our Civil War is not over.
Sandy Lewis, I agree, our Civil War is not over. I hope you got a charge insulting me...I deserved it. But you don't intimidate me so, have at it.
I too, though with far less economic clout than you, have lived and worked within impoverished communities, some of color some not. I have worked with children so bruised by trauma they simply cannot or will not speak. And I agree, too, that there is a deeply ingrained racist indifference in the US. The fact that Mussolini and Hitler were both elected should be a glaring example of how far things go awry. But, in the US, people are reluctant to learn lessons taught far from our own soil. I take that back, people in the US refuse to learn the lessons taught on our own soil.
I remember reading about your son's tragic death. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering that loss brought to you, your wife, his beloved and your family. The experience must bring a lifetime of emptiness in a space once so full of life and vigor.
NB, neither Hitler nor Mussolini were elected to high office. Both were appointed heads of government, Hitler by Pres Paul Hindenburg, Mussolini by King Vittorio Emmanuel III. These facts are widely known and easily found by those who don't, but wish to be well-informed.
Seething rants are more credible without willful ignorance. But why constantly seethe in the first place?
Thank you TPJ, you are ever so kind. You're right about Hitler and Mussolini, of course. I did know that neither were elected to higher office. In re Sandy, I tend to be pretty ruthless in my response/reaction to him, so if he claws back, I might deserve it. What rankles me is this: Sandy's constant disregard for civil discourse. And why does that bother me so much? Because he has learned to bully and manipulate people. It is a trait learnt when very young and honed to a razor sharpness during his lifetime. It is mean and done in meanness. Indeed, after all these years he constantly refers back to his days with Bruno Bettleheim, so much so that it has become a dry well he taps into to elicit sympathy time and time again. Don't think he didn't pick up some very significant behavioral traits under Bettleheim because there's no better place to learn them than a school for the emotionally disturbed. Just as my brother.
The other thing that drives me crazy? People who jump to a (white) aggressors defense because they read in the NYT that he had a tough childhood, (emotionally) but meantime committed federal crimes severe enough that he was able to eventually hobnob his way to a presidential pardon. Boo hoo. Ah, a wealthy, emotionally aggressive white man who sustained parental abuse gets away with bad behavior because he's white and wealthy. And for no other reason. (Why, we actually had a president who fits that bill, and people hem and haw about his despicable behavior.)
While Sandy does frequently point out truths about racism in the US he rarely does so without reminding us what a swell, rich white guy he is. It seems to me that people who do quiet good works everyday, regardless of pocketbook size, are the ones who ought to be respected, not those who bemoan a private club in Acapulco built for EXPATS and executives gone to rack and ruin because the locals didn't care about it. Hell, the locals never got within a mile of the place unless they were cleaning or parking cars for a couple of pesos a day. When Sandy speaks of physical and social deprivation of the kind that is crippling and deadly to Black and BIPOC, he speaks as an observer, not a victim. He chides white people for their whiteness all the while revelling in his own whiteness and wealth. It's a kind of hypocrisy that is both prevalent and predictable.
No, Sandy (and Fern) are welcome to insult me to their heart's content. One is decades into his role as a ghastly curmudgeon-Edward Gorey might have used Sandy as a character in one of his stories. Fern? No clue. She's jumped on a bandwagon with wobbly wheels. That's her choice and, in real terms, she doesn't impact me one bit. May they both have a lovely, peaceful weekend.
Sandy put those dictator errors in circulation here, not you, D. I will occasionally respond, but without addressing him directly. Not worth the trouble.
Fern has stung me a couple of times, but always with a positive purpose, so it's alright. I'm happy to hear more from her and you, and there's no joy when respected commenters are in conflict.
Sandy did have a horrific childhood. He also found out he was Jewish when he became a teenager it seems that had some profound impact upon him. Regardless, many of us had complicated lives in our youths but do not make caustic accusations that destroy discourse or label groups of people racist.
I do agree that his hypocrisy may, perhaps, include a lot of guilt-ridden, self-flagellation projected outwards because he was born white with a silver spoon, tarnished a bit, but still silver. He has more in common with the last, unhappy occupier of our highest seat in the land who is also a human projector of his own worst aspects, whom I believe was also appointed and placed in position like Mussolini and Hitler. I agree with you, Daria, I think Sandy projects his white privileged issues onto others. He is bright, but in a lot of pain that leaks out a bit aggressively. I love how you are undaunted by his, or anyone's, sometimes aggressive attacks.
Just a little harsh there, Sandy! I thought she wrote a good lesson to re-visit at this moment. Biden isn’t flashy, he’s stepping up with good government, good ideas and help for those struggling economically. I am grateful we have so dramatically changed course and direction and hope for a better world. Yes, we are still fighting the civil war. And yes, the South is relentless in the pursuit of black suppression but I’m happy right now to have a few positive thoughts and ideas.
The beauty of Dr Richardson’s essays is that which brings us together. I will never be as eloquent as many of our fellow writers. Often I feel rather incompetent when I compare the abilities of others to express their thoughts here. But I feel at home here. What I am trying to say is difficult for me to express easily. I feel so alone here in this town surrounded by so many unthinking often vicious people. Here at least I find compatriots who are willing to express their thoughts and hopes. And for a little while I don’t feel so alone. Thank you all for being here.
I do understand being the lone liberal in an ocean of flame throwing Republicans. LFAA keeps me moored to reality. And the discussions that follow help me "get out of my head."
In addition to what Susan is saying, after all the bombardment of traumas and injustices of the past four to five years, and witnessing a blatant rise in (what I feel) is fascism on our soil, we have the most diverse administration ever in our history. We have a multi-racial, female VP!! This gentle, white man called Biden, has proven to me that he much stronger than T***p bested him by being the total opposite, which the majority of us worked very hard to attain. Moreover, those 30% who have taken off their white sheets, or wanted those tax breaks or only cared about abortion but could care less about WMDs killing our children, bullying, liars, sexism, etc.—that population has some time to watch justice reveal day by day all the atrocities they have supported. And they can see that a good man and his administration are making decisions that impact all of us positively because his administration is representing all of us. Including white males--and that is key. A truly strong male that is judicious, diplomatic, in touch with the people of all colors, kind and loving, has empathy and healthy boundaries. This man is a good transition and role model for all our people, for our men and boys and non-binaries. We need to know that a lot of work is being done on some level we cannot even see yet with that 30%. That is why I also support The Lincoln Project because they are speaking the Truth and did not fall under the near fascist spell of the past regime.
I doubt that many could stomach the hard truths Sandy is willing to write about. I for one often enjoy the threads spun from Sandy’s often painful insights.
Agreed, David. If not for posts like Sandy’s we become our own, liberal, echo chamber. This community has always seemed to pride itself on being open minded and desiring change. Sandy’s posts may be somewhat abrasive at times but he is no troll. To dismiss him as such and not give some thought and consideration to his comments, no matter how uncomfortable or abrasive, makes us no better than those MAGA T***p supporters who have been so thoroughly vilified here.
Karen, I don't degrade Sandy for his offerings. I do vehemently disagree with his personal attacks on Heather. Every single time. This is his MO on every post he has presented.
Not every single one that I’ve read but far too many. I do very much believe he’s simply jealous of her ability to reach and influence so many. He’s frustrated he doesn’t have the same reach but fails to see her words and skills are intentional to expand her reach. He might get more respect for his opinion if he took the time to read more of her work and listen to her talks. At this point he just rants about what he doesn’t know or “see”
Dang, Christy. That was lazerlike. You know his family owned newspapers and there does appear to be a very jealous streak at his core to how successful she is as a writer--and how hard the world of newspapers are staying afloat. From my talk with him, I would say you hit a Bingo! (only one of them--he is incredibly complex and actually rather brilliant. It's confusing because he often writes in stream of conscious form-- not great for comment sections). Sheesh— I may be guilty of the same!! I'll stop.
Christy, I have to say every one I have read , he has taken a personal, aggressive attack on her. Maybe some have slipped through the cracks or if I see his name, I skip it. I agree 100% with you. Remember, she has the #1 Substack following. He likely knows that and is just trying to grab onto her coat tails.
Agreed. Stop the ad hominem attacks on Heather, Sandy. You can scold the rest of us for whatever reason, but stick to the ideas with Heather. She's too damn hard working, earnest, inciteful, and just plain generous to warrant these cheap shots.
I commented and it went into the ethers. I spend three hours with Sandy on the phone. I heard his ideas and points (and life story and good works). I do appreciate his purpose in keeping white privileged persons alert and thinking. However, his assumptions are sometimes way over the top such as denigrating Heather for living in Maine or writing drivel. But I do appreciate how me makes me think and that can be uncomfortable, and necessary.
However, he brings up chapters in a book that were not posted in the daily "letter" which is on one aspect of a larger subject. (And which quite often are covered in a book written by HCR) In other words he goes off subject into his own confusing tangential rant, rather than appreciating the gist of the letter written.
Thank you! Sandy calling Heather a White racist sticks in my throat. Heather is opening eyes and minds to past events that that were never mentioned in any history classes in which I sat. To castigate her for that is IMO mean spirited and unhelpful. He also makes reference to materials totally unknown to me without providing links to their access. Erudition for its own sake is beyond unhelpful.
Oh! Another Penelope! Hi! In my talk with him, he feels like we treat HCR as a goddess and that she can do no wrong. I am not sure why she irks him so much. The only reason he took the time to research and find me to chat was because I said one thing that was not in total agreement with something Heather said. That appeared to make him think I was questioning everything she says. He also raps on about how much money she makes on this forum. He calculated it out and I think she damn well deserves every dollar she makes. Good for her! She works hard to pull these letters together. I wish she had been around for the entire occupation of our government the past four years. It is like oxygen to have found this forum and this community of serious thinkers who, mostly, want to learn, share, turn things over and connect. There are a lot of gaps in our history and government classes-- perhaps on purpose as I am finding out. Educated masses are much harder to control and manipulate. Welcome, Penelope Peck!
I don't recall anyone calling Sandy a troll. I do know his arrogance, abrasive and disrespectful nature frequently muddy any positive aspects of his messages.
Sandy is indeed a mixed blessing and his Heather bashing grows tiresome. I think of him as that grain sand in an oyster. The irritation helps grow something of value. He keeps us from getting too comfortable.
There is this, though- we all need to hear things we don’t want to hear from time to time- constructive criticism and the like. It annoys me that someone can come into a chat that we all pay for and denigrate the author. I have some decisions to make.☹️
I have missed all of the discussion subsequent to my comment and it appears that I have missed quite a lot, indeed! No one called Sandy a troll in the posts related to this letter (at least not prior to my comment) but he has been called that in other comments on previous letters. I should have been more specific.
There is indeed a tendency for your astutely noted "echo chamber" effect here. I've been called a troll etc because I certainly don't agree with every point made.
William, the difference is, we can all disagree with what Heather may say. That's fair. However, I trust you don't personally attack her for those opinions, do you?
He may well have some valid points, although not unique or particularly insightful. When you take out the personal attacks, it reads like an ad for Wilmington's Lie -- which honestly would have been fine.
I would love Sandy to try to focus his thoughts. Back up these seemingly racist provocations with some meat. It feels like you, Sandy, are spitting in the wind (spitting being the very polite verb here).
The underlying points made here by Sandy Lewis are powerful and valid. Yet this is an environment where we are all trying to do better, to learn, and be better... where someone like Heather is dedicating long hours of many days to providing informed perspectives on the events of the day, and where yes... feeding the conscience and moral perspective is one of the motivations for this labor (researching/writing AND reading). I have no doubt Heather will take Sandy's critique to heart, but she doesn't deserve to be flagellated for the genetics and white privilege that allow her to be where she is today. This is the work of all whites with our bottomless bank account of privilege - to learn, empathize, and determine what actions we need to take to correct things as they are; and this is the meat and drink that feeds that effort. This forum is a place where perhaps a presumption of good will would be a place to start when offering loving correction and feedback. I have tremendous sympathy for the anger and frustration that Sandy and anyone else who finds themselves on the receiving end of America's blithely racist bludgeon, is experiencing. Most of us here do. Just something to bear in mind.
Stick around a while and you'll get more than a belly full of Sandy's arrogance. He is not the kindly old gent eager to impart pearls of wisdom. He's a schitt stirrer from way back, born into an insanely privileged family and never fails to mention his privilege when the opportunities arise. So no, when he is on one if his whiter than white tirades do understand that he is actually the pot calling the kettle black.
The salt you refer to is a cure he has evidently never applied to himself.
Sandy Lewis: "Slavery ended... and never stopped." I see the truth of this and agree. And am touched by the clarity created by this one sentence. Its elegance shimmers as the other words sink. Thank you.
Sandy Lewis, you are quite right, in your disrespectful way. Slavery ended, and never stopped. That is true, and I suspect that almost all readers of LFAA both fervently wish it were different and do what we can to try to change that. However, the great oil tanker that is human nature takes a long time to turn around.....it takes many drops of love to (re)fill an ocean of past hatreds. One of those drops, as Dr. Richardson so eloquently pointed out, is recognizing that no matter what we do, the losing status quo will come to the surrender dressed to impress and the victorious future will be humbly bedraggled and beset by pain, yet filled with magnanimity and generosity.
Upon re-reading your post, it seems that while you have read "Wilmington's Lie" you have not read Dr. Richardson's "How the South Won the Civil War." Had you done so, you would not be so hard on her. She is fully aware of the reasons for continued racism and the denigration of races other than caucasian in this country, and knows how our political system has been---and is being, as we speak---manipulated to (only try to, it is to be hoped) ensure that it continues, that General Lee's well-dressed status quo will not have to sue for defeat to the rumpled majority wearing a dirty private's uniform. I for one will share Grant's misery if it means that we can all -- finally -- see the fundamental equality of all human beings, even those who seem to have an innate although false sense of their own greater worth, as you do.
At Appomattox Lee wore his impeccable formal dress uniform. Grant wore his work clothes to work. I am so proud that my cousin married a Grant, not a Lee!
Sandy, you are right. Sadly, you are right. All of these things happened and are happening. Some more, some less. If you look closely though and if you recognize that we are just one government experiment and put that into the equation none of it still makes any sense. Perhaps the best we can expect is a better version of those who came before us. Perhaps this government is now a step or two down the road closer to becoming in one section or another fairer than the past.
When we say all men are created equal we just might be closer to that than we were at this time last year. When we say all black lives matter, perhaps, just perhaps that might be truer than it was last summer. We are trying to make the statement more correct so that it means all lives are important, yours, mine, our family, friends, those we don't know and will never know.
We have changed. We are changing. We will change more and more and more as the experiment continues.
Mr. Lewis is much more readable when he writes like this and not in his 'stream of consciousness' mode. HCR today writes like a historian addressing a capsule of history. At other times, her words do recognize that the historical events she writes about are still in motion today, with us as a part of them. She has the ability to shift gears from history to dealing with present challenges, which she does not do today. Sandy takes her to task for this, and says what has to be said, but really, both are on the same side.
What matters is how you choose your words. Yes words transmit much. They can push others away or pull them in and create an appetite for more. Heather excels at the latter.
I read the Professor’s letter tonight after getting home early for once and, rather than walking the dogs or doing one of the nine loads of laundry that piled up while we waited for a new drain pump for our washing machine to be delivered, I poured myself a glass of wine and fell asleep at 5:15pm watching Blue Bloods. I want one ounce of Grant’s courage, to persevere, to keep going. Thank goodness I am part of so many communities: my school (employer), my extended family, my friends, the liberal leaders in my city, in Minnesota and those representing us in Washington D. C, this group of readers on substack. My communities have people with Grant’s tenacity and commitment. Those people lead those of us with less readiness. I am less ready, less tenacious, but oh so grateful for good, ethical, courageous leaders.
Each one of us has that ability, to varying degrees. It may be that you are not on a national scale, but a local or personal scale. What you do for the school is as important to the school as Grant was to the nation. Smaller scale is all. Your courage is there, used in a different way than those with larger egos and greater ambitions.
You are so kind! Thank you for that. I have been so exhausted some nights, that I don't push through as Grant did. And I have so many more comforts! That story inspires me to try harder. I will tackle the laundry tonight when I get home, maybe listen to one of the Professor's talks while I work! Thank you so much.
Grant would see you as a heroine, Jeanne. He greatly respected education, considered a career as math teacher, and stayed loyal from a sense of obligation to the government that educated him at West Point. As a history prof, I am glad to not command vast armies and send thousands to their deaths (which Grant also hated doing). I just show up in class or on screen and strive to ensure students know more when we're done for the day.
Thank you, TPJ. Everyone’s kind words have made me weep. I read Heather’s letter about Grant from my own narrow moment of what felt like personal failure. She may have been comparing Grant’s resilience and integrity to our current batch of GOP elected officials. It sounds like you have read about Grant. I didn’t know that he considered teaching math. I love knowing that you are a history professor, too, like Dr Richardson. I agree with you that educators are heroic. I have heroic colleagues who go the extra mile to reach the toughest nuggets in their classrooms. I feel like I am lucky to be along. I will dig deeper! Thank you again.
What a wonderful column, Dr Richardson. I hold an MA in History, and 42 years ago I taught college history in NH for 17 years as an adjunct. I moved south 25 years ago, but I still lecture at senior centers and to senior groups here in South Florida. I recently came upon your magnificent work, "How the South Won the Civil War", and I had an epiphany. I knew facts -- the war, its aftermath, the end of Reconstruction, the lost cause, and the rise of post-bellum Jim Crow -- but I never "heard" them expressed so cogently as an argument that explained our political malaise in our day. It all fell into place. I now read your column with great interest and marvel at your ability to marshal facts, weave narratives, and present powerful insights. Thank you so much for your ongoing work.
What a beautiful and thoughtful reply to Dr. Richardson's ongoing generous work. Thank you, Richard, for expressing pieces of how we all feel about receiving her daily ponderings and stories and knowledge.
Welcome aboard the LFAA express, Richard! Hopefully we'll hear more from your own historical perspective.
LFAA ?
Letters from an American
This community of readers/commenters enriches the experience. Eternal thanks to Dr. Richardson and to all who enhance the experience!
Make sure to check out all of her recordings on Youtube and/or Facebook. The Thursday discussions focus on History; Monday discussion is Politics and some history.
thanks for that info, Julie.
As a historian myself, I encourage all to read scholars' more formal writings: books and peer-reviewed articles. I love LFAA, and it serves a good purpose. But Dr Richardson's professional work is not to be missed. How the South won the Civil War is closest to LFAA in time, tone and content.
Richard I too read Dr Richardson’s work for along while before subscribing. The commentaries were what lead me to subscribe. Thank you 😊 for joining us! You won’t regret it. As TPJ wrote welcome to the tribe.
Well said.
Welcome here. Lots of good folks who care about the future.
Welcome!
Well said, and welcome aboard.
Perfectly Put!!😊
Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less. -C. S. Lewis
Lovely and thank yiu
Thank you! I have used that saying often but never knew the source. Now I do.
Thank you.
Ahhhhhh. Thank you.
And a president who did not want retribution for the South, but a chance to rebuild. Strong and wise leadership is never to be taken for granted.
If only President Lincoln could have lived the remaining years on his term after he was shot. I have no doubt we would have had a much smoother road in the Reconstruction years.
Oh my god, Andrew Johnson. The most racist president ever. His presidency did much to squander the fruits of Union victory in the Civil War. Lincoln considered MA general Benjamin Butler as running mate in 1864. Butler, a Radical Republican, played a key wartime role in ending slavery and was lead impeachment manager for Johnson's trial. He would have been a good Reconstruction president, likely punishing leading traitors properly, but might have precluded Grant's presidency. Who knows?
A Goodheart, 1861
J McPherson, Ordeal by Fire
B Wineapple, The Impeachers
Do we run the risk of having something similar in 2021 if the insurrectionists and those who encouraged them aren’t brought to account?
Of course we do.
Yes. Especially the involved congress critters and staff around and including the former guy.
We’ve had some close runners up.
Did you listen to this podcast? It's a dramatization, but I found it riveting. I actually looked forward to going out to do yard work so I could listen to it!
https://wondery.com/shows/1865/
At the suggestion of the ailing Thaddeus Stevens, Butler became the lead House prosecutor at Johnson’s removal trial in the Senate. The Massachusetts Congressman’s poor performance, however, has often been cited as a factor in Johnson’s acquittal.
Apologies, Stevens WAS the lead but gave it up.
I think Thaddeus Stevens, a Danville, VT native, was the lead impeachment manager in Johnson's trial.
Thanks, Bruce. The trial wasn't Butler's finest moment, but he fought the good fight. Many senators did not want their colleague, the abrasive, extreme radical Ben Wade, to become president. Lack of an acceptable successor was a real factor.
BTW, does anyone else think that as Thad Stevens, Tommy Lee Jones all but stole the show from Daniel Day Lewis in "Lincoln?"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Wade
Thank you Heather for that important history. I have had some difficult mornings getting up for work but keep moving forward. That being said I have clean clothes, a shower and usually not a migraine. It is so impressive and amazing what we can do when we know what is right and persevere.
And you have no doubt helped many to get through this horrid war. Thank you.
Thank you Nancy. That means so much to me and all frontline healthcare workers.
Dear Karen, you and your colleagues deserve the most heartfelt appreciation.
PS, you should force a bunch of Confederates to surrender. It's guaranteed to make you feel better.
Thank you so much
I will work on that
Keep in touch: you will find support here when Covid diee was a down and you’re ready for the next front
Karen yes we appreciate your work more than we can convey. Without competent and dedicated health care workers this pandemic would never end.
Thank you Liz
Know that we “civilians” appreciate and worry for the long-term emotional health of our nurses, doctors, EMTs, etc. It was that loser president and his minions who were ungrateful and in selfish denial.
So true. The daughter of a former co-worker of mine (whose two sons are following his footsteps in law enforcement) has undertaken nursing training at the age of 19. Her statement was "I need to help the profession".
We elder nurses need to foster that need in our young!
So true!
Thank you so much Marcy.
Difficult mornings are part of the "reward" for the helping professions. I hear in your "usually not a migraine" comment that you are a fellow sufferer, and I hope that yours are responsive to medication, precluding resorting to mustard soaks.
Thank you for your service.
Second that gratitude.
Thank you Rain
Thank you Ally. I’ve been migraine free for several years. Thankfully there are better treatments than mustard soaks!
Thank you, Karen, for the vital work you're doing.
Thank you Ruth, it means so much to all healthcare workers to be appreciated
As much as I love tonight's story and hope we gave people of that ilk in this time, I wanted to talk about the trial today. The pulmonologist was riveting in his clear expert testimony. It was amazing what he could conclude from the videos even the exact moment when George Floyd's life left him. And, how Chauvin pinned him down for another three minutes. He totally debunked any theory that there were drugs involved. He was amazing. I'm sure the defense is re-formating their defense strategy. I questioned MSNBC running the entire trial and I wasn't going to watch it but this caught my attention.
I've avoided watching the trial until now. But you prompted me to go find this testimony. Wow. Your description is head on. I know this one piece of many many pieces of damning testimony. Maybe I shouldn't dare to write these words, but I find it hard to imagine someone hearing even only this man and acquitting.
I was riveted yesterday by both Dr. Tobin's (pulmonologist) and Dr. Smock's (police surgeon from Kentucky) testimony. I thought both of these expert witnesses presented their opinions clearly, in lay terms that anyone could understand.
A pool reporter from the NY Times noted that the jurors were listening intently to Dr. Tobin's testimony.
It appeared to me Dr. Smock became emotional as he recounted those final seconds of life.
Both witnesses dismissed the notion, and explained why a drug overdose was not likely the cause of death.
It's something physicians do (I have only witnessed death once) and many never get over the impact of the end of a human's life.
Trial of the century
I have chosen not to watch the trial. I have watched snippets of testimony, and am impressed by the day at the case the prosecution has built. (Watching the police use of force experts was fascinating. That is the kind of thing I would have been called upon to do the last 5-10 years of my career. The things they were saying about force application and justification were spot on.) I had commented last week that the young deputies in the section where I work one day a week were pretty confident in the defense work being done. This week, the trial was not on the TV at noon, and in the couple breaks I took in the office, no discussion of the trial was taking place. Sadly, the UoF instructor in that section was on an extradition, so my training plan must wait until next week. (If you missed it, I want to use the video to ask these young deputies how they will step in when they see a senior deputy behaving as they see Chauvin's actions.)
Excellent idea to use the video of Mr Floyd's torture-murder to train officers how NOT to work.
Please keep us updated as to how that goes!
Yes, I'd love to hear, Ally House of Oregon!
Unfortunately it will take only one racist watching from the jurors box to give us a hung jury. IMHO the results of this trial will come down to jury selection alone.
I too watched snippets. One comment from a former law enforcement person struck me: the pulmonologists' testimony that being able to talk does NOT mean one is capable of breathing...the law enforcement expert said that this alone would cause a major change in training.
The prosecution has built their case brick by brick.
A textbook presentation on "how it's done."
I fear the defense's ability to create reasonable doubt. Also the impact of even one dishonest racist on the jury.
Thankfully!
I’ve not been able to watch, or listen, to all if it. After the prosecution’s witness gives such compelling testimony, then the defense attorney tries to undercut it with all kinds of nonsensical questions impugning his credibility. For example, in the bit that I heard before I turned it off, the defense attorney tried to imply that because the expert witness trained in California he wasn’t qualified to speak to the policies in Minnesota. The witness, however, was able to tell him that the majority of the policies were the same.
Tears! This is what I wish I knew when I taught in public schools. Textbook companies gave us scooting little flecks of history very selectively. Contents were driven by the states that would purchase the largest number of books. When I retired , angry parents who listened to early Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck were pressuring building Principals to transfer sharp young Social Studies teachers into other subject matter for fear they were being too truthful with their students. If only there were more hours in the day, I wish I could have been personally more well-read. Between writing lesson plans, prepping to guide my students, grade their work, cook, clean and raise my family, personal reading time was a dream reserved for retirement. But now, I bet there are many young teachers reading Dr. Richardson's Letters. What a gift!
I wish my history and social studies teachers had been truthful with us. I grew up in California next door to a Japanese-American family. I didn't learn until I was in my 30s that the US government had imprisoned Japanese-Americans, including the mom next door, during the war. It still makes me cry.
I only learned about the Wounded Knee massacre years after I had been a student in an AP U.S. History class in high school. After finishing Dee Brown's classic and heart-rending book, I held it in my hands and sobbed---not only for the horrible wrong done to Native Americans, but also for not having been taught about it in school; it , and all the rest of the ugly underside of the American "story."
OMISSIONS OF HISTORY. June 12, 1967 - Many here know the significance of that date as well as Dec 7, 1941 or Sep 11, 2001. However, I never heard of the "Loving v. Virginia" Supreme Court case until my adult years and tho it was legal for me to date or marry a black woman in St. Louis before that, I was thinking about asking a black co-worker out while stationed in Maryland in 1967 before June never realizing it was illegal. Luckily, I was hesitant & never asked.
In 2016 when the movie "Loving" was in theater, I asked several young ppl black & white if they knew what it was about and none did. They still don't teach all the ramifications of our American Apartheid in school. Perhaps too embarrassing.
Perhaps less grave but my chemistry teacher in the uk finally admitted when i was leaving school that most of the then syllabus had since been dissproved. It was fed to the students because it was easier to understand. Perhaps well intentioned but chemistry was the only exam i ever failed!
Earth, Water, Air, Fire & Aether.
What's so hard to understand about that? :)
A bigger problem at the time was the proximity of the lab to the school's sports fields and during my chemistry classes the girls school seniors were always out playing field hockey. I was a little distracted!
Too bad I can't post pix here. I have drawings from my 1962 HS Chem Workbook blank pages of "Miss Experiments" "Miss Exercises" & "Miss Appendix" (If you can imagine)
or should i say...Aether you got it or you didn't. I was on fire for what was going on below on the earth needing perhaps a little bit of fresh air to renew concentration and a glass of water to slake the "thirst"......I was 16!
We are petrie-fied by your knowledge, Stuart.
You are a national treasure! ❤️🤩 If the letters stop I will miss your comments every bit as much as the letter itself
Ah if only i'd got that far that i knew what to do with such a "dish"!
Words are easy, equations not so much.
On the Internet you learn that ppl with 1/1000 of a brain cell, neither is easy.
If we know young teachers we can freely share these letters.
Yes, and I do that every day.
Thank you Carla for your years of being a committed educator! Do you ever think of those adults who are grateful for your effort and influence on them?! I never knew of the control exhibited over publishers of text books by those who purchased them. But then there is so much I never knew.
Yes, I think of them often and am still in touch with several of them although I moved to another state after retiring. I had such a great student population to work with. I always considered them to be such a gift in my life. As for the text book situation, most often it was driven by states with very large populations.
Yes, thank you Heather.
Tell the rest of the story. Grant insisted Northern troops treat Lee and his troops with dignity and respect during the official surrender. No jeering or whooping and hollering. Lincoln and Grant fought to keep the country together so at the end of the war they wanted to build unity - not more division.
THAT is the moral of the story that needs to rise in our nation today. Would Lee and his troops have behaved in the same respectful way if Grant had surrendered, requested help and food for his 25,000 starving soldiers without batting an eye?
So, what is a new word for such acts of kindness that benefit the Whole? Socialism does not describe these incredible loving acts. Wholism? Collectivism? Kind-ilism? We need new words for today that are not tarnished to encompass interest in the well-being of The Whole, where we take care of and respect one another. That is the world I want to help create. Why would anyone want anything less. Ego? Fear? Individualism, Capitalism and Racism can swing way too far on the pendulum and have created this serious abyss between our people. We need solutions instead of civil war this time. What is civil about war anyway? Grant's actions in the end, with the South were Civil.
Let's begin our futures from that civility and move forward, all of us together, and avoid the losses of fighting and killing one another. Can we do that? Pretty please? Sugar on top? Non-violent communication? Is it too much to ask Americans (and the World) to step into maturity and become diplomatic? Is that a forever lost art?
Preservationism? Decisions to preserve one another, our cultures, our environment, our climate for the next generations Drop the imaginary separations of color, religion, state, country and get on board that we are all the most powerful animals (of all colors and shapes), together, on this tiny, spinning planet? I really liked hearing Heather's story of Grant this morning. Someone I wish I could have over for dinner tonight for a heart to heart chat.
When I was an active Master Gardener (no longer - let my "credentials" expire), we referred to the concept of "interdependence" which had great relevance to the environment. I think of that now in answer to your quest for a "new word."
Yummy word "Interdependence," Ellen! I do envision our society, frequently and metaphorically, as a, interconnected forest or garden. And those words feel so much more relevant for today for some reason. And within that interdependence and interconnectedness are the qualities Molly suggests below. Or above depending on where this comment lands.
and intersectionality
Great! Adding to the list!
The understanding of "interdependence" is an original "war cry" of those who are trying to explain why rapid climate change matters. The interdependence of everything will soon be viscerally understood.
Decency. Humility. Compassion. Reconciliation
At the expense of Freedpeople's rights, alas.
So, let's add words/actions of Redemption.
YES
Thanks.
PSA how about kindredism?
Ah, another nice word, David'sinSC! Kindredism. Let's add that to the mix!
I wish it came down to "Kindness" ~ but compare Grant and Lee to Biden and Trump, and I fear the answer sadly rests in Good vs Evil.
Let's not forget Sherman's March to the Sea. "Sherman's march frightened and appalled Southerners. It hurt morale, for civilians had believed the Confederacy could protect the home front. Sherman had terrorized the countryside; his men had destroyed all sources of food and forage and had left behind a hungry and demoralized people."
War is Hell.
They raped, looted and burned a 60 mile swath from Atlanta to Savannah, but they were fighting a noble cause.
Can any man explain for me why men do these kinds of things? Or Agent Orange or landmines? It is such a foreign concept to want to destroy innocent people and animals.
That's what they all say.
Study the Army of Northern Virginia's invasion of Pennsylvania and Sherman might not seem quite so bad. Murders and rapes were few, but Lee's men stripped south central PA bare several times over. Worst of all, they kidnapped, brutalized and enslaved over 100 Blacks: fugitives, liberated, even many who were free their entire lives. Infamous!
On June 26, 1863 my ancestor, untrained after just four days in the PA Emergency Militia, risked his life in a losing skirmish and was captured by Jubal Early's men. While Early badgered and insulted his prisoners, who were prepared to give their last full measure of devotion to save their neighbors, thousands of residents, including hundreds of Blacks, were able to flee to safety. THAT is a heritage to be proud of.
M Creighton, The Colors of Courage
D Smith, On the Edge of Freedom
R Wynstra, At the Forefront of Lee’s Invasion
You will greatly appreciate Raoul Peck's documentary on HBO Max entitled, "Exterminate All the Brutes", an almost poetic production about the brutality sanctioned by the belief in "white supremacy." I say "poetic" only to reference the uniqueness of the production and unspoken moments of a kind of revelation.
The completely destructive way the north applied their overwhelming military against civilian targets was brilliant strategy and most noble indeed.
But it was quite nice of Sherman to spare Savannah and present as a Christmas gift to Lincoln. Now folks have a way to visit and think they are in the old south, adorned with ante-bellum townhomes as they parade past the azalea-filled squares under cool crowns of ancient oaks draped in Spanish moss.
It was a war and there is only one rule in a war: win!
The idea is to outlaw wars of all kinds with all kind of names and all kinds of reasons. Murder is never right.
Once you are involved with it you change and so does everyone around you. No wars needs to be a rule to live by.
Well said!!!
Thank you.
Common sense and kindness are the two words that describe what you are talking about.
" “The war is over. The rebels are our countrymen again.”
-- Ulysses Grant
Here's hoping that more and more reasonable Republicans take heed of that quote.
Even though Lee signed the articles of surrender in April 1865, there are STILL some folks down here fightin' the damn Civil War...or War of Yankee Aggression...or The Late Unpleasantness. THEY didn't surrender and are still just basically "waiting for ammunition". If you've never read it, I HIGHLY recommend "Confederates in the Attic" by the late, and ever-so-great Tony Horwitz--though I would expect most of y'all have probably read it because this is a savvy group! He wanders all around the South exploring people's feelings on the war and what it means/meant to them. It's at times funny, poignant, and infuriating. But, he always manages to find some fascinating people and some interesting facts. His last book, "Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide" from 2019, the year of his death. In this book he retraces the epic 6,000 mile journey undertaken by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted across the South in 1850. He was traveling incognito and sending back dispatches to the NYT about various things going on in the South. Horwitz then compares the places Olmsted visited and wrote about to what they are now. It's quite a portrait of the contemporary American South. Though Lee surrendered, a lot of people for a long time afterward were still fighting the war figuratively, and some are to this day. I was brought up to not particularly like "Yankees", and I remember in grade school there was only maybe one kid from up north (Ohio) and he was pretty exotic to us--he talked funny, for starters! Ah, youth...of course by the time I hit high school kids from up north weren't so rare. I remember the first time I ventured north of the Ohio River to go to grad school in the Midwest, I thought I was in another country! Kind of odd, looking back...
My family is from Delaware, and we always considered ourselves ‘northern.’
When my sister moved to Monroe, LA in the 1980s, she began hearing about “The War of Northern Aggression.” At first, she thought that maybe she was asleep when they taught that is school. Then she figured out the folks there were speaking about the Civil War. That was when she came to the conclusion that the South still has never accepted the outcome of that war.
No doubt your Buckeye schoolmate noticed that you all had accents.
Sorry, I meant y'all.
FYI—all southern accents are not the same. I am from eastern NC, I have a drawl. A dear friend from the mountains of western NC has a twang. The difference comes from the pronunciation of the vowels, especially the letter A. I have also noticed that people who grew up in rural communities have a slower manner of speech than people who grew up in urban areas. I have lived in rural northwest Ohio and the suburbs of Detroit. Two very different worlds.
JennSH I agree with what you say about accents and manner of speech. I had a similar experience but in the opposite direction- raised in MA and moved to SC in my 20’s. It was, indeed, another world but I adapted, met many wonderful friends, and came to love it there. I lived there for about 20 years until life circumstances brought me back to MA about 10 years ago. I still feel like SC is ‘home’ and miss it, hoping to return some day when circumstances allow.
We've lived around northern Virginia for almost two decades and the natives have very soft drawls if at all. The only time their "accent" comes out is when they say words with the long "I" sound - it comes out as a very LOOOOONG "I". When we lived in the Dayton Ohio area, we knew we were talking to natives when they pronounced "bush" as "boooosh" and "dishes" as "deeeeeshes". Every region has their own thing.
Listen to some New Englanders talk about how they pahk the cah neah the bahn.
You mean "Pahk the cah in the bahn. It is too cold to leave it out.
My husband’s first job out of college (1978) took us to a small Midwestern town (15,000) in northwest Ohio. They thought we were exotic. I had people constantly saying, “You’re not from around here, are you?” Some folks thought we were hillbillies because of our southern accent. One third grader in a class I substituted in asked if l was a cowgirl because l sounded like l was from Texas. I was SURE I had moved to another country!!! It was constantly brought to my attention that l was different from the locals, not from around there. Because my manner of speaking marked me as different, there were days when I was out doing errands, etc. that l did not open my mouth. I simply smiled and nodded.
When I first moved to SC I met a delightful Scottish woman who worked at our local Sumter County Museum. We were laughing about our accents and she related a story. Apparently some locals from The rural part of Sumter South of us had noticed her accent. One of the men stated exactly as you had written Jenn, “You’re not from around here here, are you?” And she answered “No I am from Bishopville.” I laugh every time I remember that story. Bishopville is in Lee County about 35 minutes to the North of us. Thank you for the memory.
The gentleman asking the question either forgot or didn't know the etnic origins of many of the local "white" residents.
Great answer from the Scottish American woman.
Try moving from north Louisiana to south Louisiana, to north Mississippi to Memphis, to Houston, to San Antonio, to Austin...I've always had an "accent" no matter where I lived, despite being south of the Mason Dixon line!
I was born and raised in Georgia, and moved to Buffalo, NY, after grad school. “You’re not from around here, are you?” It’s everywhere. 😂
Southern reactionaries have long said to those who migrate, then return as liberals: "You ain't from 'round here no more." Cf. the film Mississippi Burning.
Jenn, we have recently moved from the foothills of New Hampshire, by way of Boston to the west coast of Florida. I have experienced the same comments on my accent. Oddly enough I guess I sound like "Boston" whatever that is. Even more oddly when I was traveling through Vermont I sounded like I was from "Boston", although I lived over 70 years in New Hampshire. I love to entertain folk with my newly acquired accent. After all who uses "r's " at the end of their words.
Mostly it is a friendly chiding. Mostly I am friendly about it. I suspect you may be too.
Same thing happened to me when my husband and I moved to Rome, GA after college, only in reverse.
Funnily enough, today in Columbus, Ohio, lots of people have southern accents. I think they are Appalachian transfers.
I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, now living in Chicago area. I have been told that I have a Midwestern twang.
Kathi, I was also born in Columbus and lived there for my first 8 years. I remember that there were separate "white" and "colored" drinking fountains in the department store we went to, one white and the other tinted brown. This was around 1960.
Too funny! As if Chicagoans don’t have a Midwestern twang. They’re much twangier than Ohioans :)
Wisconsin and Michigan residents most of all! (I’m from NW IN.)
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
Thank you Bruce! I'm going to go 'a Kindling' for that first book right now!
I remember that same feeling being brought up in Northumberland, near the Scottish border and thinking that London and the South were most definitely another very different country......and it is still ....another people, another culture at the very least.
Interesting comment. Thank you.
Sister Simone Campbell, an organizer of the famed Nuns on the Bus, is now featured on The Last Word w Lawrence O’Donell. This discussion, of two progressive and devout Catholics, reveals the social justice teachings also shared by President Biden. The friendship of the president and Sister Simone shines as O’Donell highlights a letter the president recently sent to the sister.
I feel if you are reading this, then you will appreciate this segment, at the very end of the program
LOVE Sr. Simone and Nuns on the Bus! Will catch it tomorrow. Thanks again for inspiration Frederick!
Awesome. I just joined, And I apologize for taking so long. I owe you more that I have given. Thank you so much Heather.
Hello and Welcome! You only owe in the sense that you must share widely so that her work can continue to illuminate!
I try to now. I’ll try more! This is cool.
Welcome aboard!
The fun's just starting, Mike.
Welcome to our welcoming community, Mike.
Welcome aboard, Mike. I hope you enjoy reading both the Letters and the commentary from fellow readers.
Saved me for the last four years! LOL. Serious! thanks all, you all rock! Mike
Yo Mike! You're part of the band too, so rock on.
You'll probably find it to be a hard habit to break now that you've started. The good news is that it's worth it.
I am soooooo ready! ☮️☯️💜
I spend a lot of time enjoying the commentary, I think you’ll be loving it too!
Welcome Mike...this HCR community gives me a daily dose of focus and strength. Knowing there are other like-minded people out here gives me hope to to get up each day and fight the fight like Grant.
Wow! Fight the fight like Grant. Thanks for this, Betty
Welcome, Mike!
Welcome, Mike!
Hello & welcome!
Welcome! Glad you are here - this is a wonderful community!
Yippee!
Welcome, Mike!
Welcome!
I am in tears each time I witness this community welcome another friend. This is how the world at large should feel, isn't it? You humans rock and keep my fires lit!
Welcome, Mike. You will enjoy it here. Lots of interesting people with interesting ideas.
As we deeply appreciate the comfortableness we can mostly take for granted--clean clothes, shoes that fit, food to eat, place to sleep, and basic safety--we are commemorating the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust.
Survivors' memoirs document the horrors of grief, fear, the next Selection, chronic hunger, pain from beatings or torture, humiliation, fatigue, dysentery, typhus, itching from lice, hypervigilance, succumbing to deteriorate as a Muselmann who'd given up the will to live. As they say, it started with words. Then restrictions posted in the public square. Then more and more new laws. Fear of getting reported by your neighbor, or your own children.
Survivors' memoirs document perseverance of the human spirit, and the willingness to call upon incredible courage when a moment presented itself--be that moment stealing a potato, lying about your work skill, forging a work permit or identity paper or travel document, giving up your child to be smuggled to safety, hiding in a cellar or attic or literally underground in the forest, jumping off a train. Survivors' memoirs document the necessity of hope and faith in humanity, and forgiveness. Survivors' testimony supported accountability, prosecution, and culture change. L'Chaim.
https://www.archives.gov/news/topics/holocaust-remembrance-day
I've heard that the British Museum has, or had, and exhibit on the Holocaust that starts with an exhibition about German social upheaval and the rise of societal divisions. The patron follows a line on the floor past all the evidences of the Nazi rise from street gangs through Kristallnacht, and then you go around a corner and you're inside a boxcar... All journeys, it seems, start with a single step.
I visited a museum in Bonn, Germany that was very, very similar. It was in 2012, and as I read some of the reports of what the social upheaval and societal divisions were like struck me as similar to what I was watching with the rise of the Tea Party and the urge for control of the nation by the "right". Spooky.
We have a dozen Holocaust museums across the U.S., from DC to NYC, Miami and St. Petersburg, Houston, Dallas, El Paso, Terre Haute, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
The message: Remembrance is not only about the past, but about creating our future.
Absolutely spooky. Our days, starting with the Reagan Republicans and Newt Gingrich then the Tea party - have brought us all here. To this very moment in time. Our present. The history has delivered us to a scary place, indeed. But I do read Heather Cox Richardson's daily posts to help me keep my feet on the ground. THAT said - I'm learning to read and skim a LOT of the comments that just hover on one issue. That's okay with me because people come here to this community of its very own to converse, and try to make sense of our present state of political and governmental being. Reading the comments as well as HCR's n/l helps me get into my day. With a bit more confidence about time moving along, as we are creating our own history.
I do the same. I tend to skim comments that are off-topic, personal, and of little to no relevance (for me.)
Thank you for this note about the British Museum exhibit. I didn’t find it yet, but put it on my bucket list. In the meantime, links offer opportunity to spend hours from the comfort of home.
https://www.britishmuseum.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Museum
An April date for the Days of Remembrance is to commemorate the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising
One of the most impressive museums I’ve ever visited is the POLIN Museum of History of the Polish Jews in Warsaw.
https://www.aejm.org/members/museum-of-the-history-of-the-polish-jews/
Thank you again, Ellie, for reminding me of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Around 25 years ago I happened to be in Israel for this day. At an appointed time on the day, everything and everybody in the country stopped as the air raid sirens wailed for a full five minutes. Traffic stopped, people got out of their cars and stood silent, in stores and businesses everyone stood in silence. I will never forget the effect it had on me. It was very moving. I had something similar happen when I was living in Holland right after 9/11. On the Friday following it at noon, all of Europe stopped. In Holland, all the church bells rang for 5 minutes and everyone was silent. I was in rehearsal, working on Beethoven's Mass in C and right at the moment it was noon we stopped right in the middle of the fugue at the end of the Credo: "Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi sæculi, Amen" ("...and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.") The timing of that happening, on THAT text in THAT music got to me. We sat there in silence, me bawling my eyes out. Whenever I hear this piece that precise moment in the music comes back. The point is, the importance for those of us left to remember those who died. Never forget. We owe them that much. Seeing whole populations grind to a halt and fall silent to stop and remember victims of violence and hatred is a moving experience. Thank you again for reminding me that their memory is truly a blessing.
Thank you Ellie for adding this important remembrance to our conversation today.
Your comment “it started with words” struck my heart with a sickening thud. Two recent events in Florida came to mind.
Two current causes taken up by Gov. DeSantis are 1) banning critical race theory from curriculums in Florida schools: https://nypost.com/2021/03/18/desantis-blocks-critical-race-theory-from-florida-classrooms/
and 2) requiring surveys of all college students and professors to promote “diversity”: https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/04/07/florida-gop-pushes-intellectual-diversity-survey-for-colleges/
His efforts to indoctrinate the young seem ominous.
Gary Death Sentence should go whole hog and ban all critical thought, all criticism from education. Emphasis on hog, BTW.
If I still lived in Florida (left more than 50 years ago!!! - escaped rather), I would be very frightened by the dogma that DeSantis preaches. And leave again. Hell, Rick Scott won two terms as governor. Then brought in big money from one of his grifter oligarch buddies to defeat Senator Bill Nelson for his current Senate seat. Well, I might move back to Florida to defeat both Scott and DeSantis. Politics HAVE been better in florida - but only in brief interims. Oh, I grew up in now very red St. Petersburg, too, Diane Love. Best wishes to you, I mean that. I'm in blue Colorado now, 36 years now.
The long-lasting effects of megalomaniacal men ....
Beautiful, Ellie, and thank you for the reminder of the Days of Remembrance. As you describe the memoirs of survivors, I could almost imagine Lee's soldiers experiencing similar things. Amazing how we tend to repeat and repeat.
Unfortunately Lee's soldiers, and other Confederates, were the ones inflicting suffering and injustice on the innocent, before, during and after the Civil War.
Thank you for this remembrance. My idea is that we do not "forget" the Holocaust, while forgetting so much else, because brave survivors and their families refuse to let it be buried and continually speak, write, make movies about it, and establish memorials and museums of remembrance. If this pattern was used to address other genocides---the Crusades, white invasions of Africa for profit by Europeans and the accompanying genocides, the genocides in Turkey and Greece, the genocide of the Rohingya, the endless murders between the Shiites and the Sunnis, the genocide of Native Americans and all indigenous people---there would be a deeper understanding of murderous human arrogance. Instead, we "forget" these other genocides. They are linked inexorably with the understanding of the holocaust's terror and a repetition of the propensity of we humans to create an "other" to hate and, in many examples, to kill. As much as I trust and love the people in my world, I am still astounded by the human capacity for murder and destruction on a global scale.
When I visited the Mémorial de la Shoah, the Holocaust museum in Paris, a few years ago, I was surprised by an exhibit on the genocide in Rwanda. Then I realized, of course! And saw that many Holocaust museums and organizations make this global connection to other genocides.
Like I saw on one website and as you suggest:
Remembrance of the past helps create a better future.
thank you for this posting
Yesterday's and today's letters were history lessons. Thank you!
My apologies if someone has already mentioned this. After reading Heather’s essays I find her words need to percolate in my brain for a while before I begin to draw connections. Thinking of Grant willing to feed 25,000 Confederate soldiers makes me think of Biden, willing to feed, wanting to feed, reaching out his hand to help all citizens of the United States in this time of need.
And immgrants!
Thank you Meemoo, for a most apt comparison.
FYI, no one has.
In my personal view of our history, the American Century begins that day, April 8, 1865, at Appomattox Courthouse, and ends 99+ yrs later with the Gulf of Tonkin Incident; Aug. 4, 1964, the first great shining lie of the Vietnam War, with many more lies to follow.
It's sad to think how much greater we might have become had Lincoln lived through his second term and really ended the Civil War.
The optimist in me hopes we are beginning a new era, and finally ending the Civil War, with the Biden Administration, BLM, etc., and marked by the death rattles of the Republican Party; the party of Lincoln. A monumental irony there.
If we can really beat the pandemic, and Biden can get his infrastructure legislation through Congress more or less intact resulting in a burst of high-paying construction/manufacturing jobs that gains support from the white working class, (and the Republicans continue to let the public face of their party be clowns like Matt Gaetz,) the Democrats maybe can build on their congressional majority in the 2022 mid-term elections, bucking the historic trend. If this happens, I may start to believe a new era has started for our nation.
It feels like if we just push a little more, just keep striving, the dam of racism, inequality and hate finally will burst, and goodness will wash over us.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat
Be swift, my soul to answer, oh be jubilant, my feet!
His truth is marching on
-- Julia Ward Howe, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," sung by Odetta
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wBU_3UIg0Q
you hold quite a gift: that of creating moments of pure JOY
gratitude to you
Can the optimist in you see H.R. 1 passing? It will take that, too, and more to end the Civil War. The conviction of Chauvin and unexpected victories for Democratic Party candidates in the mid-term elections are crucially important as well. Generations Y (Millennials) and Z will be boost, if they vote in record numbers. Unfortunately, this list may need to be added to. The problem doesn't rest only with the Confederates; Trump, the donor class... There is a lot force against the Union. Ulysses, you fed the Confederate Army; now, please send us a division of U.S. Grants.
“Can the optimist in you see H.R. 1 passing?”
Yes it can. I think Senator Manchin will come around.
The Civil War, our bloodiest, was won by abolitionist white and Negro Northerners, and lost by slave owning white Southerners, won by those with the belief that all men are created equal, and lost by those content to buy and sell human beings because they were Negro...
White history by white historians offers the big lie of omission to a collection of boring whites in comfortable denial... that’s playing out till this day and here by Dear Heather of white Maine.
That whites can talk about history without a word about Lee’s people’s banality in slavery ... is the insanity of racism today with a sanctimonious smile playing out daily in our still racist nation.
The greatest curse upon this nation is ignored, that curse is driving a just trial in Minneapolis and the unjust laws in Georgia and coming in 40 odd state legislatures packed with white racists, nation wide... all pandering to active white suprematists oblivious to the history of “Wilmington’s Lie, The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy” by David Zucchino, 2020, Atlantic Monthly Press.. white history by white historians recording color blind for whites to read that ignores justice on white campuses across the nation, ignoring white cops suffocating Black men, ignored by whites, everywhere... unless filmed by a Black teen girl...
Stay tuned, dear whites, one white racist in denial on that Minneapolis jury can destroy the nation’s inner cities... much like Flint, Michigan and dozens of others are destroying the Black minds of those crammed into our slums, liberally ignored by today’s whites.. white governors, white campus historians babysitting the whites of our still sick nation... content to read substack... not Wilmington’s Lie...
What will it take? We know the answer.. it’s 2021 and we are reverting to segregation and tokenism...with sanctimonious whites patting themselves on the back for nothing.
Reading this sanctimonious drivel that fusses over Dear Heather’s long nights is as sweet as it is revolting. Dear white as white can be Heather is in business to entertain the vestigial organ of her readership: the conscience, America’s endowed sleepwalkers..
Why not. FOX is our most popular and Tucker of St. George’s whore house is preeminent ... let’s hear it for America, land of the free.
Children in our slums are hungry tonight. Many are brain damaged.
Slavery ended... and never stopped.
You are an interesting and colorful writer, but not a particularly accurate one. To hear you tell it, any ‘Dear white historian’ cannot possibly relate the complicated questions of race, in our history or at present, with any truthfulness. That she chooses to tell this story tonight, based on the writings of U. Grant who, whether you credit him with wisdom or not, DID have some ‘skin in the game’ of the Civil War, seems to irritate you. That she chooses to take that moment in history to illustrate one aspect of our national identity crisis—are we to be ruled by an entitled oligarchy or a representative democracy?—and that her readers appreciate the point seems to aggravate you. Perhaps it is a ‘luxury’ that she does not necessarily choose the topics YOU feel are an obligation, that she teases out the sources of both the evolution of our ideals and abhorrent realities that plague us today. She tracks the incidences of abysmal failure and near-sublime realizations, the myths that have driven our stories and where they have powered our achievements and, often simultaneously, our most brutal and callous crimes against humanity. Her books and substack writings may not be as presumptuous as your own, in that she has enough humility to realize that much of the history leading to the current atrocities are ones that she, as a white woman, can only relate with careful abstraction and analysis as a historian and compassionate awareness and acknowledgment of experiential limitations as a person.
There is a theme that has prevailed in her current work, maybe you have missed it: every voice and vote matters if our government is to be any valid reflection of the people. And that impacts all the rest of it. Amazing that you have so obliviously missed that.
fresh breath -thank you!!
Thank you. Spot on and appreciated!
Tone matters. That guy's tone obscures his better points. Weird way to plug a book, too.
Thank-you, Fern. Although I have been reading Letters for a while now, I rarely dip into the comments because I find many of them to be disturbing in one way or another. I'm basically here to learn from an historian who has mastered the art of story-telling and is able to tie events and people together in a way that promotes a better understanding of our country. I did as you advised - and it was very helpful.
Hello Cheryl, welcome. You are among good people, eager to learn as you are. Thank you for your reply. I have learned a lot from comments. After the Letter, I read a small number of them (don't have much time to do otherwise) and skip the ones that I believe will not be illuminating. See what works for you. I loved the Letter today. Heather's pieces and comments encourage me to read and reflect on some of the subjects more fully. I hope that we have other opportunities to communicate.
Are we talking about the same Sandy Lewis, born in NYC? Salim B Lewis, AKA Sandy, son of Salim Lissner Lewis, managing partner of Bear Stearns for almost 30 years? He may have family of European origin that suffered the holocaust and thus he by extension. But he, personally, certainly did not.
I’m guessing Fern may be familiar with: “intergenerational trauma is a psychological term which asserts that trauma can be transferred in between generations. After a first generation of survivors experiences trauma, they are able to transfer their trauma to their children and further generations of offspring via complex post-traumatic stress disorder mechanisms. This field of research is relatively young, but has expanded in recent years.” From wiki
Same one, Daria.
Yeah, another "Socialiite Socialist" pretending to be a worker bee.
The term "fucking moron" comes to mind, reading the blather above. Another example of why The American Left has been so successful as it hasn't, the past 100 years.
one and the same
I don’t see it as sanctimonious. I rather enjoyed it. I don’t believe Sandy needs protecting. Despite the traumatic experiences he is a grown man and he comes here with fists up looking for fighting words. I suspect it stimulates his amazing brain when others sort of fight back with their own words. Some don’t like the distraction from Heather’s work, but I’m if the mind we are able to scroll on by that which we don’t like.
Love ❤️ the school on by sentiment!
You missed her point. Grant and the North, mostly humble, hard working white people fought a war defined by slavery. Lee, representing the South, surrendering his army and his cause and reuniting the Union that had already lost so much. There is no perfect in war but Grant and Lee made a noble decision that night, that is felt even today in our collective history in our imperfect but good country. Heather’s story was simple and straightforward, like the surrender that followed. I commend her. Our country had paid a high price. Still does.
But we miss Sandy’s point which is we don’t recognize our own racism. We often think ourselves superior to the biggest racists ignoring our own individual inhumanities to others. Sandy’s comment is a call to activism, it is a call for us to stop being complacent.
I can’t recall traveling through the South and not having seen some thoughtless denigration by color of skin, which I have seen only once in the North. Why don’t more people of African decent live in the North?
I’ve lived in the North and racism exists there as well. It’s quieter but it still exists. I have been called the n word in the North and the South. In the South, they let you know you’re unwanted and unequal with a sneer. I think the North, it’s with a smile or a “polite” phrasing.
Wow! I live in the North...born and raised...have traveled extensively and worked in the South. Racism in this country is everywhere. Period. Sandy’s less than accurate point about racism in all-white Maine IS accurate about the attitude toward Blacks and Hispanics in the North. There is an ignorance of how entitled even non wealthy Whites are in general; while even wealthy Blacks and Hispanics in the North fight a daily battle of a lack of equity.
I do not remember the Black American who said or wrote that a black person is more often safer in the south than in the north. In the south, people are open and loud about their hostility towards blacks, thus, forewarned blacks know whom to avoid.
*in the North
I recommend The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson for a thorough discussion of the Great Migration of freed slaves from the South to the North from the early 1900's to 1970. The author is a bit repetitive, but I learned a lot that I didn't know about Jim Crow and that time period.
I read her book years ago. Thank you for the reminder.
The South never had an exclusive on racial hatred.
1974.
“In Boston, Massachusetts, opposition to court-ordered school “busing” turns violent on the opening day of classes. School buses carrying African American children were pelted with eggs, bricks, and bottles, and police in combat gear fought to control angry white protesters besieging the schools.
The beginning of forced busing on September 12 was met with massive protests, particularly in South Boston, the city’s main Irish-Catholic neighborhood. Protests continued unabated for months, and many parents, white and black, kept their children at home. In October, the National Guard was mobilized to enforce the federal desegregation order.“
From the History Channel.
I'll remind you that the last time a schoolbus was bombed was in Southy. South Boston.
But i remember it very well too and during my first trip across the northern states in 1974 but the skin colour was so to speak different...red!
On the African-American migration to the north which was massive and in several waves many books exist that will tell you all about it...and the welcome they got when they arrived in Chicago!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
David, I would argue that Lee’s surrender was not “noble”; it was pragmatic, to say the least. He should have known when he agreed to lead the Armies of the Confederacy that the South could not win the war. He should have known he would be outmanned, out-gunned, and out-financed. Arguably, he bears some responsibility (along with Jefferson Davis) for the loss of 750,000 lives.
The blame Goes back to the origins of slavery. As far as “ knowing” he would lose, history is easy in hindsight. I wonder what King George thought? It to me was noble. Lee was being pulled in the direction of a Guerrilla war, or a war of attrition. Lee rejected it thinking it too much a price to be paid by a country that had already paid a dear price. It is subjective, but I think it was a decisive and noble act as was The way Grant received it. It was a big moment in possibly the darkest moment of our Republic. A moment Heather wrote of simply and so well. A moment we should all remember and think about.
Yes he did it well...with integrity. Much in the tradition of "an officer and a gentlemen" of the time. War used to be considered as being between gentlemen. I will always remember the battle ending the siege of La Rochelle after the St Bartholemew's Day massacres in France (1572-3) where the Duke of Buckingham leading English naval forces invited the leaders of the opposing french side to dinner on his flagship the night before the battle...to wish them luck! Another era, a bygone civilization.
It is unfortunate that the gentlemen involved do not dine together more often before most conflicts begin. Today’s rules seem to be more of simple cruelty.
I'd prefer to lock them all in a room with order to either find a solution or beat each other to death with the balloons that i would provide. Ridicule might not kill but it can help one see another side of things.
War is an agreement to commit mass murder. There are no exceptions to that. Murder on any level is never good. There are no exceptions to that either. The officers celebrating war were fools then and so they are now.
Grant and Lee do not belong in the same category. Lee was a slaver and traitor who violated his oath and prolonged the war through his generalship and dedication to the Confederacy. Dr Richardson shows that Lee surrendered because he was totally defeated. Though Grant urged surrender to avoid further loss of life, Lee persisted for several days, leading to unnecessary suffering. Despite a few noble gestures and words, he continued to work against equality. As postwar president of Washington College, he encouraged students who committed racist, vigilante acts of violence during Reconstruction. Grant was the complete opposite, a mostly exemplary person whose life is well worth studying.
But he felt more loyalty to Virginia than to the Union. He nearly won!
Stuart, while things went relatively well for the Confederate forces for awhile, Lincoln made changes in strategy and personnel, after which the military superiority (and its greater resources) of the Union took over.
Putting Grant in Charge being a key element thereof.
Lincoln should have gotten rid of McClelland much earlier. It's conceivable the Union might have lost though had Stonewall Jackson not been killed. Stonewall was an amazingly competent general, who had the respect even of a lot of Northern soldiers See Rufus: A Boy's Extraordinary Experiences in the Civil War, by Phoebe Sheldon. Sheldon took her great great grandfather's letters home from the war and turned them into a narrative, so you get a soldier's eye view of the war. Rufus Harnden was a very observant, mature person for his age (he enlisted at 17 in 1862). One of the most extraordinary scenes in the book is when Harnden, now working in an army hospital in Vicksburg, overhearing several Southern generals at dinner, learns that he may have been responsible for Jackson's death (I suspect he was indirectly, rather than directly responsible, but that is unclear). Although Harnden was strongly anti-slavery, he felt terrible about having (he thought) killed Jackson. (I highly recommend the book.)
Stuart - indeed.
Lincoln bemoaned the massive incompetence of his own lazy generals in the initial years of the war. The North should have been able to win much earlier. They did not because they were fighting men committed to their cause. Often those men had no idea what their leaders really wanted nor did they care. Most of us have no idea why we fight we are just along for the ride.
The early Northern Generals often didn't understand why they were there and didn't want to fight their "brother" .
Yes. Blood lust is an acquired taste and it took a few years for the north to cultivate an appetite, particularly because the reasons for war was mostly not personal to them.
Not sure if an early and relatively easy Union victory would have been good for the country. It would have left slavery intact, fundamental issues unresolved, and most likely led to further war(s) with real danger of foreign intervention.
Stuart, Lee did not nearly win. He lost and he lost entirely. His army was starving. It was unable to perform. It could not and did not win. That is a fact.
As for his loyalty? Lee had no loyalty. He broke his voluntary oaths that he
took as he advanced up the chain of the United States Army. He was a professional soldier without loyalty to his country, nor his fellows, nor his own future. Lee was defeated.
Yes Joe but before Grant ran him into the ground he made fools of a lot of Northern Generals and got very close to Washington. I wasn't making moral judgements.
Did I leave out that he and his fellows were all traitors of the worst kind? Sorry about that.
Yes but the idea of fighting to the end was to change the way people thought. Johnson through the chance away after Lincoln's assassination. A funny thought occurred to me while reading some comments below ...in 1939 before the war Chamberlain and Daladier tried to give it all away to Hitler in the name of peace to stop the war. In the US Andrew Johnson was your Chamberlain but gave it all away after the war in the name of peace and thus sabotaged all the necessary sacrifice n suffering and effort of the war
Read a little more on Chamberlain. He really wasn't "trying to give it all away."
I often wondered if it were a delaying tactic so the Brits could prepare for war.
It would be nice to think so but then you get into the "phoney war" for 6 months after the invasion of Poland...and the Dunkirk. Preparation for war? No, i don't think so! Totally unprepared but they got on with it nonetheless.
He was a somewhat well-intentioned if delusional and failing politician carried by sections of the social hierarchy intent on supporting Hitler.
Agreed. A failure as PM, Chamberlain belatedly came to regret Munich and bitterly resented Hitler's betrayal. If his health was better (he died 6 months after leaving office), as a patriot he would have contributed to the war effort.
Chamberlain betrayed himself and his country. Another mistake in history.
Johnson was a southerner heart and soul. He was a disgrace as a President of the United States along with such other disgraces such as Donald J. Trump. Everyone make a mistake and we have made more than one.
Mr. Lewis reads today's letter for the worst it might conceivably mean. He would do a lot better carefully to read what Ms. Richardson (contemptuously and gratuitously referred to as "Dear Heather of white Maine") writes, and she must be taken to mean. Texts have import.
I appreciate your perspective and would like to learn more, if only it was written respectfully. We are all have a lot to learn from each other. There is a lot of healing that needs to take place. I was never so hopeful as when the BLM movement began last summer with so many whites joining the cause only to be subsumed by being blamed for riots (and the insurrection?!). Steps forward, steps backward. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Please don’t alienate those that are trying to help this arc move forward. Educate us. Don’t turn us away with your own denigrating words. It doesn’t help. “Reading this sanctimonious drivel that fusses over Dear Heather’s long nights is as sweet as it is revolting. Dear white as white can be Heather is in business to entertain the vestigial organ of her readership: the conscience, America’s endowed sleepwalkers...
Yes, Betty we are all learning. I do not find it helpful when Sandy, or others , try to hijack HCR platform or daily point for their own preaching.
Requiring a person to speak respectfully before you’ll listen to their message is ...not good. It’s used all the time as an attempt to silence and dismiss. We saw it with Kaepernick kneeling and then being called disrespectful, we see it anytime there are BLM protests. There’s examples everywhere.
Also, it’s a game some of us can’t win. The “respectful” rules only apply to some of us and change on a whim.
That is true, but basic respect is what gets most people to a table. It has happened at times in our country and with other nations. People kneel because injustice and inequity results in burdens of anger, death and poverty. My flag has offended some because it has been hanging upside-down for the last few years as a sign of distress. Does it matter? To me, it says that my son has put his life on the line in the military to defend radical principles at home that have only begun being realized before they could be surrendered completely state by state and inevitably in the Nation’s Capitol. The driver of the truck that passes by flying the American and Confederate flags offends ME with his disrespect. We have lost hundreds of thousands of lives this year because of faulty narratives and agendas. It has been treacherous to find common ground.
President Biden’s efforts to address the roots of poverty, discontent and inequity where they have been watered and fed for so long may help bring about fairer prosperity, but how do we breach the seemingly intractable walls of prejudice and ignorance? There is ‘good trouble’ and ‘bad trouble’ and where do we hold the line? ‘Respect’ has become as much of a chameleon as ‘freedom’ these days. So I see your point, up to a point...
Yes, we are mostly in agreement I think.
Basic respect does get most people to the table as you say. But I still don’t want to lose sight of the fact that basic respect, while demanded from them, is not usually given to the oppressed.
Yes I believe so.
But, was Kaepernick disrespectful? I think not. Most deeply respectful in my view.
I agree! I found his kneeling humble and almost prayerful and yet bold and strong.
Yes. I was so surprised he did not receive more support.
He does now!! He was part of this movement in his non-violent approach (at the beginning of a violent game). I thought it was beautiful and it got America's attention right in her core issues-- racism. And white men threatened black me that they earn good money playing football and they should be grateful. That is how white privilege works. Hmmm...what did they say to the white players and refs who began kneeling to support Kaepernick? I do not remember that.
That was my point. He was not disrespectful yet that was the common theme heard by folks who did not want hear his message.
Yes, I did not mean to imply I disagreed with you. We are inundated with so many opinions that can sway our own before we’ve even used our own brains to gather the facts and think them through.
Agree 100%. Mr Kaepernick's protests are highly respectful of American ideals.
Most healthy people will not listen to someone who actively insults them unless there is some larger relationship at play requiring such, at least in the short term. If you want to be heard then don’t insult the listener. It ain’t rocket science.
Excellent - thank you so much.
I admire Colin Kaepernick. Thank you for shining a light on his courageous stance. Your point about demanding respect is thought-provoking. It seems to be a strategy often used in fear, to establish control. Thank you R for this reminder. Having said all that, I agree with Betty that it is difficult to listen to and learn from someone who is ranting. But it’s good to try. I am learning so much here.
Well stated Betty.
Sandy, you bring up several salient points but sully their impact with your mean disrespect for the HCR. And, in all honesty, you, too, are as white as white can be; name dropping and shoving your white privilege down the throat of anyone willing to read your words. You have done extraordinary things in your life. You have a storied reputation for aggression and disrespect. Those traits have been successful in your other roles and endeavors but they are not necessarily effective or appreciated here.
Well said, Daria.
"Like saltating sand-grains blowing across desert dunes, the great white wind-bag has spoken"
Oh, I freely admit I can be a great white windbag. Too bad we all can't do the same.
Not you, Daria. You are a breath of fresh air.
Lol!
Hardly you, Daria! Well, at least in my mind.
Food for thought: If you're peppered with insults try reducing the heat with a touch of humility.
Ignorance is bliss. You Daria Wilber are the Greek Chorus expat from Mexico..Try the very back end of Hurricane Sandy, by the very able Pulitzer James Bandler - SevenDaysVT - his lede is garbage, his kicker is accurate, he was rushed. Mark Forrest Gunther Kimball spins, lies, is charming, angry, a friend that feeds us all honest good food. We’ve lived with Blacks in the hundreds, saved their lives, know racist whites, latent white racism, color based racism is world wide and HCR is a passively racist historian with a good heart - deaf and indifferent to the racism of her readership and the US now. We are in crisis. In danger. Recall, Mussolini and Hitler were elected. Trump was elected in the Obama backlash. The whites of America are racist indifference personified. The North Country is nuts see www.sblewis.com study with care. Harvard is racist. Princeton is racist. We had two there, one was summa. He is mildly racist D. Phil from Oxford, our youngest loved a Black, we got it right with him. Sadly, he died saving the life of another in Ecuador.. at 26, 12.14.98. The HCR entertainment list is passively racist... our Civil War is not over.
Sandy Lewis, I agree, our Civil War is not over. I hope you got a charge insulting me...I deserved it. But you don't intimidate me so, have at it.
I too, though with far less economic clout than you, have lived and worked within impoverished communities, some of color some not. I have worked with children so bruised by trauma they simply cannot or will not speak. And I agree, too, that there is a deeply ingrained racist indifference in the US. The fact that Mussolini and Hitler were both elected should be a glaring example of how far things go awry. But, in the US, people are reluctant to learn lessons taught far from our own soil. I take that back, people in the US refuse to learn the lessons taught on our own soil.
I remember reading about your son's tragic death. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering that loss brought to you, your wife, his beloved and your family. The experience must bring a lifetime of emptiness in a space once so full of life and vigor.
Will read recommendations. Peace.
You don't deserve to be insulted, Daria.
NB, neither Hitler nor Mussolini were elected to high office. Both were appointed heads of government, Hitler by Pres Paul Hindenburg, Mussolini by King Vittorio Emmanuel III. These facts are widely known and easily found by those who don't, but wish to be well-informed.
Seething rants are more credible without willful ignorance. But why constantly seethe in the first place?
Thank you TPJ, you are ever so kind. You're right about Hitler and Mussolini, of course. I did know that neither were elected to higher office. In re Sandy, I tend to be pretty ruthless in my response/reaction to him, so if he claws back, I might deserve it. What rankles me is this: Sandy's constant disregard for civil discourse. And why does that bother me so much? Because he has learned to bully and manipulate people. It is a trait learnt when very young and honed to a razor sharpness during his lifetime. It is mean and done in meanness. Indeed, after all these years he constantly refers back to his days with Bruno Bettleheim, so much so that it has become a dry well he taps into to elicit sympathy time and time again. Don't think he didn't pick up some very significant behavioral traits under Bettleheim because there's no better place to learn them than a school for the emotionally disturbed. Just as my brother.
The other thing that drives me crazy? People who jump to a (white) aggressors defense because they read in the NYT that he had a tough childhood, (emotionally) but meantime committed federal crimes severe enough that he was able to eventually hobnob his way to a presidential pardon. Boo hoo. Ah, a wealthy, emotionally aggressive white man who sustained parental abuse gets away with bad behavior because he's white and wealthy. And for no other reason. (Why, we actually had a president who fits that bill, and people hem and haw about his despicable behavior.)
While Sandy does frequently point out truths about racism in the US he rarely does so without reminding us what a swell, rich white guy he is. It seems to me that people who do quiet good works everyday, regardless of pocketbook size, are the ones who ought to be respected, not those who bemoan a private club in Acapulco built for EXPATS and executives gone to rack and ruin because the locals didn't care about it. Hell, the locals never got within a mile of the place unless they were cleaning or parking cars for a couple of pesos a day. When Sandy speaks of physical and social deprivation of the kind that is crippling and deadly to Black and BIPOC, he speaks as an observer, not a victim. He chides white people for their whiteness all the while revelling in his own whiteness and wealth. It's a kind of hypocrisy that is both prevalent and predictable.
No, Sandy (and Fern) are welcome to insult me to their heart's content. One is decades into his role as a ghastly curmudgeon-Edward Gorey might have used Sandy as a character in one of his stories. Fern? No clue. She's jumped on a bandwagon with wobbly wheels. That's her choice and, in real terms, she doesn't impact me one bit. May they both have a lovely, peaceful weekend.
Sandy put those dictator errors in circulation here, not you, D. I will occasionally respond, but without addressing him directly. Not worth the trouble.
Fern has stung me a couple of times, but always with a positive purpose, so it's alright. I'm happy to hear more from her and you, and there's no joy when respected commenters are in conflict.
Sandy did have a horrific childhood. He also found out he was Jewish when he became a teenager it seems that had some profound impact upon him. Regardless, many of us had complicated lives in our youths but do not make caustic accusations that destroy discourse or label groups of people racist.
I do agree that his hypocrisy may, perhaps, include a lot of guilt-ridden, self-flagellation projected outwards because he was born white with a silver spoon, tarnished a bit, but still silver. He has more in common with the last, unhappy occupier of our highest seat in the land who is also a human projector of his own worst aspects, whom I believe was also appointed and placed in position like Mussolini and Hitler. I agree with you, Daria, I think Sandy projects his white privileged issues onto others. He is bright, but in a lot of pain that leaks out a bit aggressively. I love how you are undaunted by his, or anyone's, sometimes aggressive attacks.
Heather is writing about 1 aspect of a very complex subject. The Civil War is about many things and people. Let's not be myopic.
Just a little harsh there, Sandy! I thought she wrote a good lesson to re-visit at this moment. Biden isn’t flashy, he’s stepping up with good government, good ideas and help for those struggling economically. I am grateful we have so dramatically changed course and direction and hope for a better world. Yes, we are still fighting the civil war. And yes, the South is relentless in the pursuit of black suppression but I’m happy right now to have a few positive thoughts and ideas.
The beauty of Dr Richardson’s essays is that which brings us together. I will never be as eloquent as many of our fellow writers. Often I feel rather incompetent when I compare the abilities of others to express their thoughts here. But I feel at home here. What I am trying to say is difficult for me to express easily. I feel so alone here in this town surrounded by so many unthinking often vicious people. Here at least I find compatriots who are willing to express their thoughts and hopes. And for a little while I don’t feel so alone. Thank you all for being here.
Thank you - you do better than you have just indicated.
I second that e-motion!
And I third it, Penelope!
And do we know one another? Brattleboro?
David, you have said-beautifully- what many of us feel. Hang in there! We’re glad you’re here.
I do understand being the lone liberal in an ocean of flame throwing Republicans. LFAA keeps me moored to reality. And the discussions that follow help me "get out of my head."
In addition to what Susan is saying, after all the bombardment of traumas and injustices of the past four to five years, and witnessing a blatant rise in (what I feel) is fascism on our soil, we have the most diverse administration ever in our history. We have a multi-racial, female VP!! This gentle, white man called Biden, has proven to me that he much stronger than T***p bested him by being the total opposite, which the majority of us worked very hard to attain. Moreover, those 30% who have taken off their white sheets, or wanted those tax breaks or only cared about abortion but could care less about WMDs killing our children, bullying, liars, sexism, etc.—that population has some time to watch justice reveal day by day all the atrocities they have supported. And they can see that a good man and his administration are making decisions that impact all of us positively because his administration is representing all of us. Including white males--and that is key. A truly strong male that is judicious, diplomatic, in touch with the people of all colors, kind and loving, has empathy and healthy boundaries. This man is a good transition and role model for all our people, for our men and boys and non-binaries. We need to know that a lot of work is being done on some level we cannot even see yet with that 30%. That is why I also support The Lincoln Project because they are speaking the Truth and did not fall under the near fascist spell of the past regime.
There's The Deal
Yes Susan. Yes!
Maybe you could write your own daily newsletter and publish on Substack.
And perhaps present some solutions up with solutions rather than intolerant rants, Sandy.
Great point, but
I doubt that many could stomach the hard truths Sandy is willing to write about. I for one often enjoy the threads spun from Sandy’s often painful insights.
Agreed, David. If not for posts like Sandy’s we become our own, liberal, echo chamber. This community has always seemed to pride itself on being open minded and desiring change. Sandy’s posts may be somewhat abrasive at times but he is no troll. To dismiss him as such and not give some thought and consideration to his comments, no matter how uncomfortable or abrasive, makes us no better than those MAGA T***p supporters who have been so thoroughly vilified here.
Karen, I don't degrade Sandy for his offerings. I do vehemently disagree with his personal attacks on Heather. Every single time. This is his MO on every post he has presented.
Not every single one that I’ve read but far too many. I do very much believe he’s simply jealous of her ability to reach and influence so many. He’s frustrated he doesn’t have the same reach but fails to see her words and skills are intentional to expand her reach. He might get more respect for his opinion if he took the time to read more of her work and listen to her talks. At this point he just rants about what he doesn’t know or “see”
Dang, Christy. That was lazerlike. You know his family owned newspapers and there does appear to be a very jealous streak at his core to how successful she is as a writer--and how hard the world of newspapers are staying afloat. From my talk with him, I would say you hit a Bingo! (only one of them--he is incredibly complex and actually rather brilliant. It's confusing because he often writes in stream of conscious form-- not great for comment sections). Sheesh— I may be guilty of the same!! I'll stop.
It also strikes me as quite misogynistic in the way HCR is denigrated.
Christy, I have to say every one I have read , he has taken a personal, aggressive attack on her. Maybe some have slipped through the cracks or if I see his name, I skip it. I agree 100% with you. Remember, she has the #1 Substack following. He likely knows that and is just trying to grab onto her coat tails.
Agreed. Stop the ad hominem attacks on Heather, Sandy. You can scold the rest of us for whatever reason, but stick to the ideas with Heather. She's too damn hard working, earnest, inciteful, and just plain generous to warrant these cheap shots.
Linda, it just sounds like jealousy when it comes to the denigration.
David, I agree.
I commented and it went into the ethers. I spend three hours with Sandy on the phone. I heard his ideas and points (and life story and good works). I do appreciate his purpose in keeping white privileged persons alert and thinking. However, his assumptions are sometimes way over the top such as denigrating Heather for living in Maine or writing drivel. But I do appreciate how me makes me think and that can be uncomfortable, and necessary.
I remember that. And Sandy responded by saying he never spoke with you, right?
Hahahah! You remembered! He is a lovely, hyperactive elder, whom is hard to keep up with, even with my mental ADHD abilities.
Geeze, spellcheck—sorry, "I spent three hours...." and though "me makes me think" quite a bit on my own, Sandy also makes me think!
However, he brings up chapters in a book that were not posted in the daily "letter" which is on one aspect of a larger subject. (And which quite often are covered in a book written by HCR) In other words he goes off subject into his own confusing tangential rant, rather than appreciating the gist of the letter written.
Thank you! Sandy calling Heather a White racist sticks in my throat. Heather is opening eyes and minds to past events that that were never mentioned in any history classes in which I sat. To castigate her for that is IMO mean spirited and unhelpful. He also makes reference to materials totally unknown to me without providing links to their access. Erudition for its own sake is beyond unhelpful.
Oh! Another Penelope! Hi! In my talk with him, he feels like we treat HCR as a goddess and that she can do no wrong. I am not sure why she irks him so much. The only reason he took the time to research and find me to chat was because I said one thing that was not in total agreement with something Heather said. That appeared to make him think I was questioning everything she says. He also raps on about how much money she makes on this forum. He calculated it out and I think she damn well deserves every dollar she makes. Good for her! She works hard to pull these letters together. I wish she had been around for the entire occupation of our government the past four years. It is like oxygen to have found this forum and this community of serious thinkers who, mostly, want to learn, share, turn things over and connect. There are a lot of gaps in our history and government classes-- perhaps on purpose as I am finding out. Educated masses are much harder to control and manipulate. Welcome, Penelope Peck!
I don't recall anyone calling Sandy a troll. I do know his arrogance, abrasive and disrespectful nature frequently muddy any positive aspects of his messages.
Sandy is indeed a mixed blessing and his Heather bashing grows tiresome. I think of him as that grain sand in an oyster. The irritation helps grow something of value. He keeps us from getting too comfortable.
Three months into LFAA, and I'm still waiting for the pearl.
There is this, though- we all need to hear things we don’t want to hear from time to time- constructive criticism and the like. It annoys me that someone can come into a chat that we all pay for and denigrate the author. I have some decisions to make.☹️
Sandy or muddy? Only a sedimentologist knows for sure ;)
Hahahahah!! Diane Love and William-- Both perfect!
Mucky? It covers both.
I have missed all of the discussion subsequent to my comment and it appears that I have missed quite a lot, indeed! No one called Sandy a troll in the posts related to this letter (at least not prior to my comment) but he has been called that in other comments on previous letters. I should have been more specific.
There is indeed a tendency for your astutely noted "echo chamber" effect here. I've been called a troll etc because I certainly don't agree with every point made.
William, the difference is, we can all disagree with what Heather may say. That's fair. However, I trust you don't personally attack her for those opinions, do you?
Nope. My attacks are never personal and are usually cloaked in clever metaphors, alliteration and crude humor - lol!
Good to know.
Thank you. Agreed!!
HRC is wise enough to try to make one point at a time. She knows and covers much of what Sandy says in other texts. Sometimes here.
HCR! I really do know the difference:)
He may well have some valid points, although not unique or particularly insightful. When you take out the personal attacks, it reads like an ad for Wilmington's Lie -- which honestly would have been fine.
I would love Sandy to try to focus his thoughts. Back up these seemingly racist provocations with some meat. It feels like you, Sandy, are spitting in the wind (spitting being the very polite verb here).
Another book for my booklist!!
Oh look, it's Sandy Lewis again. Only present just to hear himself speak. Go find another page to waste space on.
I don’t think it’s just that. He has another, and real, perspective.
Susan, you may want to Google him.
The underlying points made here by Sandy Lewis are powerful and valid. Yet this is an environment where we are all trying to do better, to learn, and be better... where someone like Heather is dedicating long hours of many days to providing informed perspectives on the events of the day, and where yes... feeding the conscience and moral perspective is one of the motivations for this labor (researching/writing AND reading). I have no doubt Heather will take Sandy's critique to heart, but she doesn't deserve to be flagellated for the genetics and white privilege that allow her to be where she is today. This is the work of all whites with our bottomless bank account of privilege - to learn, empathize, and determine what actions we need to take to correct things as they are; and this is the meat and drink that feeds that effort. This forum is a place where perhaps a presumption of good will would be a place to start when offering loving correction and feedback. I have tremendous sympathy for the anger and frustration that Sandy and anyone else who finds themselves on the receiving end of America's blithely racist bludgeon, is experiencing. Most of us here do. Just something to bear in mind.
Thank you, Lindley. Hopefully we'll hear more from you.
If Dr. Richardson, and we, are so boring, why do you keep coming back?
It’s an open wound, painful to bear, painful to see. Somehow we have to heal.
And Sandy is a salt-thrower.
Salt will sting a wound at first, but causes healing faster .
Stick around a while and you'll get more than a belly full of Sandy's arrogance. He is not the kindly old gent eager to impart pearls of wisdom. He's a schitt stirrer from way back, born into an insanely privileged family and never fails to mention his privilege when the opportunities arise. So no, when he is on one if his whiter than white tirades do understand that he is actually the pot calling the kettle black.
The salt you refer to is a cure he has evidently never applied to himself.
The name-dropping is also quite grating.
It drives me bonkers.
Unless the metaphor is planting for a harvest. In that case the salt thrower kills the weeds and leaves barren soil for anything else.
Thank you - even a blind pig ...
Hard to win a struggle by belittling our allies.
Sandy Lewis: "Slavery ended... and never stopped." I see the truth of this and agree. And am touched by the clarity created by this one sentence. Its elegance shimmers as the other words sink. Thank you.
I agree about that sentence. Just so nasty, the misogyny he unleashes upon HCR.
He could be a beat poet— if he had an editor!! Or perhaps a rapper? (They are way above or below my head in message half the time).
Sandy Lewis, you are quite right, in your disrespectful way. Slavery ended, and never stopped. That is true, and I suspect that almost all readers of LFAA both fervently wish it were different and do what we can to try to change that. However, the great oil tanker that is human nature takes a long time to turn around.....it takes many drops of love to (re)fill an ocean of past hatreds. One of those drops, as Dr. Richardson so eloquently pointed out, is recognizing that no matter what we do, the losing status quo will come to the surrender dressed to impress and the victorious future will be humbly bedraggled and beset by pain, yet filled with magnanimity and generosity.
Upon re-reading your post, it seems that while you have read "Wilmington's Lie" you have not read Dr. Richardson's "How the South Won the Civil War." Had you done so, you would not be so hard on her. She is fully aware of the reasons for continued racism and the denigration of races other than caucasian in this country, and knows how our political system has been---and is being, as we speak---manipulated to (only try to, it is to be hoped) ensure that it continues, that General Lee's well-dressed status quo will not have to sue for defeat to the rumpled majority wearing a dirty private's uniform. I for one will share Grant's misery if it means that we can all -- finally -- see the fundamental equality of all human beings, even those who seem to have an innate although false sense of their own greater worth, as you do.
Thank you, Meredith, for the fine metaphors.
At Appomattox Lee wore his impeccable formal dress uniform. Grant wore his work clothes to work. I am so proud that my cousin married a Grant, not a Lee!
Quite wonderful. I'll take the work clothes any day.
Although, there is the potential for sudden and sparked change: a shifted paradigm.
We need it now for the climate and democracy.
If ever something was black and white.
Sandy, you are right. Sadly, you are right. All of these things happened and are happening. Some more, some less. If you look closely though and if you recognize that we are just one government experiment and put that into the equation none of it still makes any sense. Perhaps the best we can expect is a better version of those who came before us. Perhaps this government is now a step or two down the road closer to becoming in one section or another fairer than the past.
When we say all men are created equal we just might be closer to that than we were at this time last year. When we say all black lives matter, perhaps, just perhaps that might be truer than it was last summer. We are trying to make the statement more correct so that it means all lives are important, yours, mine, our family, friends, those we don't know and will never know.
We have changed. We are changing. We will change more and more and more as the experiment continues.
Could we possibly begin to say all PEOPLE are created equal?
I'm just so over the all men part...
You are right, kimceann, Language, and how we use it, in this immediate future, matters.
Mr. Lewis is much more readable when he writes like this and not in his 'stream of consciousness' mode. HCR today writes like a historian addressing a capsule of history. At other times, her words do recognize that the historical events she writes about are still in motion today, with us as a part of them. She has the ability to shift gears from history to dealing with present challenges, which she does not do today. Sandy takes her to task for this, and says what has to be said, but really, both are on the same side.
One is much more effective at sharing information than the other. It’s one thing to rebel, but totally something else to have influence on others.
If one rebels with published words, how can that not influence others who might read them?
What matters is how you choose your words. Yes words transmit much. They can push others away or pull them in and create an appetite for more. Heather excels at the latter.
Taking to task does not (or should not) include misogyny.
I read the Professor’s letter tonight after getting home early for once and, rather than walking the dogs or doing one of the nine loads of laundry that piled up while we waited for a new drain pump for our washing machine to be delivered, I poured myself a glass of wine and fell asleep at 5:15pm watching Blue Bloods. I want one ounce of Grant’s courage, to persevere, to keep going. Thank goodness I am part of so many communities: my school (employer), my extended family, my friends, the liberal leaders in my city, in Minnesota and those representing us in Washington D. C, this group of readers on substack. My communities have people with Grant’s tenacity and commitment. Those people lead those of us with less readiness. I am less ready, less tenacious, but oh so grateful for good, ethical, courageous leaders.
Each one of us has that ability, to varying degrees. It may be that you are not on a national scale, but a local or personal scale. What you do for the school is as important to the school as Grant was to the nation. Smaller scale is all. Your courage is there, used in a different way than those with larger egos and greater ambitions.
You are so kind! Thank you for that. I have been so exhausted some nights, that I don't push through as Grant did. And I have so many more comforts! That story inspires me to try harder. I will tackle the laundry tonight when I get home, maybe listen to one of the Professor's talks while I work! Thank you so much.
Grant would see you as a heroine, Jeanne. He greatly respected education, considered a career as math teacher, and stayed loyal from a sense of obligation to the government that educated him at West Point. As a history prof, I am glad to not command vast armies and send thousands to their deaths (which Grant also hated doing). I just show up in class or on screen and strive to ensure students know more when we're done for the day.
Thank you, TPJ. Everyone’s kind words have made me weep. I read Heather’s letter about Grant from my own narrow moment of what felt like personal failure. She may have been comparing Grant’s resilience and integrity to our current batch of GOP elected officials. It sounds like you have read about Grant. I didn’t know that he considered teaching math. I love knowing that you are a history professor, too, like Dr Richardson. I agree with you that educators are heroic. I have heroic colleagues who go the extra mile to reach the toughest nuggets in their classrooms. I feel like I am lucky to be along. I will dig deeper! Thank you again.
I can visualize that! Well said. I am also so grateful for our communities and for good, ethical, courageous leaders.