Blindness
So, I haven’t blogged in
quite a while, but recent events with Cliven Bundy have prompted me to write a
sequel to my last post on the structure of racism.
Before I begin, I want to
state clearly that I completely disagree with Bundy’s insensitive and
inflammatory racial comments. In no way
is what I am saying a defense of him or his view, rather, it is an examination
of Southern culture. (And yes, he isn’t
from the South, but his views are typically Southern none-the-less.)
So now for the kicker, Bundy
most likely does not view his statement as racist. He is probably confused and bewildered by the
very accusation. And at the root of that
confusion is “Gone with the Wind,” and the re-imagining of the myth of the
Antebellum South.
Despite popular belief, the
South actually won the Civil War.
Oh, they lost the battle,
and lost it decisively. However, the
Civil War didn’t end with Appomattox. It
didn’t actually end until Margaret Mitchell won the war, completely and decisively.
“How?” you might ask. Easy, she completely recast the story of the
Civil War. She painted a picture of a
noble and oppressed South, devastated by the tyrannical forces of Lincoln. She depicted happy, contented slaves, who
needed their wise masters to teach them how to live. Most importantly, although subtly, she recast
the war in terms of State’s Rights instead of being about slavery.
These three depictions
turned public opinion toward the South being the victim, not the aggressor in
the conflict. No longer was the story
that the South was willing to tear the Union apart simply to keep owning other
humans, instead, it was a noble fight for local government taking precedence
over an overreaching and monstrous Federalism.
One hundred and forty nine
years after the formal peace accord, the Southern Myth of the tyranny of “Big
Government” is now the prime paradigm in the land. For all intents and purposes, the Federal
Government is paralyzed and neutered.
They are so frightened they can’t actually enforce a just and valid law
requiring nominal grazing fees for running cattle on public lands. And, believe me, it was fear that stopped the
removal of the cattle; had they proceeded, it would likely have sparked an
actual rebellion in Nevada. Probably not
a revolution or civil war, but certainly a conflict on par with Shay’s
Rebellion. Worse, that rebellion could
have spread out of control and into other states and regions. It might have taken years to calm the turmoil
in the country, sparked by a single act.
Further, you can see the
actuality of the victory in the fact that many Americans hate and fear the
Government. They view the government
through the Regan filter of “the scariest words in the English Language are
‘I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.’” When you view Federalism and a strong central
authority as the most dangerous thing in the world, the Union has ultimately
lost the war.
But to return to the
original point, in addition to fully buying into the Mitchellian myth of the
tyrannical Feds, Bundy has bought the story of the “happy slave” hook line and
sinker. This is a common trope in the
South, where people cannot wrap their brains around the abject horror of
American Slavery, which was actually the MOST abominable version of slavery the
world has ever seen. Period.
The reason for that is, in
American Slavery, not only did you own people, but you had the right to sell
families apart from each other. You
could sell a small child from his parents, a wife from her husband. In fact, actual marriage between slaves was a
criminal offense. No where else in
history was this ability to split families allowed. Further, it was punishable by death to teach
a slave to read or write, or give them any education. Both teacher and pupil faced this punishment.
But people in the South, and
even in the rest of this country refuse to own up to this reality. They like to think that it wasn’t in slave
owners interests to abuse their slaves and that they would obviously care for
them as a valuable asset. It’s natural,
because this is such a horrific time in American History, and it comforts us to
think we were kindly masters. However,
that is a lie we are telling ourselves.
We were brutal, vicious and evil at that time, and no amount of
whitewashing will ever erase that fact. The
reality was not “Gone with the Wind,” it was “12 Years a Slave.”
But Cliven Bundy is a
product of the myth. He is a person,
like many others in America, who actually believes that the African American
population was better off as slaves.
Thanks to Margaret Mitchell, we think the slaves were well cared for,
maybe as well as a pampered pet, or something like that. And as such, he probably genuinely believes
that his statement shows compassion and caring for the Black population of
Nevada and of the USA.
Further, mix in the idea
that federal assistance is akin to slavery, and you have a view that many
Americans are still slaves; slaves to a nameless faceless bureaucracy intent on
draining away all that is good and right in the world. Suddenly you have a picture that Bundy thinks
the benevolent Plantation Owner who loved his slaves like a person loves their
pets is a far better slavery than slavery to the evil that is the Federal
Government.
In his view, slavery gave
the people purpose, skills and a reason to live, and welfare takes away all of
that and replaces it with a godless communism.
And in that view, communism is far less free than actual slavery. (Ignore the fact that the social safety net
is not communism, and isn’t really even socialism, the Far Right and Tea Party
refuse to see the distinction, so I will paint the world through their filter.)
And by this token, he is, to
his way of thinking, being compassionate and caring. He thinks that people were actually better off
as literal property, as opposed to virtual possessions. And he isn’t the only one. Many politicians and even average Americans
hold this view.
And ultimately, this is the
danger of nostalgic myth. Because we
like to paint the world of the past in a coat of rosy happiness, we do not
learn the actual lessons of the past.
People, even educated people, in refusing to come to terms with our
atrocities, and coloring history with a haze of nostalgia pop off and make claims
like Bundy did.
And when that takes full
root in society, we repeat the sins of the past, and have to again suffer the
punishment for those sins.
