GOP Hypocrisy

Backlash After Tennessee Governor Honors Confederate General and KKK Founder

I wonder if any other nations honor the leaders of sedition and treason?

Oh, boy.

I live down south and I’d love to say this surprises me, but … ah, not at all. But it should surprise people from that part of the United States that actually remained in the United States throughout history.

No sense beating around the bush, is there, NPR?

Tennessee’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, is facing public backlash after he declared Saturday “Nathan Bedford Forrest Day,” continuing a decades-old tradition honoring the Confederate general, slave trader and onetime leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

Under state law, governors are required to recognize Forrest on July 13 as part of one of six “days of special observance” each year. The law also calls for a “Robert E. Lee Day” on January 19, and a “Memorial Day” or “Confederate Decoration Day” on June 3.

It is highly unusual for any part of any nation to honor someone who led the most treasonous action against that nation. Forming a group that intimidated and outright killed a large segment of that nation’s citizens might even be worse.

But states in the south do it. And it is obvious why. It is not about honoring heritage, that’s a throwaway line. It is about honoring the fact that they can still intimidate African-Americans, letting our friends damned well know who is in charge, to the point the powerful can do whatever the fck they want.

However, in rejecting this shit as we damn well should, it is important that we not indict every white person in these states, nor even every Republican, as some of the white citizens in the south work as hard as anyone, at some risk to themselves, at getting this type of stuff changed.

We know, because the governor got backlash from Republicans, too.

Wanna know something? I am not at all afraid to give some credit where credit is due.

I do not need a lesson in all the other terrible things Cruz has done to repress African-Americans in other situations. But it is important to at least acknowledge whenever a Republican does something right, because it might encourage some to do more.

I will also mention this. Despite the fact that my writing has received encouraging emails from forty-one states and four continents, my center of operations is our place in southern Mississippi. In fact, my house is fifty miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and only 20 miles from “Forrest County.” Despite the fact that this are is called the “Pine Belt,” you will note that “Forrest” is spelled with two “r’s” – and that is not just a misspelling. The county is named after the same person, not a bunch of trees.

You would also benefit from knowing that Mississippi does now recognize Martin Luther King Day. That progress is, however, offset by the fact that the state celebrates “Robert E. Lee” day on the exact same date.

Yes, the “Fck-You” to our African American brothers and sisters, as well as to right-thinking folks of any color, is still alive and well down here.

I do what I can.

****

Peace, y’all

Jason

[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom

You can support my writing through my Paypal account at [email protected], any bit is appreciated.

 

 

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

Comments

Comments are currently closed.