I was just curious if anyone has read this book by David Goldfield. He is or at least was the Robert Lee Bailey Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I never heard of him becuase I was a business major but others might be more familiar with him.
As a person originally from the Midwest I thought the book was very interesting and answered many questions that I had about the culture of the South. However, it is very obvious that he is not a blind loyalist to the South and its culture by many of the negative comments and stories that he shares.
I would love to hear what others might think, especially those of you that were born and raised in Charlotte or other Southern cities.
I enjoyed Confederates In The Attic by Tony Horwitz, which chronicled his multi-year journey through the South, finding out why the region is still so obsessed with the Civil War. Many of the stories are fascinating, and North Carolina makes an appearance - a Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter in Salisbury.
[i]Originally posted by NinerUpNorth[/i]@Jul 7 2004, 12:48 PM
[b] I was just curious if anyone has read this book by David Goldfield. He is or at least was the Robert Lee Bailey Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I never heard of him becuase I was a business major but others might be more familiar with him.
As a person originally from the Midwest I thought the book was very interesting and answered many questions that I had about the culture of the South. However, it is very obvious that he is not a blind loyalist to the South and its culture by many of the negative comments and stories that he shares.
I would love to hear what others might think, especially those of you that were born and raised in Charlotte or other Southern cities. [/b]
Dr. Goldfield is actually the Faculty Rep to the Athletic Dept.
[i]Originally posted by UNCCTF[/i]@Jul 8 2004, 10:43 PM
[b] I enjoyed [i]Confederates In The Attic[/i] by Tony Horwitz, which chronicled his multi-year journey through the South, finding out why the region is still so obsessed with the Civil War. Many of the stories are fascinating, and North Carolina makes an appearance - a Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter in Salisbury. [/b]
[b]I enjoyed [i]Confederates In The Attic[/i] by Tony Horwitz, which chronicled his multi-year journey through the South, finding out why the region is still so obsessed with the Civil War. Many of the stories are fascinating, and North Carolina makes an appearance - a Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter in Salisbury.[/b]
Did Horwitz have anything to say about why many southern regions (like western NC and eastern TN) that were originally Union supporters now have so many adamant Confederate supporters? I often wonder why I see so many pickups with Confederate flags in the mountains when more than likely the “good ole boy’s” ancestor was either a Union supporter, Union sympathizer or Confederate deserter.
Maybe it’s because of them damn New York liberals…
Basically, the author’s point of view is that the majority of Southerners, especially white men, are so concerned with the past and protecting their past that they refuse to open their eyes to the future and this is the primary reason why the South lags behind the rest of the country when it comes to education, race realtions, culture, globalization, and many other things.
The reason that Southerners are so obsessed with their past is that they reflected on their past (although partially fabricated) as a way to get over their defeat. It was a “you may have won the war but you can’t erase our heritage” kind of mentality. They made heroes out of Lee, Jackson, and others although their accomplishments were marginal at best. Unfortunately, the supremacy of the white man was part of the heritage that they wanted to protect.
As time has passed, the “war” has continued because America has progressed as the world has changed but many Southerners view these changes (gun laws, racial equality, globalization) as a violation of their heritage. The author claims that the South won’t truly be over the war until they view the history as history, giving the respect due to the flags, heroes, and stories and learn to be more progressive.
[i]Originally posted by NinerOne[/i]@Jul 9 2004, 08:16 AM
[b] The South shall rise again............... [/b]
Riiiiiiight.
Anyway, NinerUpNorth, that was also basically the thesis of Horwitz’ book. I wish he would’ve spent more time in the mountainous regions - I know my forefathers were basically Union spies or supporters (I am from Mitchell County).
[i]Originally posted by NinerUpNorth[/i]@Jul 9 2004, 06:37 PM
[b] They made heroes out of Lee, Jackson, and others although their accomplishments were marginal at best.
[/b]
Stonewall may have been a marginal hero, a figurehead or a rallying point, but Robert E. Lee was one of the greatest military minds of all time.
Sure, he lost, but he also didn’t have the resources the north did. The war would have been far different had Lee not made the choice to fight for the Confederate army, it may have even been the crushing defeat that the north thought it would be.
I am not a fan of the south will rise mentality, and I find many of the people who are disgusting human beings (for reason other than pride in southern heritage), but I am a fan of military minds. I would rank Lee as one of the top 10 generals of all time. He’s probably the second best “losing” general, behind Napoleon. We’ve had some great military minds in the US, but I’m not sure any had the total package that Lee did. He wasn’t just a great strategian, he was a leader. George Washington (and his guerrilla warfare/terrorist actions) may be the only American General who was better, IMO. That’s a tough call though.
Why is there so much animosity from many Southerners towards the people from the North due to the war in 1865, but today Great britain is our greatest ally, we love British actors and movies like Hugh Grant and Austin Powers, the British royalty like Princess Diana, but we as a nation fought with them to gain our Independence and again in 1812.
Why did we forget the past and move on with great britain but many are unable to do the same with fellow Americans from the North.
Remember, the Britains torched our cities, occupied our homes, taxed us withourt representation, and many other ghastly violations of our way of life.
Interesting that many Southerners cried when Princess Diana died but won’t accept Northern citizens as brothers and sisters.
First off, I doubt anyone who “hates” the north still today really cared one way or the other about Princess Diana.
Secondly, many?! I’ve known some pretty backward, BFE people, even ones who tout the rebel flag, and none of them disliked the north. Nor did they consider themselves independant of the USA. Sure, most of them were ignorant and bigoted, but they weren’t seperationists at all. They considered themselves great members of the USA.
A small percentage of southern people consider this an unresolved matter. I’ve seen people from the north given a hard time and called yankees, etc. but nothing to suggest that a southern hates a notherner because they hail from north of the Mason-Dixon line.