It did for me, since my maternal ancestor also rode with the Swamp Fox himself in 1780 (and no, not in hoary family legend- he's listed in Marion's orderly book) and it confirms that we Southerners are forever connected to each other. Your ancestor and mine knew each other and fought side by side, and 250 years later their descendants just randomly connected. I have never been ashamed of my Southern ancestors, because my mother would not let me forget that my ancestors were "here before America was a country" and that my blood ancestors were Rebels and proud of it. As a historian, I do not, nor will I ever, apologize for that. I came to the same conclusion you did years ago, that it is an exercise in futility to attempt to reason with those who hate my ancestors, so I use that same phrasing. They are my family, my blood, and I will not denounce them, and that is all there is to it.
Thank you for this comment, it’s a very powerful message of old bonds that can’t ever be killed.
How old are you may I ask? I am 34, and the things I am going to describe below are a massive problem in my generation, even in the south, especially among the educated.
I want to clarify a couple of things, not that I think you’re accusing me necessarily. I have never, not once, been ashamed of any of my ancestors. I didn’t snap out of a mindset of shame. What I have come to a realization of, though, is boldness and quickness to not back down from confrontation is way more important in all matters than I realized.
Most who read this article or substack are not the types who will need to be reeducated on their history or their opinions of their ancestors. That was not the message I was trying to get across. My point is that the majority of society are social creatures who do what they are told and don’t think much about it one way or the other, for better or worse. Some of us who know better have allowed the people in our lives who might fall into this category to have their opinions crafted by hostile actors with either no resistance, or insufficient resistance.
At a minimum it is meant to be a wake up call for some who may have been lackadaisical in their approach to these matters to shore up their approach with their family and close friends, but once that is largely accomplished the momentum can carry us into the broader culture as a formidable opposition force.
Thanks again for the read and the comment, and God bless you sir.
I'm 49, so I can remember a time before Clown World. My mother can literally remember segregated South Carolina. I wasn't throwing any stones at you. I agree that we need to build intergenerational bridges and get "the better sort" of our people to stop turning Judas and reestablish Southern dignity, and then power.
Welcome to the OGC. Half of my family is Southern and they are ashamed of it. As Southerners reclaim pride so too must and will Northerners. God bless you and your family and our extended family of Americans.
Excellent essay, it really conveys what so many of us americans, and even the rest of the west, are going through right now. The time to act on this is now, or we may lose this chance, and ourselves, forever. We are not alone in this, just scattered and disorganized. This organization is the start of the change. I think the focus right now should be on understanding, undoing, and then setting the culture so that we are not always on the defensive and losing end. I hope to hear more from you and hopefully be able to talk and discuss sometime on what steps need to be taken. We are not alone in this and we can make this change happen, thanks for the read and god bless america.
Funny enough, I’m also descended from Scots-Irish ancestors that settled in South Carolina and fought in the Revolutionary War! (I have a 7th great grandfather whose name is on the battle’s memorial plaque at King’s Mountain, near Charlotte.)
My family has resided solely in the Carolinas since the very early 1700s, but for the recent cultural zeitgeist that equated “Southern” with uneducated, racist, and intellectually backwards caused me to seek to be everything BUT what I am - inescapably Southern, though not necessarily “redneck”. I tried so hard to make several “masks” into my identity, but nothing ever truly felt right. I always felt like a stranger in a world full of equally-false and lost souls.
I’ve found it oddly “healing” over the past few months to embark upon a quest to understand the South’s intellectual and anthropological heritage, and how that unmistakably affects my own convictions to this day. (Honor vs. Materialism, the importance of tradition, etc.)
We have our low-points, as any people and culture does, but we also have so much to be proud of. Some of the most learned, brave, artistically gifted and influential men in the history of the United States hail from the South, and its to our detriment to toss out our heritage in the name of becoming another NPC in the global corporate monoslop as prescribed from the “elite institutions”.
(A really insightful, even-handed book that I’m reading about Southern culture pre-Reconstruction is “Southern Honor: Ethics & Behavior in the Old South”)
I could write a part 2 for how southern, and especially Mississippi, stereotypes and perceptions created so much insecurity and hyper self awareness for me that in effect it was like a pressure cooker of cultural absorption and knowledge seeking for me.
I’ve traveled quite a lot, both domestically and abroad, and there have been enough negative reactions from my accept or communicating where I was from that I made certain I knew everything there was to know about where I was traveling so I could dazzle people with my ability to converse with them about their homes. This has brought some truly awed responses, especially abroad, though their potential prejudices might have been more so general expectations for Americans rather than southerner.
This is a net positive and has likely given a number of people some memorable experiences, but it’s really a shame that insecurity is what drove me to the pursuit of intellectual excellence and respect for others.
Completely agree on the notion that "insecurity is what drove me to the pursuit of intellectual excellence and respect for others". Working at a European tech company, I initially did all that I could to "put the 'social' ball in others' courts" to preserve my own facade while hiding the truth.
[Side note about foreign perceptions of the South] - In my 3mo in Australia, I was greeted, by and large, with respect and fascination about my heritage, accent, etc.. As it turns out, Aussies tend to find American football, Donald Trump, and country music to be "sick, mate". I believe a good testament of this is the astounding "average mullet-per-capita ratio" in Australia LOL.
Great article. From Mississippi myself, and I went on almost the exact same journey in the past year. Even had my dad finally mention to me, for the first time ever, that our first name we share is after a certain Confederate general. I could tell he carried some shame in admitting this, but it filled me with such pride. My grandmother still has deep love for the South and our heritage, but she feels the shame that is cast down on us. Her way to cope has been that we are just not as smart and cunning as those Yankees. Through discussing our ancestry, she has lit up thinking back on family stories and journeys.
I recently was on a trip in the South that involved a stay at an older Southern home. Inside of this home were portraits of Stonewall, Lee, and Bedford. It got a good laugh from most of my friends when we walked in, but it gave me a perfect opportunity to defend our own patriarchs. This led to many of them admitting their own grandfathers or fathers held these figures dear, but they were too ashamed to pass this along. They have recently expressed interest in learning more from our conversations. Not to dig up the Lost Cause, but just to throw away the shame and learn more about what they really came from.
Southern Maw Maws, for the most part in my experience, are usually the source of all the great family lore. I find it interesting your grandmother's shame of her German ancestry but I bet she told great stories of the rest of the family's past. The lost cause fighters are still heroes to her but to others who equate them to Nazis, they are just as bad. It a look into how that generation was indoctrinated post war. Like you said, she really cant help it.
Thank you for capturing beautiful sentimens. Was your Maw Maw a Palatine? Same on my husband's side. Those folks ate boiled grass. Their descendants should know they come from tough stock. We're probably related.
Thanks again y’all for publishing my essay. I hope it’s meaningful for someone.
Great piece!
It did for me, since my maternal ancestor also rode with the Swamp Fox himself in 1780 (and no, not in hoary family legend- he's listed in Marion's orderly book) and it confirms that we Southerners are forever connected to each other. Your ancestor and mine knew each other and fought side by side, and 250 years later their descendants just randomly connected. I have never been ashamed of my Southern ancestors, because my mother would not let me forget that my ancestors were "here before America was a country" and that my blood ancestors were Rebels and proud of it. As a historian, I do not, nor will I ever, apologize for that. I came to the same conclusion you did years ago, that it is an exercise in futility to attempt to reason with those who hate my ancestors, so I use that same phrasing. They are my family, my blood, and I will not denounce them, and that is all there is to it.
Thank you for this comment, it’s a very powerful message of old bonds that can’t ever be killed.
How old are you may I ask? I am 34, and the things I am going to describe below are a massive problem in my generation, even in the south, especially among the educated.
I want to clarify a couple of things, not that I think you’re accusing me necessarily. I have never, not once, been ashamed of any of my ancestors. I didn’t snap out of a mindset of shame. What I have come to a realization of, though, is boldness and quickness to not back down from confrontation is way more important in all matters than I realized.
Most who read this article or substack are not the types who will need to be reeducated on their history or their opinions of their ancestors. That was not the message I was trying to get across. My point is that the majority of society are social creatures who do what they are told and don’t think much about it one way or the other, for better or worse. Some of us who know better have allowed the people in our lives who might fall into this category to have their opinions crafted by hostile actors with either no resistance, or insufficient resistance.
At a minimum it is meant to be a wake up call for some who may have been lackadaisical in their approach to these matters to shore up their approach with their family and close friends, but once that is largely accomplished the momentum can carry us into the broader culture as a formidable opposition force.
Thanks again for the read and the comment, and God bless you sir.
I'm 49, so I can remember a time before Clown World. My mother can literally remember segregated South Carolina. I wasn't throwing any stones at you. I agree that we need to build intergenerational bridges and get "the better sort" of our people to stop turning Judas and reestablish Southern dignity, and then power.
Welcome to the OGC. Half of my family is Southern and they are ashamed of it. As Southerners reclaim pride so too must and will Northerners. God bless you and your family and our extended family of Americans.
Great piece indeed! Thank you for writing it.
Excellent essay, it really conveys what so many of us americans, and even the rest of the west, are going through right now. The time to act on this is now, or we may lose this chance, and ourselves, forever. We are not alone in this, just scattered and disorganized. This organization is the start of the change. I think the focus right now should be on understanding, undoing, and then setting the culture so that we are not always on the defensive and losing end. I hope to hear more from you and hopefully be able to talk and discuss sometime on what steps need to be taken. We are not alone in this and we can make this change happen, thanks for the read and god bless america.
Awesome and inspiring essay!
Funny enough, I’m also descended from Scots-Irish ancestors that settled in South Carolina and fought in the Revolutionary War! (I have a 7th great grandfather whose name is on the battle’s memorial plaque at King’s Mountain, near Charlotte.)
My family has resided solely in the Carolinas since the very early 1700s, but for the recent cultural zeitgeist that equated “Southern” with uneducated, racist, and intellectually backwards caused me to seek to be everything BUT what I am - inescapably Southern, though not necessarily “redneck”. I tried so hard to make several “masks” into my identity, but nothing ever truly felt right. I always felt like a stranger in a world full of equally-false and lost souls.
I’ve found it oddly “healing” over the past few months to embark upon a quest to understand the South’s intellectual and anthropological heritage, and how that unmistakably affects my own convictions to this day. (Honor vs. Materialism, the importance of tradition, etc.)
We have our low-points, as any people and culture does, but we also have so much to be proud of. Some of the most learned, brave, artistically gifted and influential men in the history of the United States hail from the South, and its to our detriment to toss out our heritage in the name of becoming another NPC in the global corporate monoslop as prescribed from the “elite institutions”.
(A really insightful, even-handed book that I’m reading about Southern culture pre-Reconstruction is “Southern Honor: Ethics & Behavior in the Old South”)
I could write a part 2 for how southern, and especially Mississippi, stereotypes and perceptions created so much insecurity and hyper self awareness for me that in effect it was like a pressure cooker of cultural absorption and knowledge seeking for me.
I’ve traveled quite a lot, both domestically and abroad, and there have been enough negative reactions from my accept or communicating where I was from that I made certain I knew everything there was to know about where I was traveling so I could dazzle people with my ability to converse with them about their homes. This has brought some truly awed responses, especially abroad, though their potential prejudices might have been more so general expectations for Americans rather than southerner.
This is a net positive and has likely given a number of people some memorable experiences, but it’s really a shame that insecurity is what drove me to the pursuit of intellectual excellence and respect for others.
Completely agree on the notion that "insecurity is what drove me to the pursuit of intellectual excellence and respect for others". Working at a European tech company, I initially did all that I could to "put the 'social' ball in others' courts" to preserve my own facade while hiding the truth.
[Side note about foreign perceptions of the South] - In my 3mo in Australia, I was greeted, by and large, with respect and fascination about my heritage, accent, etc.. As it turns out, Aussies tend to find American football, Donald Trump, and country music to be "sick, mate". I believe a good testament of this is the astounding "average mullet-per-capita ratio" in Australia LOL.
Great article. From Mississippi myself, and I went on almost the exact same journey in the past year. Even had my dad finally mention to me, for the first time ever, that our first name we share is after a certain Confederate general. I could tell he carried some shame in admitting this, but it filled me with such pride. My grandmother still has deep love for the South and our heritage, but she feels the shame that is cast down on us. Her way to cope has been that we are just not as smart and cunning as those Yankees. Through discussing our ancestry, she has lit up thinking back on family stories and journeys.
I recently was on a trip in the South that involved a stay at an older Southern home. Inside of this home were portraits of Stonewall, Lee, and Bedford. It got a good laugh from most of my friends when we walked in, but it gave me a perfect opportunity to defend our own patriarchs. This led to many of them admitting their own grandfathers or fathers held these figures dear, but they were too ashamed to pass this along. They have recently expressed interest in learning more from our conversations. Not to dig up the Lost Cause, but just to throw away the shame and learn more about what they really came from.
Southern Maw Maws, for the most part in my experience, are usually the source of all the great family lore. I find it interesting your grandmother's shame of her German ancestry but I bet she told great stories of the rest of the family's past. The lost cause fighters are still heroes to her but to others who equate them to Nazis, they are just as bad. It a look into how that generation was indoctrinated post war. Like you said, she really cant help it.
Thank you for capturing beautiful sentimens. Was your Maw Maw a Palatine? Same on my husband's side. Those folks ate boiled grass. Their descendants should know they come from tough stock. We're probably related.
My only criticism is that the painting has Joseph Johnston instead of Albert Sidney.