 | When I took my son to visit the Museum and Library of Confederate History In Greenville, South Carolina, my intention was to show my gentle California kid that people still glorify a time in our past when it was legal and profitable to exploit and oppress people because of the color of their skin. I had no idea that the subtle yet still active racism we saw that day would manifest a month later just a few miles away in Charleston with the killing of nine African American Christians holding a prayer meeting. |
While the museum itself contained mostly exhibits containing uniforms, models of forts, and portraits of Southern war heroes, the museum gift shop contained all kinds of paraphernalia and books that showed pride in the South’s position regarding slavery and the Civil War.
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At the time, the elderly docents, all descendants of Confederate veterans, seemed kooky and almost amusing. They were just bitter old men, lamenting the loss of their favored way of life and hoping the tides would turn in their favor again. Apparently, they aren’t alone, and there are people like the Charleston shooter who internalize their message and put it to work.
While traveling in South Carolina, we took advantage of the opportunity to see not only the beautiful parts of the state, we saw the ugly parts as well.
As we hear the shooter’s words repeated on the news, we hear echoes of the Sons of Confederate Veterans spouting their twisted ideology. When we see the shooter’s picture, wearing an apartheid symbol on his clothing, it looks eerily similar to the items that can be purchased today in the museum gift shop.
Because we saw the museum, the news made more sense. Instead of seeing a psycho loner with a gun, we see a culture that has not yet faced up to its hate-filled past, and continues on the same path today.
While traveling in South Carolina, we took advantage of the opportunity to see not only the beautiful parts of the state, we saw the ugly parts as well.
As we hear the shooter’s words repeated on the news, we hear echoes of the Sons of Confederate Veterans spouting their twisted ideology. When we see the shooter’s picture, wearing an apartheid symbol on his clothing, it looks eerily similar to the items that can be purchased today in the museum gift shop.
Because we saw the museum, the news made more sense. Instead of seeing a psycho loner with a gun, we see a culture that has not yet faced up to its hate-filled past, and continues on the same path today.