Some Southerners to celebrate secession sesquicentennial
Questions about how to commemorate Civil War's 150th anniversary highlight the divisions that still linger from that conflict.
By Katharine Q. Seelye THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: 9:15 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, 2010
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ATLANTA — The Civil War, the most wrenching and bloody episode in American history, might not seem like much of a cause for celebration, especially in the South.
And yet, as the 150th anniversary of the four-year conflict gets under way, some groups in the old Confederacy are planning at least a certain amount of hoopla — chiefly around the glory days of secession, when 11 states declared their sovereignty under a banner of states' rights and broke from the union.
The events include a "secession ball" in the former slave port of Charleston ("a joyous night of music, dancing, food and drink," says the invitation), which will be replicated on a smaller scale in other cities. A parade is being planned in Montgomery, Ala., along with a mock swearing-in of Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederacy.
In addition, the Sons of Confederate Veterans and some of its local chapters are preparing various TV commercials that they hope to show next year.
"All we wanted was to be left alone to govern ourselves," says one ad from the group's Georgia Division. That some are honoring secession, with barely a nod to the role of slavery, underscores how divisive a topic the war remains.
"We in the South, who have been kicked around for an awfully long time and are accused of being racist, we would just like the truth to be known," said Michael Givens, commander-in-chief of the Sons, explaining the reason for the TV ads. Although there were many causes of the war, he said, "our people were only fighting to protect themselves from an invasion and for their independence."
Not everyone is on board with this program, of course. The NAACP, for one, plans to protest some of these events, saying that celebrating secession is tantamount to celebrating slavery.
"I can only imagine what kind of celebration they would have if they had won," said Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina NAACP.
He said he was dumbfounded by "all of this glamorization and sanitization of what really happened." When Southerners refer to states' rights, he said, "they are really talking about their idea of one right — to buy and sell human beings."
The secession events are among hundreds if not thousands that will unfold over the next four years in honor of the Civil War's sesquicentennial. From Fort Sumter to Appomattox, historic sites across the South, and some in the North, plan to highlight various aspects of America's deadliest conflict — and perhaps its least resolved.
Many of the activities are purely historical. Today , at the site in Maryland of the battle of Antietam, a solemn memorial will feature 23,000 candles, representing that battle's casualties.
Some cities and states are promoting their Civil War history with an eye toward attracting tourists. In Atlanta, the Cyclorama, a giant painting-in-the-round that depicts the first day of the Battle of Atlanta, is being "refreshed and rebranded" as part of an overall marketing plan, said Camille Love, Atlanta's director of cultural affairs.
Commemorating the Civil War has never been easy. The centennial 50 years ago coincided with the civil rights movement, when most of the South was still effectively segregated.
"We don't know what to commemorate because we've never faced up to the implications of what the thing was really about," said Andrew Young, a veteran of the civil rights movement and former mayor of Atlanta.
"The easy answer for black folk is that it set us free, but it really didn't," Young added. "We had another 100 years of segregation."
The passion that the Civil War still evokes was evident earlier this year when Virginia's Gov. Bob McDonnell designated April as Confederate History Month — without mentioning slavery. After a national outcry, he apologized and changed his proclamation to condemn slavery.
The proclamation was urged on him by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which asserts that the Confederacy was a crusade for small government and states' rights. The sesquicentennial, which coincides now with the rise of the tea party movement, is providing a new chance for adherents to promote that view.
Jeff Antley, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Confederate Heritage Trust, is organizing the secession ball in Charleston and a 10-day re-enactment of the Confederate encampment at Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the war were fired April 12, 1861.
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