CH203 ESSAY--Our Confederate Heritage--AMERICA'S NEWEST CAMPAIGN ISSUE

CORE HUMANITIES 203, UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO; SUMMER 2019,

 JC L'ANGELLE (FIRST DRAFT)

From Slavery to Civil Rights, and the War Between

     "Heritage" is defined by Merriam-Webster first as "property that descends to an heir", and second as "something transmitted by or acquired from a predecessor." (1) It then refers to "legacy" as being a direct synonym. The two may not mean the same thing at all. Heritage might mean the history we have inherited surrounding the Confederate States of America that led to the Civil War; legacy might well mean the statues and public places named after those who represented the Confederacy. In either case, both have created enough friction and animosity within our present day culture that it surfaces almost as if by accident, where and when we least expect it.
   The issue resurfaced again today when President Trump referred to the South's military genius, Robert E. Lee, as "a great general, whether you like it or not." as quoted in Axion. (2)
Fresh out on the campaign trail after announcing his candidacy for the Democratic ticket, former Vice President Joe Biden was quick to engage in a frontal assault in an attempt to outmaneuver the president on the field of political rhetoric, referring to the Charlottesville rally in August of 2017; as published in a CNBC article today by Christina Wilkie;
“those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it,” (3)
General Lee would have been quite upset that he is currently being used by both parties in an election bid to foster even more rebellion within the ranks of American citizens.
     According to Prologue Magazine published by  the National Archives, General Lee's status in post-Civil War America was dubious at best and his loyalty was certainly under a great deal of scrutiny. Prologue gives a lucid account of the fate of the General during those immediate days following surrender at Appomattox where many were held, and many more accused of treason;

"On May 29, 1865, President Andrew Johnson issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Pardon to persons who had participated in the rebellion against the United States. There were fourteen excepted classes, though, and members of those classes had to make special application to the President."
Lee was one of those in the excluded classes and had to appeal his right for citizenship;
""Being excluded from the provisions of amnesty & pardon contained in the proclamation of the 29th Ulto; I hereby apply for the benefits, & full restoration of all rights & privileges extended to those included in its terms. I graduated at the Mil. Academy at West Point in June 1829. Resigned from the U.S. Army April '61. Was a General in the Confederate Army, & included in the surrender of the Army of N. Va. 9 April '65." (4.)
Lee signed the amnesty oath in October, 1865.
Obviously this isn't good enough for many who choose to obfuscate heritage with legacy, and politicize what was settled a long time ago.  In fact, it was President Gerald Ford, who according to the archives, restored Lee's citizenship, the oath having been rediscovered.
     Today more than ever we are confronted with a new battlefield, the heritage of which has been drawn from our long history that began with slavery, led to abolition, a great Civil War and emancipation. Beyond that we were confronted with Reconstruction, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement. Through all of this, we have yet to settle the issue of what to do with the great heritage of the Civil War, in particular, the role the South played in secession and its aftermath, 158 years after the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter in  South Carolina. The question remains, what do we do about the heritage of the Confederacy?

     It has become all too easy to associate it with hate, bigotry, slavery and white supremacy. At every opportunity, politicians use it to fan the flames of divisiveness to promote their own agenda. They lack incredible historical accuracy, forget conveniently the efforts of those on both sides to prevent the Civil War, and give no credit whatsoever to those who fought and died in it on both sides. General Lee becomes cannon fodder for snobs out to undermine whatever progress has been made toward all the healing that has been accomplished in the past 150 years through W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington,  and Zora Neale Hurston, who, as noted in e-notes by Lynn Ramsson;
"Hurston appears inspired by the dark history of slavery but not in an angry or vengeful way. Instead, she seems to have chosen to embrace her position—one that was earned for her by her slave ancestors. However, her position is not one that she must regret or be troubled by in any way at all." (5)
The heritage that has come out of slavery, abolition, emancipation, the Civil War, and yes, the Confederacy is threatened to be lost over  misguided use on the political battlefield by those who have but a clue as to their historical and cultural currency. Genuine ignorance of that very heritage, and the legacy that remains in the form of icons, would be apparent if the candidates would submit to a debate over the basic issue of our heritage of the Confederacy.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
1.) Heritage, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heritage
2.) Lee, https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-robert-e-lee-great-general-391aa986-b31d-4a2a-be7a-22cfb6afcd56.html
3.) Charlottesville, Wilkie, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/trump-calls-robert-e-lee-a-great-general-as-biden-attacks-charlottesville-response.html
4.) Amnesty, The Prologue, https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/spring/piece-lee
5.) Zora, Lynn Ramsson, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-zora-neale-hurstons-view-slavery-how-feels-684095 (Photo: https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--2ps_LV-j--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/bbj28at3dr2pfxu4srpu.png)

James C. L'Angelle is an undergraduate student in the College of Liberal Arts, University of Nevada, Reno. 

ILHANOMAR--Spotlight on Death Threats-- FROM GABBY GIFFORDS TO STEVE SCALISE

URGENT IMMEDIATE RESPONSE EXPECTED//JCL//CMDR/FIELD OPS


(The Scullery) In the wake of some bad grammar by a Congressional rookie, there has been enormous outpouring of hateful rhetoric from all sides of national politics, including but not limited to, inflammatory videos and Twitterspeak. America needs to be reminded that this will lead to the inevitable end, as it has always done, violence and bloodshed; no matter who might think it will not. No one person, not even the President, can predict what will be the outcome of this hate campaign, especially if he is directly involved in it. Instead of setting the example for the citizens to follow, he is creating the environment that will lead to what we saw happen to other members of Congress in the past. Here is a brief reminder from NBC News' Benjy Sarlin on the Capitol police in relation to particular incidents;

     "The shooting at a baseball practice of Republican Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and others is the latest incident to put Congressional security in the spotlight...'He (Scalise) probably saved everybody else's life because if you don't have a leadership person there, there would have been no security there,' Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who was at the baseball practice." (1)

Incidents of actual attacks, though isolated, may be just a result of law enforcement intercepting the assailants by vigilant social media and phone threat observations that are taken seriously;
     "The FBI arrested a man in May for leaving threatening voicemail messages for Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ). Individual lawmakers have also reported death threats to the Capitol Police, including Rep. Al Green (D-TX), who said he received violent racist messages after calling for President Trump’s impeachment."

 

Perhaps one of the most outrageous attacks was that on Gabby Giffords in 2011;

     "The most serious incident attack against a member and staffers occurred In 2011, when then-Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) was shot at a constituent event in Arizona along with eighteen others, six fatally. Giffords, who survived, is now a prominent advocate for gun safety laws."
There is no excuse for inciting the people to take action against their representatives; those doing so need held accountable in the very same way that hate rhetoric was condemned on the floor of the House


SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
1.) Capitol Police, Benjy Sarlin, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/here-s-how-congress-protected-n772296
2.) Scalise Photo, https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2017/june/congressman-steve-scalise-others-shot-by-gunman-targeting-republicans
3.) Giffords Photo, James Palka, AP, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/politics/09giffords.html

ESSAY: Failed State & The New Reformation--#MAGA #SHUTDOWN POLITICS, 2019

CH203.1002 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO, DR S PASQUALINA, SPRING 2019



THE NEW REFORMATION

     (The Scullery)--Beyond the rhetoric, the insinuations and the failed state syndrome, the view from higher ground is one of renewed confidence in the process of democracy. There is something greater going on above the dysfunction and low-brow clamor on a daily basis from furloughed congressmen and women, disgruntled news media pundits attempting to relate everything to Watergate, and pollsters squeezing out impeachment statistics wherever they can.
     By definition, "reformation," according to Collins, means "the act or an instance of reforming or the state of being reformed."

Along with a definition, Collins offers a usage graph illustrating the most common reference of the word to the Protestant Reformation, capitalized, of the 16th century. Clearly, the word has lost its meaning since then and appears to have very little meaning today. However, on the horizon is a new movement that has yet to be properly evaluated as it isn't related to religion, but to politics and in particular, politics in the United States. If we were to define the roots of this new movement, which for the sake of clarity we define as "#MAGA," it has as its origin not in America, but in Iraq.
     To be more accurate, mainstream media is just now beginning to understand the nature of the cold-blooded killer caliphate known by its acronym, ISIS, and the mistake made by the previous administration in removing all American soldiers from the Middle East, paving the way for the march of ISIS. The result was yet another entry into the muddled quagmire that is Middle East politics; from the self-interest of Israel, to the dark regime of Syria, the "other" caliphate of Iran and the on-again, off-again NATO partner Turkey.  On the sidelines but with just as much influence in the neighborhood is the Western ally, oil-based Saudi Arabia. All of these players are what Rand Paul (R-KY) referred to in CBS' Face the Nation recently as "can they not do anything?" But the caliphate was only a small fraction of the issues facing the Commander-in-Chief when he assumed office, Afghanistan was the other foreign policy quagmire. At the time it was on the back burner as the main course was cooking on the front of the stove, the fight for the wall along the border between Mexico and the United States. In time, the Middle East would indeed surface to become part of the New Reformation.
     New Year's Eve, 2018 and a resolution for border wall funding has become the cornerstone of The New Reformation with the US government deadlocked and in a shutdown mode over the issue. The President has promised delivery of the wall to the nation but opposition in Congress has fought him every inch of the way on the hundreds of miles of wall slated for construction. Even though Iraq may have been a more difficult agenda to complete, specifically, withdrawal from it and Afghanistan as well, it was the border wall that created the climate for the New Reformation. The political revolution in American politics was long overdue and postponed by the previous administration as it just didn't have enough resolve, for that matter, political savvy and philosophy, to address the issues. It was all about affordable health care, an agenda that was recently dismantled by a Texas judge as non-enforceable, part of the previous "failed state" syndrome.
     No revolutionary movement is complete without a set of grievances and demands, as witnessed from the religious Reformation to the Declaration of Independence. Can we assume the combined action of the border wall shutdown along with the recent orders to withdraw from foreign wars of occupation represents at least a beginning in long overdue "reforms" in the way politics function in Washington, DC? According to the media, impeachment isn't good enough for the President. In fact, add the hostility of the press toward the administration as another product of The New Reformation. Daily, the media attacks with everything it has; polls, opinions, condemnations, harassment at press briefings, attempting to topple the regime. None of it works, the President isn't queer for the media, unlike his predecessor.
     Impasse looms into the New Year, the view from the high ground is that something bigger is going on, rooted in frustration from decades of mismanaged government policies that are legislated only to be dismantled. Finally, Congress will have to decide on the course of action for the nation, with firm resolve or with impotence. The President has been a one-man show ever since he took the oath of office; his loyalty to #MAGA is remarkable, not just campaign demagoguery, but conviction. If he succeeds, there will be a New Reformation, politics will not be as-usual, and he will reaffirm the belief that one man can make a difference.

   
     HAVE A VERY HAPPY & PRODUCTIVE NEW YEAR,         JAMES C L'ANGELLE

Contributing Sources:
Reformation definition, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/reformation
Rand Paul, Face the Nation, CBS, Dec 23, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/full-transcript-face-the-nation-on-december-23-2018/
#MAGA Hats & Soldiers,  Newsweek,  https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-signing-maga-hats-troops-during-iraq-trip-truly-disgusting-says-1272147