What is a “True Southerner”?

Megan Johnston
Aug 25, 2017 · 7 min read
Battle of Franklin, by Kurz and Allison (1891)

What is a “true Southerner”?

First and foremost, a true Southerner is a rebel. Someone who always questions authority, and never blindly follows. A true Southerner is independent, hardworking, and resourceful. In the words of Hank Williams, Jr., “country boys can survive”. We look out for our friends and fight anyone that tries to harm them. We’ve got Southern Hospitality down to a fine art. That’s the “rebel spirit”.

I was raised to live by and be proud of those Southern values. I was taught that the Confederate flag represented those values. Heritage, not hate…right?

As I grew older I still maintained that rebel spirit, but perhaps not in a way that was desired or expected. I started asking some uncomfortable questions, reading things I disagreed with, and slowly dismantling the entire foundation of my worldview in search of the truth. What I found was, well…I’ve got some bad news, y’all.

We’ve been lied to.

Let’s talk about the Confederacy.

The first is “The War of Northern Aggression” on states’ rights. Did you know that up until 1960 and beyond, it was common practice for publishers to produce two separate versions of their history books? One for the South, and another for the rest of the country. These books were specifically crafted to avoid offending the descendants of Confederate soldiers, and to ensure that their children would see the Confederacy in a more positive light. This was perpetuated by groups like the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Even as textbooks became more standardized, religious and private schools in the South helped the “lost cause” legacy live on.

My school, for instance, used the A Beka and Bob Jones University Dominionist Christian curriculum for everything when I was in elementary school, even Mathematics and Science. This is how our history books covered the Civil War:

“Stonewall Jackson has gone down in history as a great general and a great Christian”

“Whenever Robert E. Lee had a decision to make, he first asked himself, ‘What is my duty as a gentleman and a Christian.’”

“For many people [the Emancipation Proclamation] changed the reason for fighting the Civil War. Before, the Union army was fighting to keep our country from dividing and the Confederate Army was fighting for states’ rights.” (New World History and Geography, page 188.)

“Many Northerners who had previously ignored the issue began to side with the abolitionists. But by this time, the South depended on its slaves, even though fewer than five percent of the white Southerners owned slaves, and half of these had no more than five slaves each. If the Southerners freed their slaves, how could they make a living? And how would the freed slaves earn a living? There were no easy solutions to the problem of slavery.” (New World History and Geography Page 183)

“The Bible does not specifically condemn slavery… It is clear that the problem of slavery was not a simple one… The story of slavery is an excellent example of the far-reaching consequences of sin. The sin in this case was greed.”

Something we were never taught about? The actual “Declarations of Causes of Seceding States”, which include statements like this:

“We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.”

“Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery — the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin.”

You can read the full, preserved documents here:

https://www.civilwar.org/…/declaration-causes-seceding-stat…

One of those sentences, “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery — the greatest material interest of the world.” is now displayed on the wall of the National Park Service visitors’ center in Corinth, Mississippi, near the Shiloh Civil War battlefield- the place my classmates and I were taken on elementary field trips to see battle re-enactments in which we cheered for the South. This fanfare wasn’t encouraged, but it was not quick to be corrected.

While I had already come to my own conclusions on the Civil War through other sources, I didn’t even know about these official articles until a friend brought them to my attention last week. Imagine- a clear, concise reason for secession from the Union had been available this entire time; something that would have easily explained the reason for the Civil War, and somehow entire generations of students don’t know it exists?

Copyright Designs by Dixie Outfitters

Next is the Confederate Flag. I was raised to appreciate its design and the “true” meaning it reflected. In my hometown you could buy backpacks, sparkly kitten t-shirts, and little girls’ hair bows with the Confederate Flag design. I specifically remember owning a t-shirt with a rebel flag amidst pastel chicks, easter eggs, and glitter crosses emblazoned with the words “Southern Chick” (a slight knock-off from a “Dixie Chick”, I suppose). Some of my classmates, several of whom were named after Confederate generals, even got tattoos of the flag in high school. Like the Dukes of Hazzard and their trusty General Lee, we were “Just the good ol’ boys. Never meanin’ no harm”. In our mind, we truly didn’t mean any harm (even if our marginalized friends were experiencing it) because we thought we were trying to exemplify our love for the qualities of a “true Southerner” that I mentioned above.

Here’s what William Thompson, the creator of the official Confederate Flag (and the source of the modern “rebel flag” we fly today), had to say about the symbolism behind his design:

“As a people we are fighting to maintain the heavenly ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race; a white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause…
Such a flag would be a suitable emblem of our young confederacy, and sustained by the brave hearts and strong arms of the south, it would soon take rank among the proudest ensigns of the nations, and be hailed by the civilized world as the white man’s flag.”

(as quoted in Our Flag, 1872, by George Preble)

Or how about the Vice President of the Confederacy Alexander H. Stephens in his “Cornerstone Address”, contrasting the belief that all men are created equal?

“Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition.”

After Alexander Stephens was pardoned for his actions during the war, he went on to serve in Congress and then became the 50th Governor of Georgia.

Lastly, let’s talk about the statues. You know, the ones that aren’t designating a grave site or battlefield. What “history” are they trying to hearken back to, exactly?

The vast majority of these statues were not erected anywhere near the end of the Civil War, but were cheaply mass produced during two specific places in American history- the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights movement. In other words, two of the most important historical periods of racial progress in the United States. These statues were funded in part by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (remember those textbook ladies?).

Nashville’s Nathan Bedford Forrest statue. Photo credit: Gawker.

On a local level, Middle Tennessee State University’s Forrest Hall, named for Nathan Bedford Forrest- the first grand wizard of the KKK, was given that title after they were forced to integrate black students. I’ve vacationed with my family in Benton County’s Nathan Bedford Forrest National Park, which was established in 1929. The big (some say terrifying- really, just look it up) statue of Forrest in Nashville was sculpted in 1998 by Jack Kershaw, the lawyer who defended Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassin. If there was any doubt about Mr. Kershaw’s intention behind the statue, this was noted in his obituary:

“The monument, offensive to many, drew criticism, but Mr. Kershaw did not shy from offending. ‘Somebody needs to say a good word for slavery,’ he once told The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.”

Having said these things, I want you to look back on my initial statements. In light of this, what does it really mean to be a “true Southerner”? What should it mean today? I’d like to add a little something:

A true Southerner is a rebel- they question and challenge revisionist history. They are a variety of races, religions, and sexualities. They listen to and defend their marginalized neighbors. They fight for what’s right.

And they’ve got Southern Hospitality down to a fine art.

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