No more Confederate Uniforms for KA

Parent Cafe
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<p>In my experience, the hottest ones. Seriously, the KA’s I know mix with the best sororities and get any girls they want. Believe me, I’m not sure what the attraction is either, but it is there. </p>

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<p>No one is disputing that they intentionally wore the uniforms and piled into their vehicles as part of their Old South parade. But, if they stopped to pick up girls at the sorority next door to the historically black sorority, I’m inclined to believe that they had no ill intentions. If the first vehicle in a convoy stops, all the trailing vehicles must stop as well, regardless of where they are. </p>

<p>And yes, the KAs I know are racist as heck. But, they should have a right to be ignorant as long as they do no harm. The Westboro Baptist Church yahoos are probably more offensive then a bunch of Southern frat boys ever will be, but I believe that their right to free speech, however hateful and slanderous and wrong, is protected as well.</p>

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<p>New York was also, paradoxically, the capital of American slavery for more than two centuries. </p>

<p>[Slavery</a> in New York](<a href=“http://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/about_exhibit.htm]Slavery”>Slavery in New York)</p>

<p>One explanation: in the years leading up to the Civil War, the distinction between slave states and free states became fixed in the popular mind and in school texts. Reading backwards, many northerners came to believe that their communities had always been bastions of liberty. But slavery was an important feature of every one of the thirteen colonies.</p>

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<p>Very well said. This is it exactly.</p>

<p>I applaud the KA leadership for stepping up and doing the right thing. I’ll file this under “better late than never.”</p>

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<p>In 1703, 42 percent of New York’s households had slaves, much more than Philadelphia and Boston combined. Among the colonies’ cities, only Charleston, South Carolina, had more. </p>

<p>[The</a> Hidden History of Slavery in New York](<a href=“http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051107/slavery_in_new_york]The”>http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051107/slavery_in_new_york)</p>

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<p>That’s nice. Did the Civil War start around 1703?</p>

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<p>*People who celebrate the Confederacy by wearing uniforms and waving flags, of course. *</p>

<p>I have no problem with people who do those Civil War re-enactments - with some in Union uniforms and some in Confederacy uniforms.</p>

<p>People have the right to be proud of their heritage/culture even if their heritage has some awful aspects to it. We don’t tell Catholics not to be proud of their faith/heritage just because the Church has had some very negative aspects (sex abuse problems, earlier problems, etc). We don’t tell Muslims not to be proud of their faith/culture just because there have been some negative aspects to that (women not having similar freedoms, honor killings, etc). We don’t tell Ivy graduates not to be proud of their education just because the ivies used to have an evil Jewish quota. We don’t tell the Brits not to be proud of their heritage because of what they did to the Irish. Frankly, I don’t think any group/region has a pristine history.</p>

<p>People have the right to be proud of their cultures/ethnicities/heritage, etc - even though the history can have some negative aspects.</p>

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<p>I don’t understand why you think this is relevant. Sure, there were (and are) racist northerners. </p>

<p>But we aren’t talking about “north vs south.” We’re talking about a specific group of people who dress up in the costume of an army who had a goal of breaking away from the US so their area could continue having slaves. If a northern fraternity decided to honor the Anti-Suffragette League and wear their buttons because “my ancestors belonged to it, YAY HISTORY!”, who would give them a free pass? Not me.</p>

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<p>No northerner believes that the north was always a “bastion of liberty.”<br>
We GET that there had been slaves up in the north.<br>
We GET that not every union soldier was nobly serving for the sole purpose of freeing blacks.<br>
We GET that there have been racial tensions everywhere, even to the present day. </p>

<p>But it’s pretty uncontroversial that the explicit foundation of the Confederacy was built on the premise that this new government was founded on the belief that blacks were inferior and designed to serve whites. </p>

<p>If you don’t believe me, feel free to reference Alexander Stephens, VP of the Confederacy. Basically:

  • At the time of the “Old Constitution,” the prevailing idea was that black slavery was morally wrong, but it was going to wither away of its own doing so it wasn’t explicitly addressed.
  • But hey! Those guys are wrong! Our new government rests squarely on the universal truth that black slavery is, indeed, a moral truth. In fact, we’re pretty proud that we’re the first constitution to explicitly say it. Go Confederacy! </p>

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<p>Why people keep being apologists for what the Conf stood for is just beyond me.</p>

<p><a href=“http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=76[/url]”>http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=76&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>“Awful aspects” and “foundation / reason for existence” are two different things.</p>

<p>Surely you see the difference between the Catholic Church, which may have “awful aspects” in the form of the child molestation scandals and cover-ups, and, say, an association formed explicitly for the purpose of molesting children.</p>

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<p>Not to worry. Confederate uniforms will be proudly displayed at the 2012 Republican National Convention.</p>

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<p>So, like .3%, of the US population? Good to know you are attacking the major social problems in America. Pizzagirl has social posturing down to a science.</p>

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<p>Cuse, I don’t believe this is a first amendment issue. No laws have been passed forbidding KA members from wearing Confederate Uniforms during Old South week or making ignorant speeches or expressing racist leanings. This is an internal policy change instigated by the fraternity itself. Which they have every right to do.</p>

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<p>.3% of the population? Have you ever been to the American South? A country music concert? My town? </p>

<p>The leadership of the fraternity got tired of defending what was a ridiculous “tradition.” Thing change. Time catches up with everyone, even KA. They want to focus on the positive aspects of KA. Good for them. I have no idea why people feel the need to defend a tradition that the fraternity itself has ended.</p>

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Yes, I have. I guess when I’ve been in Houston & DFW I’ve never seen people wearing Confederate uniforms or waving Confederate flags. I’d figure that would be something seen in major population centers if a large percentage of people did this.</p>

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<p>Perceptions and social views change with time. A hundred years from now it may be the popular sentiment that the people who supported abortion rights or gay rights back in our time should be held in the highest ridicule and disgust. I sincerely hope not, but such is human nature. </p>

<p>So cool your jets, they are doing nothing more than honoring their history.</p>

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<p>When Germany’s Neo-Nazis “honor” the history of The Third Reich, is that also nothing of which to take offense?</p>

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<p>Listen: KA dresses up in confederate uniforms because, first off, it was founded in 1865 at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) when Robert E. Lee first became president of the college. It’s a Southern frat that was founded at a Southern school with the Southern Gentleman General as President. In my opinion, not only is KA honoring the people who fought in the war, but they’re honoring Robert E. Lee…not racism.
A lot of Robert E. Lee’s principle values, which W&L holds in high regard, (“We have but one rule here, and it is that every student must be a gentleman”- Robert E. Lee) permeate the founding student’s actions when developing the fraternity.</p>

<p>Now, whether people have begun abusing the Old South Ball as a reason to defame the fraternity is a completely different story. My point is that KA is rich in history and its roots are very much connected to Robert E. Lee and the confederacy, and therefore its not just a way for racism to rear its ugly head. yes, the confederacy gets a bad rap for being involved with slavery, but one must realize that it was part of the culture of the time, and it was how many earned their living. </p>

<p>And please don’t bash Robert E. Lee…he was an amazing person, and a great man.</p>

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<p>This is one of the reasons why my kids are not allowed to go to colleges south of the Mason Dixon line.</p>

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<p>Oh, come on!</p>

<p>It’s a small, ignorant, and vocal minority. We Southerners who reject Confederate symbolism make up the VAST majority of the state. If you stick to urban areas, you’ll hardly know you’re in the South, except that people are friendly and it’s freakin’ hot out. There’s really no need to say things like that about a good chunk of your countrymen.</p>

<p>I think that the Confederacy <em>may</em> have stood, for some people, as a symbol of states’ rights, but that it was perceived often <em>then</em> and is almost universally perceived <em>now</em> as something that’s racially offensive. It’s a part of history best left behind. Watch Gone With the Wind. Embrace the ideals of Southern charm and etiquette. Leave the flag in the past.</p>

<p>Both extremes of this argument are wrong.</p>

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<p>If that really is your reasoning, then your kids probably wouldn’t fit in here anyways. “Yankee” ignorance and condescending attitudes towards southerners don’t earn a person too many friends in the South.</p>

<p>I guess a similar argument would be a Southerner refusing to allow their daughter to go to school in the North, because they watched “Jersey Shore” and are afraid some drunk guido will punch her in the face. Both stereotypes are based more on ignorance than anything else.</p>