OPINION: Southern principles should be celebrated

Frank Gillispie

OPINION: Southern principles should be celebrated

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Sunday, April 12. 2009

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April is Southern History and Heritage month. But you would never know it if it were left up to the major media. Every other group that declares a month for their recognition gets news coverage, often extensive coverage.

But not the great American South. Dixie is a unique part of this nation, with a unique history and culture. It has made major contributions to the nation and the world. Yet it is totally ignored by the media, and actually attacked by those who would destroy all evidence of its existence.

Southern History and Heritage needs a month to set the record straight. We need an opportunity to correct the massive distortions of history and the key elements of our culture that those in power try to mask. You see, Dixie is the one part of America that still supports the American Revolution. Most of the rest of the nation has abandoned our founding principles.

So, what are those founding principles? What kind of nation did our founders create? And, how did we lose them?

A key principle of this nation was that our rights were granted by our creator, not government. That is plainly stated in the Declaration of Independence. The only power the government has is what we choose to give them. That is the way it is supposed to be. But now, government assumes that it has all power and the only rights we have is whatever government says we have.

This nation was founded on the principle of personal responsibility. Americans were expected to be responsible for their own needs and the needs of their family. Government’s only role was to prevent anyone else from interfering with our ability to take care of ourselves. But today government assumes the responsibility to provide for our every need, and insist that we turn over our personal responsibility and control to the massive government bureaucracy.

Our founders gave us the right to worship God as we see fit. It specifically said that the federal government is prohibited from interfering with that right. But today, if we as a community choose to have God as a part of our schools, the federal government denies us that right.

And speaking of schools, a part of our personal responsibility is to provide for the education of our children. But today, government dictates every component of our children’s education, even to what will be taught in the history classes.

You see, the conflict from the beginning was over where the responsibility for our lives lies. Are we to be allowed to run our own lives as we see fit, or does government have the right to take that responsibility away and dictate to us how we should live?

Today the all powerful government people have the upper hand. And they are determined to impose government control over everyone, especially those of us who still insist on personal freedom and personal responsibility.

The majority of the holdouts who still insist on personal freedom and responsibility are right here in Dixie. And if we are to preserve any degree of that personal freedom, it will be Southerners who lead the resistance.

So remember that April is Southern History and Heritage month. And if you still believe in the principles on which this nation was founded, join us here in Dixie in the effort to take our nation back!

Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His e-mail address is frankgillispie671@msn.com. His website can be accessed at http://frankgillispie.tripod.com

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#1 Michael McCarthy on 04/12/09 at 11:10 PM [Reply]

If it weren't for the civil war and 100 years of Jim Crow I would agree with you. The South continued digging its own grave for a long time. First rule: When you're in a hole, stop digging.

The civil war made us what we are, both good and bad. (Shelby Foote) We would have greater state's rights if we hadn't abused those rights to mistreat our fellow Americans. (Blacks) So now we have the big federal government watching our every move. We deserve it but I don't like it.

I don't how we can ever turn the clock back to when the states were actually separate. It will probably take as long as it did to reverse Jim Crow.

#1.1 bodawg on 04/21/09 at 10:01 PM [Reply]

There are no winners in this forum. There will never be an acceptance of Southern History as it was written in the first person. There have been too many revisionist changes put into the record to get a true picture of the past. One has to go to original sources to see the era as it was. Not many want to take the time to do the research. You cannot judge the man of the 1800's by today's standards. They were a strong, self-sufficient,, religious, and pious people. My southern heritage celebrates Robert E. Lee and Booker T. Washington. What about yours?

#1.1.1 Michael McCarthy on 04/22/09 at 03:54 PM [Reply]

I love history and the stories of those brave Civil War soldiers. It's the cause of slavery that permanently tarnishes Southern Heritage. There were many nice ideals in the South but when slavery is part of the equation it always adds up to evil. There's no way to clean it up by our standards or the standards of the 19th century.

#2 Comer Resident on 04/13/09 at 06:09 PM [Reply]

I had me a great principle in high school. He almost talked me in to finishin.

#3 Bill on 04/14/09 at 11:55 AM [Reply]

What a load of crap.

#4 Anonymous on 04/14/09 at 06:18 PM [Reply]

Give it a rest, the south will not rise again. That slogan is nothing but a worn out bumper sticker.

I would like to point out a couple of things from your editorial opinion:

"The majority of the holdouts who still insist on personal freedom and responsibility are right here in Dixie. And if we are to preserve any degree of that personal freedom, it will be Southerners who lead the resistance." You have got to be kidding! The south leads the nation in people who are on some type of public assistance.

"And speaking of schools, a part of our personal responsibility is to provide for the education of our children. But today, government dictates every component of our children’s education, even to what will be taught in the history classes." The south has always led the nation in the poorest performing schools, before and after the NCLB Act. Education has to dictated by others, because it is not stressed at home.

I am sick of hearing of "southern pride" when it is apparent that is not the case. One stroll through Wal-Mart or drive through any community and you can see the lack of personal pride. I have lived all over the world and I have never seen a more dismal lack of pride.

I am a transplant, but my wife is not. She agrees with me about any of my observations. I know I will be told that Delta flies both ways, but the south is where industry is moving to. Employers are looking for an educated and motivated work force and have a difficult time finding that with the local population so they have to recruit from elswhere. In other word, damn yankees are not stealing jobs, they are offered on a silver platter.

#4.1 Daniel on 04/14/09 at 08:34 PM [Reply]

Anonymous, you clearly live in a vacuum. No where in Mr. Gillispie’s column does he imply that the south will rise again. I believe that he means that southern rural people are more dependent on themselves than those of the North or West. This can be seen by the above average conservative vote in the south. Those of the North tend to vote democratically because they lack the intelligence or will power to provide the necessities of life. They believe it is "someone else’s" job to provide them with the basics. The northerners, who do have the intelligence and desire to provide for their selves, move south where there are less unions or "idiot clubs" as they should be called. I work at a major automobile manufacturer (non-union) that employs over 95% of its workforce from the local community. These workers were educated from local colleges. So, if these employers are looking to the north for an "educated and motivated workforce", please tell me who these employers are so I can inform the locally educated populace to seek employment elsewhere.

#4.2 anonymous on 04/15/09 at 10:31 AM [Reply]

You need to Transplant your A*& back where you came from !! If you don't like the way we do things here in the South you need to take the next flight out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For your info it is www.delta.com and I hope you have a nice flight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#4.3 Sardonic Veracity on 04/15/09 at 01:09 PM [Reply]

Your first paragraph and your last paragraph do not go well together.

If you think that "the south (sic) will not rise again," take a look around. It has risen.

Also, if, as you say, you have lived all over the world, you will recognize that the South has no corner on the market in slovenly people.

I won't disagree on the education point that you have made. Anyone can tell, if they only read the responses in this forum to articles that pertain to education, that this region, despite it being only one county over from the cultural and educational center of the world, is a remarkable backwater.

Your argument regarding welfare is a straw man. You used the opposite demographic of the columnist's point to attack his argument. This does nothing to disprove his point that most people who support personal responsibilities and freedoms live in the Southern US.

Since you are a carpetbagger, er transplant, thanks for doing your part to make the South rise again.

#4.3.1 Anonymous on 04/16/09 at 06:49 PM [Reply]

You are welcome. If it were not for the countless "outsiders" (including many foreigners)and industries that have moved here, the south would be equal to a third world nation in regards to economic and social development.

You are right about my comments not jelling. The author of this opinion has grated on me for the past 5 years and I wrote while irritated.

The point is that "Southern Heritage History Month" is an attempt by a culture to validate a way of life that has long passed. I am from the North and can say with all certainty that there is no such thing as "Northern Heritage and History Month". There are celebrations of one's heritage, but not as a region. There is no need to lean on the crutch of ones ethnicity as an excuse for shortcommings.

I have lived all over, 10 different states, Korea, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Kosovo, etc...I can say that, even in countries that are poor and war torn, the people show more personal pride than I have seen in Georgia. This ranges from cleaning up to go to market (not wearing PJ's or wearing oil or mud covered clothes to Wal-Mart) to, on their own, picking up trash on the sides of the roads. For that matter, you don't see the trash being thrown on the roads like you do here. Even the modest dwellings are mostly well maintained. You don't see piles of trash or junk heaps all over the yards. I am not saying it does not happen, but not in the numbers that I have seen here. Again, this is an astounding lack of personal pride.

I am done with this thread. Nothing really is resolved in this type of forum, but it gives a chance to vent and learn others opinions.

#5 Ben on 04/15/09 at 06:20 AM [Reply]

What specifically would we celebrate??? Should we celebrate teh ownership of another human being? Perhaps we could celebrate the fact that some people believe that they are better than others, not because of who they are or what they have accomplished, but what color their skin is. If you had a child that was abducted and sold into slavery, would you want to have a whole month to celebrate the person that abducted him or her? I have a better idea...let's celebrate the fact that thankfully most people that think like you are...well....old and hopefully the problem will remedy itself!

#5.1 Sardonic Veracity on 04/16/09 at 09:31 AM [Reply]

If you didn't listen in History class, Ben, you won't listen now. However, all of Southern History is not about slavery. Slavery is a blot on the history of the whole of the United States. If the American Civil War was aobut slavery, why did the Emancipation Proclamation only free slaves in the southern states? Why did the last legally owned person die in servitude in New York? Southern History is about much more than slavery, although that is a part. I would caution you, and reactionaries like you, to be cautios of your knee-jerk reactions. One should use thought instead of feeling to make opinions.

#5.1.1 Michael McCarthy on 04/16/09 at 04:45 PM [Reply]

SV: Please list some Southern heritage pluses for us. Maybe that can enlighten all of us. (BTW: the reason Lincoln only freed the slaves in the confederacy was because he didn't want to lose the slave states still in the union, which would make his struggle that much more difficult. It's the thou shall not shoot thyself in the foot theorem. Politics, pure and simple.)

#5.1.1.1 Sardonic Veracity on 04/21/09 at 06:02 PM [Reply]

I would list, as a plus, the heritage of loving and fighting for American ideals from my own southern family. The esteem of having several ancestors that fought in the American Revolution, even though the fledgling US could not pay for soldier service, forms a firm foundation for my southern pride. These soldiers took land grants in Georgia and other places after the war.

In the years after that first revolution, these American Soldiers brought their families to this area from Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and elsewhere. Leaving their old fields and lives, here, they established communities and agriculture in the wilderness.

So, there is a plus for you. The indominitable spirit that led citizens here and also led them to resist the invasion of the Northerners who were going to fund their federal mandates through oppressive taxation on Southern goods.

They lost, however, and now we just don't fund our federal mandates.

#6 Esoteric Panacea on 04/15/09 at 12:13 PM [Reply]

Nothing like an erudite sagacious yankee to inform us rebels about how dumb and unrefined we are. Hoss, if you want to find a town worse than Danieslville try going to Detroit, I believe that's above the Mason Dixon Line.

#6.1 Anonymous on 04/15/09 at 06:24 PM [Reply]

Comparing a small town to a major city? Swing and a miss "Hoss". Might as well compare Danielsville (not Danieslville) to Atlanta.

#6.2 Michael McCarthy on 04/16/09 at 08:21 AM [Reply]

It always amazes me that, after 154 years, we can't admit fighting for slavery was wrong. Truly amazing! There were other reasons but the core reason for the war was slavery. The South thought Lincoln was going to interfere with slavery. Let's worry about Detroit when we can admit our own mistakes.

#6.2.1 J.E.B. Stuart on 05/07/09 at 01:29 PM [Reply]

For those that want to blast the South for slavery, maybe they could list for us the northern states that did NOT have slaves when the civil war started. Either they are extremely naive or just plain ignorant. Maybe they could explain the actions of the union troops at Ebenezer Creek and the atrocities carried out by the U.S. cavalry against the Native Americans. Your hypocrisy knows no bounds as you whine about the south and continue to bite the hand that feeds you and your family. Please, understand that the sentiment you display about the south is mutual and if ever it becomes too unbearable for your liking, we will not impede your exit in any way.

#6.2.1.1 Michael McCarthy on 05/07/09 at 07:46 PM [Reply]

Northern (border states) where slavery was legal at beginning of war: Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland. All others were free states.

What's your point?

#7 A.E.Newman on 04/15/09 at 10:27 PM [Reply]

If the U.S Gov't was so pure, and the C.S.A. so Evil,Let's talk about what happened to the Cherokee indians,and the rest of the dis affected tribes The Union forces sure did a good job there did't they

#7.1 Michael McCarthy on 04/16/09 at 08:15 AM [Reply]

Andrew Jackson, a southerner, violated a US Supreme Court ruling when he ordered the genocide and transfer of the Cherokee tribe to the west in what is known as the Trail of Tears. This was before the civil war. The South was on the wrong side oh history concerning slavery and civil rights. You're trying to compare ants with elephants. Like I wrote previously, when you're in a hole, stop digging. The CSA is nothing to be proud of.

#8 mtnbranch on 04/16/09 at 07:36 AM [Reply]

The article begs for reciprocity. "Celebrate Southern principles". This is an ironic cry from the conservative who do not want to help others in need.
Should Southern principles be celebrated?
If these values were universal, you should not have to ask for help.

#9 tom pain on 04/16/09 at 11:31 AM [Reply]

Yep let's celebrate our Southern Heritage. We've get to trash our roadsides with Mountain Dew bottles, Chewing Tobacco cans, fast food bags, old tires, and lottery tickets. Apparently that's how we can celebrate every day!

#10 Bill on 04/16/09 at 12:14 PM [Reply]

Here we go again. Us vs. Them. Everybody is wrong and everybody is right. I would like to forget this stupid Us/Them crap and start thinking about everybody is American. Look folks, we are all in this together and if we stay divided then we will never right all the wrongs in this country.

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OPINION: Southern principles should be celebrated

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