Trying to understand different points of view
Over the years I've met people from many walks of life, and among my friends are several different philosophies. I don't want to limit myself to only being friends with people exactly like me, but there are times when I can not understand someone's point of view.
Two of the women I know and respect have been looking into their genealogies, specifically to prove that they qualify for membership in the Daughters of the Confederacy.
I just don't understand what part of being a 'Daughter of the Confederacy' is exciting to these women. What is there to be proud of?
I was born in Chicago, and have lived in Los Angeles most of my life. My only experience with living in the South was not a good one since our stay was part of being swindled by one of my cousins on my father's side. Rural Kentucky in 1970 gave culture shock to a young Catholic girl from Northeastern New Jersey.
As far as I know none of my ancestors fought in the Civil War on either side. Most of them were in Ireland when it happened, or in Canada celebrating escaping the Potato Famine. I have no family history to influence me on this question.
The Confederacy was created to protect the right of white men to own black slaves. Not that the North was blameless in the war, or that everyone in the Confederacy was evil. But what is there to celebrate?
The behavior of the North was nothing to praise: rampant corruption, draft riots, the 'March to the Sea', and prejudice against anyone who didn't qualify as a male WASP(White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant). Most of American history (including recent history) is full of the many suffering for the few.
I understand the fascination of genealogy, it's the personalization of history. What I can not understand is taking pride in an ancestor's participation in one of the dark periods of US history.
Can someone explain it to me?
Two of the women I know and respect have been looking into their genealogies, specifically to prove that they qualify for membership in the Daughters of the Confederacy.
I just don't understand what part of being a 'Daughter of the Confederacy' is exciting to these women. What is there to be proud of?
I was born in Chicago, and have lived in Los Angeles most of my life. My only experience with living in the South was not a good one since our stay was part of being swindled by one of my cousins on my father's side. Rural Kentucky in 1970 gave culture shock to a young Catholic girl from Northeastern New Jersey.
As far as I know none of my ancestors fought in the Civil War on either side. Most of them were in Ireland when it happened, or in Canada celebrating escaping the Potato Famine. I have no family history to influence me on this question.
The Confederacy was created to protect the right of white men to own black slaves. Not that the North was blameless in the war, or that everyone in the Confederacy was evil. But what is there to celebrate?
The behavior of the North was nothing to praise: rampant corruption, draft riots, the 'March to the Sea', and prejudice against anyone who didn't qualify as a male WASP(White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant). Most of American history (including recent history) is full of the many suffering for the few.
I understand the fascination of genealogy, it's the personalization of history. What I can not understand is taking pride in an ancestor's participation in one of the dark periods of US history.
Can someone explain it to me?