Commander's Column – Don’t be a Pacifist in the Face
of Those Who Hate Us
I wanted to
take the opportunity to communicate to the camp some recent developments which
illustrate the tenuous position we find ourselves in this politically correct
climate. The recent edition of the
“Confederate Veteran” magazine included an article, “Northern Hatred
Masquerading as Virtue” by James Ronald Kennedy, one of the Kennedy brothers
who presented at the last two Division Education conferences at the Doster
Center. In light of the recent toppling
and damage to the Silent Sam Confederate monument on the University of North
Carolina Chapel Hill campus, it was enlightening to read this article. There is no place today for timidity or
pacifism in proclaiming our Confederate heritage and Kennedy argues, no place
for compromise. He makes the point that
we cannot hope to educate or negotiate with these fascist socialist anarchists
as they hate not just the Confederacy and Southern heritage but traditional
American values and the notion of American exceptionalism. They hate Christians and are waging a war of
“cultural genocide” on the Bible Belt and throughout the country. Kennedy believes that this is an
anti-establishment neo-Marxist political movement which will require a
political movement to combat. We need to
support political candidates who do not shy away from proclaiming their support
of traditional Christian values and the ideals upon which our country was
established by the founding fathers and which our Confederate forebears
attempted to promulgate but, we also need to be the men who actively, as the
Charge implores, “Vindicate the cause for which they fought, defend the
Confederate soldier's good name, guard his history, emulate his virtues, and
perpetuate those principles which he loved.”
We were alerted
recently that apparently the Air Force has released new guidance on what awards
may be worn on the AFJROTC uniform and have disallowed the SAR, DAR, SCV, and
UDC awards on cadet uniforms. It is not
just an attack on Confederate heritage but on our American heritage. It is not just Antifa but even the USAF. The Division Commander has recommended that
all camps need to increase their treasuries and to do so we are considering
another fundraiser for November to coincide with Thanksgiving and/or the Iron
Bowl. It is important that we not shrink
from these attacks and blatant hatred for our heritage and traditional
values. We need to be prepared to fight
any attacks not just at the state and national level but at our local camp
level also. We are expanding our
community outreach by participating with a booth in the Autauga County Fair,
the first time our camp has had a presence at this week-long event. 2nd Lt Karl Wade has spearheaded this effort
and is recruiting volunteers to man the booth which will be placed in a
prominent location. We are moving
forward with plans for our social events including the Fall Muster at the
Dismukes property and the Christmas Social at Buena Vista and hope to involve
compatriots from the Brigade and nearby camps to make these bigger and better
than ever. We have been challenged to
participate in Division and Brigade training events for the officers so that we
establish lines of communication and partnerships to make us a stronger more
cohesive organization. We will continue
our educational outreach to schools with in-class presentations and promotion
of living history events but, we need camp members to approach their children’s
and grandchildren’s schools to get us invitations to visit more schools. We were challenged by the Brigade Commander
to get the annual Division education posters into the hands of teachers at
local schools. The SCV Executive
Director in the recent “Confederate Veteran” magazine implored all members to
donate for the completion and endowment of the National Headquarters Confederate
Museum as the flagship facility for the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Now is not the
time to shrink in the face of the militant activism of those who hate us. It is the time at the National, Division and
local levels to make a concerted effort as activists ourselves or, as the new
Commander-in-Chief described, as evangelists to proclaim the greatness of the
ideals and virtues of our founding fathers, our Confederate forebears and our
Southern heritage.
