“Confederaphobia–An American Epidemic”

by Al Benson Jr.

Member, Board of Directors, Confederate Society of America

Anyone following my blogs knows this is a subject I have given considerable attention to over the years. I am glad someone has now written a book about this which goes into more detail than I can on my blog spots, and now concerned folks can begin to study this mental aberration in some detail.

Paul C. Graham has written a book, the title of which is the title I quoted for this article. It was only published this year by Shotwell Publishing  in Columbia, South Carolina. This is the publisher that is turning out many books that give you the knowledge to fight political correctness (cultural Marxism) with the truth. So few publishers today have the intestinal fortitude (guts) to publish books that deal with this form of cultural genocide that it is truly refreshing to find someone willing to take those people (cultural Marxists) on and print the truth about them–truth that will ultimately “make us free.”

Mr. Graham’s book is not a lengthy one, only 58 pages with three appendixes. The serious reader can get through it in a day, and it’s not written in high-flown language. It is for us ordinary folks, and, in most cases, we are the ones that need it. Mr. Graham deals  with this subject in some detail (he packs a lot in 58 pages) and he helps us to understand the mindset of those who hate all things Southern and Confederate.

He notes how the present round of this aberration began in June, 2015,  when that “useful idiot” Dylan Roof shot those black folks in their church in Charleston, South Carolina. It was almost as if this event was a (the) signal to the Governor of South Carolina, Nimrata Haley (she is of East Indian descent) to pull the Confederate flag down at the capitol. Mr. Graham notes: “Haley and her accomplices foolishly viewed their actions as a great victory against hatred and intolerance. They were not alone. It appears that some kind of miracle was expected to sweep the land once the flag in South Carolina was removed. There is now, ironically, (and sadly, quite predictably), more hate and more violence than there was before, only now it is unabashedly directed toward native Southerners, their ancestors, and anything associated with them.” After reflecting upon this situation for the past couple years, I have to conclude that this was the intention!  Mr. Graham continues: “In less than a week, the issue surrounding the Confederate Battle Flag displayed in Columbia went from a state and local issue to a national issue to an international issue.” Again–that was the intention!  The cultural Marxists and those who finance them used this event as a new springboard to wage war on the faith, culture and heritage of the South. Until this day they have never ceased.

Starting on page 15, Mr. Graham explains the phenomena of “Confederaphobia.” He states that it is “…characterized by an irrational and pathological hatred and fear of all things Confederate–flags, monuments, graves, portraits, trinkets, stickers, etc.–anything that could be associated, even tenuously, with the late Confederate States of America, including the region from which it sprang and those people and groups of people who are native or sympathetic to this region.” In other words, these Leftist wing-nuts hate us and our ancestors and everything they or we ever stood for. Mr. Graham continues: “Regardless of the shape it assumes, Confederaphobia has the characteristic of dehumanizing self-identified Southerners and seeks to deny them their humanity, their dignity and their right to exist as they are–both individually and collectively–in the public sphere.” This aggressive attitude ends up scaring many Southern folks into “hiding in the shadows” and talking softly for fear of being identified as Southerners. After all, it’s not politically correct to stand up for something that so many seem to hate and loathe, and so,  for fear of drawing attention to themselves, many Southern folks just shut up and try to stay out of the public eye (and the line of fire). This is exactly what they are being conditioned to do–shut up and just sit down! That way only one side of the debate gets heard and Southerners, in effect, give the cultural battlefield over to those sworn enemies who plan to destroy them.

He observes, correctly, that “…being Southern or sympathetic to Southern history, heritage and culture–including that of the Confederate era and symbols associated with it–is not  wrong.” He talks about people being moved by the sight of a Confederate flag or the playing of “Dixie” or revering Confederate ancestors, and he states that these things are not wrong.  I can identify with what he says. I am moved by the sight of a Confederate flag waving in the breeze or hearing “Dixie” played and I had a Confederate ancestor who lost most of one leg at Spotsylvania, so when you go out of your way to tell me what an evil cause he fought for, I take that personally. You are slapping me and my ancestor in the face and I don’t much appreciate that–and lots of others in my position don’t appreciate it either.

Mr. Graham notes that most Confederaphobes are really guilty of the same attitudes they seek to project onto Southerners. This is standard cultural Marxist procedure–condemn others for what you, yourself are guilty of. He says (and I agree with him) that “Hatred and fear, coupled with a superiority complex and institutional approval fuels the expression of the more odious forms of Confederaphobia.  In its more extreme expression Confederaphobia can lead to violence and/or murder.” He notes the part that social media plays in all this. He talks about something that many of us have noted recently–contextualization–in regard to monuments and other Southern displays. Supposedly the contemporary cultural Marxist insists on “contextualizing” Confederate monuments and displays so they can be explained to gullible folks as to what they “really mean.” This is nothing more than cultural Marxist propaganda and Mr. Graham noted that it is nothing more than “an attempt to explain away the most obvious meaning of the display.”

He plainly sees the place “educational” institutions in this country, “especially colleges and universities, but increasingly in K-12 public schools–which are permeated with strong ideological biases, have strictly implied rules or policies against any outward expression of one’s Southern identity or views that fall outside of the accepted narratives of the South as racist, treasonous, and that the ‘Civil War’ was all about slavery.”

It’s not that the things the Confederaphobe hates are really bad, but rather that he has been conditioned to think they are by institutions of “education,” the “news” media, and the entertainment industry–all working hand in glove with one another, whether they realize it or not (and I think many of them do).

As stated so well by Mr. Graham, our flags and monuments remind us that “…we are a unique and recognizable people that have the right to exist, a right to be who and what we are without molestation, apology, or shame.” However, it appears, in our current cultural situation that we are going to have to start contending for that right because the cultural Marxists and their elite financiers plan to deprive us of that right if they can. You need to read Mr. Graham’s book. It will help you to understand much of what you see going on around you.