Land Commissioner Has No Need To Be On Defensive About Contribution From Descendants Of Confederate Veterans
This afternoon at 2 p.m., Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson will accept a $250 donation from the Descendants of Confederate Veterans for Save Texas History, which will be used to help preserve many of the maps in the General Land Office archives.
I noticed a story about this in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and then found Patterson’s press release about the donation.
Given it is only a $250 donation (not that every dollar doesn’t count), I wondered why it merited a press release and coverage by the MainStream Media.
It is my assumption that the donation is being made so public because it could be considered offensive to some. Although I don’t think Patterson made the donation less so by mentioning Confederate Heroes Day and how some want to remove Confederate statues in the release, I don’t think there is anything particularly wrong with the state accepting the donation.
That said, I realize I’m entering politically charged waters here, especially for a liberal such as myself. I also want to note that, since not a one of my ancestors was in America before 1880 (or Texas before 1888), I’m not descended from anyone who was on either side in the American Civil War. (One quarter Polish, one quarter Czech, one quarter Irish, one quarter Russian Jewish, thank you very much.)
Because I believe my liberal bona fides are fully intact, I hope people won’t personally attack me for saying that I’m against removal of the vast majority of Confederate statutes. Those that have language that is overtly favoring slavery or is downright offensive, sure: move them to a museum. As for the rest, while I as unfond of that part of Texas History as anyone, I’ve always looked on the statutes themselves as pieces of history and art. That they were erected in a time when the state was still proud of the side we were on in the Civil War is itself history, given that we are not in the same position today and erecting a Confederate Statue today would be looked on universally as unnecessary if not offensive. They are artifacts of our past and we should learn to interpret them properly and explain what Texas once was and what it is (or, at least, strives to be) now. While I’d like to see us erect more statues of people like Barbara Jordan and Martin Luther King, Jr. and other African American and Latino leaders, I don’t think pulling Confederate statues down is the answer to anything.
That said, I will go on record as saying I do truly dislike the display of the “Rebel flag,” for lots of reasons. Statues are one thing, the “Rebel flag” (which was never the official flag of the Confederate States of America) is another.
As for Confederate Heroes Day, which Patterson mentions in his release, it by no means needs to be a state holiday, but I’m not offended when I hear that people talk about it. Why? Because when it is mentioned, I believe it gives us all an opportunity to talk about how far we’ve come as a state and a nation and, more importantly, how far we still need to go.
So, I will actually applaud Commissioner Patterson for a couple of things (and make note: Capitol Annex said something good about a Republican for once…Hell may freeze over (or at least Austin)). First, I’m glad he publicized this because keeping it quite would, if it was discovered, make it look like it was trying to be hidden. He gets points for transperancy. Second, I think it shows courage on his part for the statement he made on the statutes. While I’m sure we’d have disagreements on a blanket desire to keep them all up, Commissioner Patterson is forthright in stating his opinion about a controversial matter.
Written by Vince Leibowitz
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Honoring Texas history is nothing to be ashamed of
By Jerry Patterson
Any attempt to judge our history by today’s standards — out of the context from which it occurred — is at best problematic and at worst dishonest.
For example, consider the following quotes:
“So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that slavery is abolished.â€
“ … there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality.â€
By today’s standards, the person who made the first statement, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, would be considered enlightened. The person who made the second, President Abraham Lincoln, would be considered a white supremacist.
Many believe the War Between the States was solely about slavery and the Confederacy is synonymous with racism. That conclusion is faulty, because the premise is inaccurate.
If slavery were the sole or even the predominant issue in sparking the Civil War, the following statement by Lincoln is puzzling: “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and it is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves I would do it.â€
If preserving slavery was the South’s sole motive for waging war, why did Lee free his slaves before the war began? In 1856, he said slavery was “ … a moral and political evil in any country … â€
Why was Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation effective in 1863, rather than when the war started in 1861? And why did it free only the slaves in the Confederacy and not in Northern or border states?
If slavery was the only reason for the Civil War, how do you explain Texas Gov. Sam Houston’s support for the Union and support for the institution of slavery? In light of the fact that 90 percent of Confederate soldiers owned no slaves, is it logical to assume they would have put their own lives at risk so that slave-owning Southern aristocrats could continue their privileged status?
There are few simple and concise answers to these questions. One answer, however, is that most Southerners’ allegiance was to their sovereign states first and the Union second. They believed states freely joined the Union without coercion and were free to leave the Union at will. You could say they really believed in the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the “powers not delegated†clause. They believed the federal government should be responsible for the common defense, a postal service and little else. They viewed the Union Army as an invader, not an emancipator.
I am not attempting to trivialize slavery. It is a dark chapter in our history, North and South alike.
However, I am a proud Southerner and a proud descendent of Confederate soldiers. I honor their service because, to me, it represents the sacrifice of life and livelihood that Southerners made for a cause more important to them than their personal security and self-interest.
While I’m aware of the genocidal war conducted by my country against the American Indian, I’m still a proud American. And while I’m also aware of the atrocities that occurred at My Lai, I am proud of my service as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam.
If the Confederate flag represented slavery, then the U.S. flag must represent slavery even more so. Slavery existed for four years under the Stars and Bars and for almost 100 years under the Stars and Stripes. If the few hundred members of racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan want to adopt the Confederate flag as their symbol, over the objections of millions of Southerners, should we believe it has been corrupted for all time? Since the KKK has adopted the cross for its burnings, should churches across the country remove this symbol of Christian faith from all places of worship? Should we diminish the service of the Buffalo Soldiers (Black U.S. cavalry troopers of the late 1800s), since those soldiers were an integral part of a war that subjugated and enslaved a whole race of people, the American Plains Indians?
No. We should not surrender the Confederate flag or the cross to the racists, and we should not tear down the monuments. Retroactive cleansing of history is doomed to failure because it is, at heart, a lie. We should memorialize and commemorate all of our soldiers who served honorably — those who wore blue or gray or served as Buffalo Soldiers — whether or not we completely support their actions in today’s enlightened world.
JERRY PATTERSON is the 27th Texas Land Commissioner and a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans. As a state senator, he sponsored legislation establishing the Juneteenth Commission for the purpose of funding a Juneteenth monument on the Capitol Grounds.
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