with out pictures of the soldiers at the battle wouldn't it be hard to see "Family resemblances" from children's photographs?

Yep, purty funny, sometimes the way things are written make for a good laugh.

Maybe they should wait another hundred years to find the answer to this mystery instead of trying a hundred years ago when those people might have still been alive.

I don't think the people pictured in the photographs have Facebook or Twitter;-)

Uhhh, I think they meant contact the museum... since the noun, "museum" is closest to the following pronoun, "them". It reads just fine to me.

I know who they all are. They are dead people.

I think the third one is Mathew McConaughey under that scruff.

@WilliamofRites. Is that a joke, or do you really not understand that the pronoun "them" being closest to the noun "museum" is a modifier??

This whole post shows your supreme ignorance. I'm not about to compare who had it worse, African-Americans or Native Americans. BOTH races were done wrong by this country. I have a problem with you because you say you don't have respect for blacks because of the things Michael wrote. Let me tell you, Michael sounds just as ignorant as you do. I'm not going to speak for all black people but I can tell you, I'm black and I don't know of anyone who would feel the way he does. Another thing, we are not crybabies. We just have a need to point out injustices. You need to walk in others shoes before you can even think you know what we as a race are facing in this country. Obviously, you don't know the extent of what my ancestors had to face and it is trickling down to what is happening today. When your whole culture had been taken away, unlike yours, it is DEVASTATING and it shows in our "culture". I actually admire Native Americans for coming through what happened to them in the past. But I wonder if you are truly as strong as you say why is there an epidemic of alcoholism in your race. Maybe some of you need to be "craybabies" sometimes and let some of that frustration out.

The one lady is my father-in-law.

Zach you posted about that twice. It was obviously a joke, end it already, even murderers are better than people without a sense of humor.

History is ALWAYS written in FAVOR if the victor.

I think Flavius Josephus proves your claim false.

I'm not going to speak for all black people but I can tell you, I'm black and I don't know of anyone who would feel the way he does. Another thing, we are not crybabies.

You contradicted yourself here.

When your whole culture had been taken away, unlike yours, it is DEVASTATING and it shows in our "culture".

We gave your ancestors a chance to go back to your homeland of which they decided to stay. You want to go back to your country which enslaved each other, is full of child soldiers and poverty be my guest. But guess what. We didnt collapse your "civilization". It collapsed on its own, the whole continent due to greed adn dictatorship.

mcstoned although what you said is partially true you forget(or ignore) what your own people did to themselves as well and the fact that back then the law and government enforcement was rare outside of towns and cities if it wasn't for the white man creating a legal system you'd still be there killing other tribes for land and food using similar tactics you said the white man used, as for the blacks complaining about slavery, their own people sold them to us as slaves(same as today they will do anything for a profit just look at their forests disappearing and why) and only after we abolished slavery did they stop selling their people as slaves to us. there's a lot more to history than just one or two sides and as for the white man they did no worse than your own people and the blacks would have done back then, since then we have advanced and are trying to prevent similar atrocities from reoccurring by trying to prevent racism but it doesn't seem to be working because every time we get any progress someone has to drag out the past and keep reminding us all just how savage all our peoples were and what we ALL did, sometimes it's just better to forget so progress can be made now instead of whining about the past.

Doobie McStoned

Michael,

I am taking a HUGE risk in telling the details and absolute Gorey TRUTH (I know I could get collapsed but it is worth it to tell YOU the TRUTH) but you and everyone else in the world that doesn't know needs to be informed. History is ALWAYS written in FAVOR if the victor.

I am 3/4 Choctaw, my mom is 100% and my dad is half and you are the reason that we red men do NOT respect blacks. You just CONFIRMED with you lame a$$ comment and JUSTIFIED everything we think of you people and why you people go around BRAGGING about how STRONG you are yet you whine and crybaby STILL to this day about how BAAAD your people have and had it, what a sick lame a$$ JOKE. Ooooh your people got a few stripes across their backs and had to pick cotton oooh that's soooo baaad they actually had to WORK, our people were SLAUGHTERED without PREJUDICE babies were shot, bullets exploded their little tiny heads, pregnant women were gutted with bayonets and their babies RIPPED out of their bellies and smack up against boulders until their little heads exploded and shot, grandmothers and elderly men and grandfathers were tied between two horses and torn apart and tortured, little kids were tied behind horses and they would get the horses to run and at the last minute turn the horses so that the little kids would smack into a boulder and shatter their little skulls and every bone in their little bodies and there would be NOTHING left but a little bag of bones (this is just the tip of the iceberg), they would do this to little girls as well as little boys between the ages of 1 and 12 because in our culture we became men right after puberty and were usually off hunting or to war and that is when the COWARDLY white man would do this. The reason we know what happened is because a lot of times a scout would arrive early to witness and be waaay too out numbered to engage the army or sometimes there would be a lone survivor that would play dead and tell what happened. They would rape and ravage little kids and all sorts of atrocious things, things that the white people were waaay too ashamed to mention in the history books. You don't hear a peep out of us whining and crybabying about how BAAAAD we had or have it, you see that is because WE HAVE TRUE STRENGTH and we don't have to go around and BRAG about it. So don't tell me about how baaad you or your ancestors have or had it and then BRAG about how strong you and your people are. Besides a HUGE percentage of blacks today are descendants of immigrants that immigrated here after the slaves were freed and after the civil rights movement and just jumped on the bandwagon trying to get a free ride, this something that the public doesn't know or realize. So you people need to once and for all SHUT THE FK UP and get alife and QUIT being a bunch of WHINY CRYBABIES!!!!!!

Boy u really have a lot to say to know much about nothing. A huge % of american blks are immigrants after slavery ?? Mcstone, u must be stoned to believe that. I'm laughing as i type. Are u kidding me. I really like to know when this huge influx of blk immigration occurred. U really think the u.s. would accept more blks based on the current american history.

Doobie McStoned, now that you have recounted what your side did, go ahead and tell what the "white man" did. It was equally brutal, no doubt. And what does trying to identify these pictures have to do with black people?

canowhoopass

We gave your ancestors a chance to go back to your homeland of which they decided to stay. You want to go back to your country which enslaved each other, is full of child soldiers and poverty be my guest. But guess what. We didnt collapse your "civilization". It collapsed on its own, the whole continent due to greed adn dictatorship.

U, i'm taking u mean white, gave blk ancestors a chance to go back to their homeland but decided to stay. Hmmm, I wonder why. What if i took one of your ancestors away from their country at a time when they couldn't speak my language and they couldn't distinguish their country from all of europe. You think they would want to go back. None of the blks after centuries of slavery knew of their motherland in africa. U do know that africa is a continent not a country and there are many nations or tribal grps. U cannot truly be that ignorant.

Doobie McStoned, If you ever picked up a humanities or history book you would know that even white people came over as indentured servants and had to work for someone else for free until they had worked off their passage to the New World. After that they were dirt poor and many died trying to make in the unfamiliar harsh environment of this unsettled land. Black people were chosen simply because of the color of their skin to be slaves. Every race in the world in the world bears some responsibility for the atrocities of slavery. White, black, red, yellow, and brown because we have all enslaved and killed each other at some point in history. Even Indians. White people died, black people died, and red people died in order to make this country what it is today. The elite, that really run this country, do not care who they use, black, white, red, or purple as long as they have the workers needed to make this country run and increase their profits. As far as I am concerned we are all just a bunch of whiners, white, black, or red. Americans have it better than most and still we whine. You whined throughout your entire comment and then called a whole group of people crybabies. You have got to be kidding me!

jljohn51...

Well said sir!!

What is the harm is asking for the public's assistance in identifying the people in these photos? What is the down side? If the people remain unidentified, nothing lost. But there is a chance, a small chance one or more will get identified.

Wouldn't it be great to identify one or more of these photos to their families today?

We can only hope.

Doobie McStoned, I feel your Words, I always say I'am more than 51% Native Indian, and because I want too make the difference and be able not to go against the U.S. believed that U.S. is America, even though i t seams we keep losing the battle, we will be back, and we will regain our American land, from Pole to Pole, also our Woman's and Our Children s Children s, Some of us die but our spirit still the greatest in the American Continent, from Pole to Pole, <i>(Did I said that already??)</i> and everywhere, in this World. our Indian Blood its Red and from true Royalty as well than Noble, and Body wise, we aren't only material but Physical, in God Image. - Believed it !

@lfergie: "Typically they were found by another soldier and handed down through generations. Ultimately an attic would be cleared or a trunk would be emptied and the photo would be given to the museum. Some have been in the museum's possession for 60 years or more." [taken directly from the article]

Reading is fundamental.

Bill in Mill Creek: Thanks for saying posting the only relevant and intelligent comment in this list. I don't know how this turned into a joke for some and red man vs. black man for others. The entire collection of photos brought only sadness to me. The Civil War was a devastating event for the United States, brother against brother. The only good thing that resulted was the emancipation of slaves in the South. And unfortunately that didn't really give much freedom to them until fairly recently. The intolerant, ignorant and cruel have been the main event for these comment lists - it makes all Americans look like them.

How in God's name did this turn into an african american versus native american debate???

How does any of these discussions turn into off-topic subjects. People need to vent and I suppose they figure why not on Newsvine? So what else is new?

Nothing against African Americans or Native Americans here, or to the struggles they've endured, but the stuff being brought up in this thread happened before any of us were born. If you can't let go of things that happened to your ancestors, how do you ever expect to move forward in your lives? It is time for us to all realize that no one can erase the past and it is what it is. We can argue into eternity whose wrong was worse or who is at fault and so forth, but none of it really even matters anymore. What matters is today and what we all do with it.
I find it amazing, actually being a minority in a predominately black city, how much hatred I experience from complete strangers who are black, just because I'm white. Literally, directed at me for the color of my skin. Fine, I get it, you (or your parents or grandparents) were held back and white people have done some pretty horrific things, but I personally have never done these things. I don't even care what color someone's skin is. I think it is pretty irrelevant considering skin color is just a natural phenomenon in our species. Why, then, perpetuate the hate? Do people who cling to those wrongs really want things to be better, or do they just want to be angry about it? You are never going to heal old wounds if you can't let go of the past.

rkb said,

None of the blks after centuries of slavery knew of their motherland in africa.

Centuries of slavery? Not in the United States. We became a country in 1776, so I think slavery was only here for 100 years, say from 1763 to 1863. If anyone else knows otherwise, feel free to correct me.

Bill in Mill Creek, are you the only one that gets what the article is trying to do? Apparently, many do not understand that digital technology makes such questions worthwhile, as now photos and images can be quickly and easily matched. I hope many more databases like this one are set up. Many reasons exist to do so, not only historical ones.

not to be disrespectful but i see a lot of Neanderthal features in these pictures

mj899

not to be disrespectful but i see a lot of Neanderthal features in these pictures

And fittingly if you read the derailment of the topic by making it a race issue, there are some Neanderthalian comments.

Smlfry2,

Regarding centuries of slavery, look into the Atlantic slave trade.

It's a bit difficult to pin down exactly, but there was slave trade in North America before our nation was formed. South American slaves appear in the 16th century, but I can't find precise data on when the first slaves appeared on the North American Continent with a quick scan of the information.

Depending on how you view the narrative, centuries of slave trade is not an error, though one must accept that this country had a history prior to the formation of the United States.

I have a basic understanding of the many photograpic processes used during the mid-1800's in the US. Most photos at the time were "one-off's"--just like an instant-photo booth--made by traveling photographers. Negative-to-positive processes were reserved for wealthy/important clients (such as Matthew Brady's photos of Abraham Lincoln) who could afford copies. Sadly, it would be nearly impossible for someone to claim they have an identical photo in their family archives.

I noticed a resemblance to my great-great-grandfather in one of the photos, but I know he hadn't reached US shores at the time.

Zach in MI

@WilliamofRites. Is that a joke

I don't know Zach, you tell me.

Is the winking emoticon at the end of the sentence too much for you to grasp??

smlfry2, I found this in wikipedia: "In 1655, John Casor, a black man, became the first legally recognized slave in the present United States. According to the 1860 U.S. census, 393,975 individuals, representing 8% of all US families, owned 3,950,528 slaves^. One-third of Southern families owned slaves."

I am SO confused. Who is this Michael and where is his comment that got the whole red vs black argument started and what does any of it have to do with these old pictures?????

Never mind--I see now that it has been restored.

The first soldier; standing alone, looks a lot like my great cousin Jesse James. Not the bank robber, unfortunately he is my great great uncle. :( Anyway.

The pictures are wonderful.

For God's sake people. Do you not know that in the history of civilization, man has sold, beaten, tortured and enslaved his fellow man. Not only his fellow man of another race but also those of the same race. Many of them sold off members of their own families. I am sure, if we wanted to, that everybody could rummage their family tree and find dispicable people and abused people. Ranting about it as if you are the only race group that has ever dealt with it is kind of pathetic.

Last ime I checked this article was on civil war era photos, from both the union and confederacy, not about racial superiority due to who suffered the most. I hope they find families to match to the photos.

There seems to be a lot of hate and racism being thrown around in reference to this article. I believe the most important factor of the article is that people lost their lives, whether you agree with their beliefs or not. As a descendent of many different ethnic backgrounds the one thing I draw from this is that we are all human and based on that fact alone the above post should be treated with dignity and respect for lives lost on both sides, black, white, men, women, children.

michael, your comment sucks. did it ever occur to you that these were the men that fought for the freedom that youre enjoying daily? i think out of respect for them, these photos should be reunited with their families. sorry that you're too negative to agree.

Michael - Really? Trying to pull the 'white guilt' thing. Damn! It happens to be a Civil War picture.

Or are you still looking for your momma?

Get a gripe.

If it wasn't for "whitey" there would still be slavery. Maybe a "thank you" to the white men who gave their lives for others' freedom is in order.

"Michael - Really? Trying to pull the 'white guilt' thing. Damn! It happens to be a Civil War picture.

Or are you still looking for your momma?

Get a gripe."

He already gave us a gripe.

Michael, whatever people you're representing.....you just dragged them down a bit.

@Michael

Wow, your s.hitty logic is all over the place. The citizenry of America are not an entity with a single position on every issue. This is a museum, with its own resources, and its own goals, which are undoubtedly determined in part by the fact that it's a museum. You're manufacturing a race issue where a race issue simply doesn't exist. Hopefully you stupid f.ucks that strive to make race the first thing on people's minds (ironically by condemning just that) will succeed, so that we will have a real problem to bitch about, and not a manufactured one.

Ya know, I'm about sick of the racist card getting pulled everytime I read the paper or see the news. Seems to me ya'll got it backwards... I've been the victim of your reverse racism and I think it's about time ya'll get a life and understand you bleed and put your pantsd on the sdame way we white folks do. So cut the crap and get a life.

Settle down folks, this is about getting free publicity for a museum, not about finding the descendents of these folks or their identities.

Michael, your attempt at sarcasm appears to have failed.

The rest of you, stand down, it's all about publicity.

The second comment made on this page has to bring race into it. It is the people like this that keep racism alive. Anyways I think it a great story, who knows maybe someone reading this story is related to someone in those pictures. Nice piece of history.

Michael,

I notice that instead of spending your time looking for missing non-white people, you have instead decided to spend your time commenting on an article about Civil War photographs. Shame on you. You are wasting valuable time, get your butt out on the streets looking for those missing people, please. I'm also pretty sure you probably have a few spare bucks out there somewhere you can donate to that effort as well, since you obviously can afford a computer and internet connection. I bet you've even eaten out or paid to watch a movie sometime in the last couple months while there are missing people out there. Apparently by your standards you need to get your priorities straight.

An obvious plant here....Seen this before

I'm sure there are thousands of all races and colors missing all the time. Many are run-a-ways and don't want to be found. If you are so concerned about it, start a site for people to post pictures of their missing loved ones. You could even throw your race card in there and not allow any undeserving whitey to post a picture. Go join the NBP, they need people like you or are you already a member. I pity you for your obvious hatred. What a waste of time.

For the record, this article was only to identify the people, not find them.

What a Racist remark...you are screwed, because of your attitude!

Michael, you need to stop whining about the past and focus on the future. Yours and your families. Slavery was a dark time in this countrys' history, but it's over. No one born in this country in the past 100+ years was born a slave.

Move on.

Posting it twice doesn't make it smell any better.

Maybe Doobie should stop with the vitriolic TROLLING! What do you REALLY want, Doobie? What is the other 1/4 of your heritage? asian, black,white? BTW, I agree w/ Bluelake, Suggest we ALL accept what & who we ARE, acknowledging the facts of history, learning from the errors & omissions in that history, realizing that we, today, are NOT our predecessorsnor are we responsible for their actions and vowing to improve even further!

Someone needs to collapse Doobie's comment because it sounds just about as ignorant as the one she is complaining about. "You people?" No Doobie, you're the ahole.

Atta girl Deborah!

It didn't.

Tax Troll is whiny troll.

Are you by any chance in the Shenandoah "Valley"??? Lots of reenactments around me. I live about 20 miles from Port Republic, Virginia and that little girl's picture found on that battlefield bears a striking resemblance to my mother's side of the family and to me as a child.

Sunny, no am from the land of not so sky blue waters. Am glad you responded and I did not offend anyone if you read the comments above, so I hope it is your relative that would be extremely cool. Have a great day!

Funny!

nothing to do with race. these photos were found amongst the dead who died for our country, or were left with people who never knew what happened to them...it's for history and the museum is paying for it, a museum that keeps our history alive...no race card is needed here, it's an interesting story, makes you wonder what happened to these people and maybe could spark someone's interest in learning more about those dark times.

A voice of reason...

I seriously doubt that there is any cost associated with this. Also, this is the Museum of the Confederacy we are talking about, not the US Government. I don't think anyone expects a museum to pay to support other organizations, least of all social services. Also, many museums are also supported almost entirely by donation. I must point out that they didn't pay to have the article printed, and the services they are asking people to contact them through (facebook and twitter) are free services. I don't think we need to worry about misspent funds in this case. It is just an interesting mystery, and they are hoping to connect the artifacts to actual people. I still have photo albums in my family from before and through the Civil War, so it is not unheard of that other people may be able to identify the souls pictured in the article. And since it is pretty much free, I don't see the hurt in them trying. The entire purpose of Museums is to connect us with our history and to make it feel relevant in our lives. That is the way that history is kept alive, and museums stay open. I don't see anything wrong with what they are doing.

You must have missed the point where the salaried Journalist posted this article at no cost on their internet media outlet, so that you the viewer can look at it for free. In case you didnt catch that, it cost msnbc NOTHING to post this article which allows the whole country to view these pictures, thus giving a chance for these photographs to be ID'd. I guess the tomb of the unknown soldiers is a waste of time to people like you isnt it? "Think of how many food stamps that equates to!!!" /endsarcasm

When volunteers are requested to assist with identification, there are no costs associated with resolution of the mystery.

It's still considered ill manners to discuss moneyc. It's also impolite to make suggestions to others as to how they should spend their money. When was it decided that this was permissible? It's crude, rude and socially unacceptable.

Reading Comprehension Fail.

The one Soldier looks like actor Mathew McConaughey.

The reason these are a mystery is because we are looking for the owners and their families in the wrong places. The common thread in all these photographs is love, because love never dies; we see these images and, though more than a century has passed, we feel the love that was carried with them. The truth is that love is not lost, love is eternal. At this point, after so many decades, the love in these images is much more important than whose families they belong to. They belong to us; the human beings who understand love and how we live for eternity. The simple story is that they were - and then they were not. These images remind us of the fragility of the human body and the complexity with which we try to comprehend life when we should be recognizing the simplicity of life.

not to be disrespectful, but lol mailto:b@stard

No, can't be related. The guy has his shirt on.

The one below him in the family picture looks like Patrick Dempsey

The McConaughey is a stretch, but the Dempsey is uncanny.

I'm from NC, and let me tell you, these people look like every Caucasian from KY to AR and from VA to GA. Each picture looks like people from a certain region here in the south. They'd be better off doing facial feature maps and searching the current populous.

If someone has an identical or nearly identical picture in their possession of an ancestor, then that would be helpful, no?

True or not its still a plant to make minorites look bad.

They do fine on their own...looking bad I mean....24% of the population where I'm at and 61% of the crime and nearly 100% of the random violent crime...see looking bad on their own

Thank you, mary0816b, you make more sense the lot put together. It's history and I would hope people would be interested in this. Like you, I think they are to plugged in to pay any attention to anything else.

Don Two,

It's wonderful that you were able to find your great-great grandfather's family through an old tintype. These are some intriguing clues you've shared about checking out the sources of the lockets and frames. Maybe they will help!

The circumstances of the photos at the museum are very reminiscent of the famous photo of the Humiston children that was used to identify their father, who was killed in the Battle of Gettysburg. Perhaps you know the story:

And here is the slimy retort that could be expected and they are problably working together so this one could post his negatism. FYI white on white crime percentage wise is much higher than Black or Hispanics

bredex:

http://www.theroot.com/views/why-don-t-we-talk-about-white-white-crime

They go on to make statements like "Washington Post columnist George Will said that despite the Trayvon tragedy, "150 black men are killed every week in this country," and "about 94 percent of them by other black men."

Will parroted arguments made by many conservatives, his intended point being that black-on-black crime remains the real problem our nation should address."

Ironically, they link to this report as their proof in the story. See page 13.

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf

Most murders were intraracial

From 1980 through 2008—

84% of white victims were killed by whites

93% of black victims were killed by blacks.

Way to derail the discussion!

If you take out domestic violence I wonder what those percentages would be.

Trlls be trolls no matter the subject. Even if it is about an old ladies dog dying they can turn it into a hijacked seed. Ignore them.

If there are no photos of black people in this collection it is probably because none were found on the battlefield.

That isn't the fault of the museum.

Considering that every person who would have had any emotional attachment to the people in these photos is long-ago dead themselves, I don't see that identifying these photos is of much importance. It may be interesting to know the name of the young lieutenant for example, and his personal story, but returning his photo to his possible descendants doesn't seem like an urgent issue.

The best comment of them all. I look at these photos and see the same pattern being repeated in WWI & II, Korea, Viet Nam on through today. By the fighting men of both sides. So sad. When will we ever realize we are all humans regardless of skin color. (I know this sounds like liberal utopian thinking and let me assure you I am far from that.) If we wold stop letting the politicians divide us we would realize we all have so much in common.

And for Michael and the other idiots like him, even though I lve in the South I had relatives fight for the Union. My great-great-uncle spent two years in Libbey prison as a POW. I'm sure I had some relatives on mom's side of the family who fought for the CSA. My parents were wise enough to get the hell out of the socialist republic of Illinois fifty years ago. I thank the lord above each day for that.

I had relatives on both sides. The saddest on was Confederate. He was drafted and did not have any slaves or anything like that. All he wanted was to raise his family. He deserted like a lot of soldiers to put in his crops and was captured. He was put to death to serve as an example to others that their familys did not matter. I read a letter from him to his wife and saw a true God loving and family man.

There is the political side to every conflict, and there is the human side.

Young men on either side of any war are not to blame for the foolishness of the politicians.

I think Donna and JT Kirk (Captain, I presume?) are correct.

David, I love your comment. Thank you.

If any of you have done ancestry, you know that each footstep counts and each grave and each picture belonged to someone.

Perhaps a family out there has a copy of one of these, and can identify. Hope so.

But that is a subject for another time...

The war between the states was a long time ago and we still have people who are ignorant enough to want to punish the southern states and/or the people who live there for what happened. Have you researched your history, al91206? Are you sure that you know the reasons why the south seceded from the union or have you been educated by a slanted system, slanted book or slanted teacher? History is written from someone's perspective and that perspective may not always be accurate. Before you start raising hell at me about this idiotic subject, do a little unbiased research.

Yes I am from the south but my family was poor white trash and never owned a slave...we were sharecroppers. I am sure that most families, northern, southern, white, black, indian, hispanic or whatever have some skeletons in the closet. So before we pass judgement on a whole group of people, let us remember that MANY notherners owned slaves also and when the Emancipation Proclamation came to be, the northerners did not want the freed slaves to come there and take away jobs. This is not a black/white, north/south issue. This was a war on AMERICAN soil and many families lost loved ones on both sides of the war. We need to put aside hatred in any form and learn that A COUNTRY THAT STANDS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER...AND MOST DESTRUCTION COMES FROM WITHIN. Stop the prejudices and the hatred and allow us to be the greatest country in the world.

bgrsmom ,

Maybe YOUR history books might be a little slanted or biased.

I live in the South now , almost 20 years, and there isn't a week that goes by that I don't hear ( and not as a joke ) that the South will rise again , or stories and letters to the editor in the local news about the "war of Northern aggression" - or my personal favorite, after they hear my my accent - what's the difference between a Yankee and a Damn Yankee ? A Yankee comes for a visit and a damn Yankee stays. It's said through a smile with clenched teeth , like true southerners , always charming, but with that "tinge" of anger just like your response to al91206. The South will never admit they lost, much less admit that they were wrong.

Oh , and I was poor white northern trash , but I can read any book and get the picture , and still understand there was no justification for the South trying to destroy the United States of America.

IMHO

I grew up in a biased household where my family always talked about the south rising again. I don't believe that the south will ever rise again. I believe that the we should stop distinguishing one side from another and one color from another. My point in my statement was completely overlooked...my history books WERE slanted as was all other accounts of this war. Depends on where you were from but THAT WAR WAS A LONG TIME AGO and ignorant people, both southern and northern, continue to rant and rave about the injustices that were done by the other side. As a true southerner, I don't believe that south will rise again. I believe that all men were created equal and that people are people and for someone to state that the south "should have been given their just reward - all the rights that 1/3rd of a "real" state would have. 3 of their states would have 2 senators, etc etc. A very small taste of their own medicine." is no different than someone making the Yankee/Damn Yankee statement to you. My family fought on both sides of this war and no matter what happened, families still lost loved ones. What about NORTHERNERS who owned slaves? I didn't hear al stating that they should be given those same just rewards. I harbor no ill will towards anyone, white/black, southern/northern, etc/etc...because once again, ignorance and idiocy know no colors. Everyone is a product of their upbringing and history...no matter what slant is put on it.

As far as those who make the Yankee/Damn Yankee comparison to you, accept my apologies for their ignorance and I won't hold a grudge about being compared to Daisy Duke and Hee Haw.

@bgrsmom - exactly the war was so long ago. So why is there are there so many Southern organizations dedicated to keeping the Confederate "dream" alive? Why are there still flags with the confederate flag still emblazoned on them? If you TRULY believe that was all in the past, then you should also rail against this unexplainable reverence we pay to Confederate memories and dreams ..

al, I do rail against them, as you put it. You know only what the media chooses to show you about the south. Have you ever been here? Have you ever talked to anyone from the south, in person? Just for the record, I do not perpetuate prejudice of any type in my household or in my presence. My children were raised better than that. I took MLK's words to heart and judge people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin or the area which they were raised in. Just because the news media chooses to focus attention on the negative groups doesn't mean there aren't positive groups working in the south to further equality here. That doesn't make headlines though...only the bad stuff. I worship in a church that honors all people and I raised my children to do the same. I just think that making a blanket statement concerning the entire south is not much different than making a blanket statement concerning everyone from California. You are probably very different from your neighbors there as I am very different from my neighbors in Mississippi. Good people come in all shapes, sizes, colors, religions, ethnicities, genders and I don't want to be labeled just because I happen to be a southerner. We can't change the past and we can't control what others do...like the statement says, I can't change the world, only my little corner of it and for the record, I am changing my corner, for the better. Southern organizations that are dedicated to the Confederate dream are just a bunch of people who don't feel as though they belong anywhere so they strive to be different and garner attention from the media. NOT ALL SOUTHERNERS BELONG TO THOSE GROUPS...JUST FOR THE RECORD. There are crazies everywhere and to lump a whole group of people together because some fringes choose to make a spectacle of themselves is not very fair.

A lot of us could probably take a look at old family photos and maybe find-out something very interesting about ourselves and where we and our forefathers came from.

Or, we could do the following.

Beating-up on the Southern States after the Civil War is not a smart move. Just like beating-up on the Germans post WWI led to WWII, beating-up on the Southern States, worse than they were beat-up on, would have eventually lead to Civil War II.

By the way; your beat-up on the Southern States comment is Racist and Bigoted, so, pat yourself on the back for being no better than the worst of those you accuse of being 'bad,' and deserving 'bad' things to happen to them. You are a Racist and a Bigot, however, I am sure that you have already taken your morally false high ground, and you are incapable of admitting that you are wrong, let alone, a Racist and a Bigot.

Let's get with the program; the Civil War was about Lincoln and his unwillingness to accept States Rights. Lincoln did not end slavery. Lincoln did not enter the Civil War to free the slaves. Lincoln entered the Civil War to end States Rights, and end States Rights he did! He should be very pleased with himself for starting a hundred-and-fifty year pissing contest that is yet unresolved, and for flying in the face of the US Constitution. Atta boy Abe!

Michael isn't wrong, however, his comment is misplaced here. We see on a regular basis, news articles about pretty white girls who have been killed in the same tragic circumstances as lots of unattractive girls and boys all over the country. These articles are meant to divert our attention from real news, divert our attention form DOING ANYTHING about the state of the country.

How about we get real and accept that we lost an enormous number of good men fighting for and against States Rights. BTW, the South was FOR States Rights.

This article is of some interest, however it has done more to divide people than to bring us together. I honestly believe that dividing us was its purpose. There are just too many articles recently that are, US vs THEM, wealthy vs poorer, Black vs White, men vs women. 0bama and his squad of black-shirts are doing their job very effectively.. Everything that is going-on in America today is about the Saul Alinsky, divide and conquer, and Americans are buying into it lock, stock and barrel.

If the Indians had done a better job of protecting their borders, they would have been slaughtered by someone else at a later date.

Blacks are being destroyed by Affirmative Action, the lack of earning a position, and having it handed to those who are not capable of doing the job. And the TOTAL failure of the Black family unit is doing the rest of the destroy the Blacks job.

We could always look in the closet at some of the old pictures. We might get a huge surprise.

Let's put this down in black and white. Now, if you took this as a racist remark on the basis of just the line itself, you are bigoted and impulsively racist. Probably without ANY idea that you are. AJV aims at the heart of the matter, then pulls off at the last instance and shoots in the air. But let us all face reality, everyone is naturally bias to what is more like yourself. It is up to you to control what this does as far as allowing these biases to rot your brain and take control of your actions. Racism is a tool for the "social statusists", if I may coin a term for the our dark hidden overlords. Those who seek to control the general populace by means of breeding anger and discontent. This diverts our attention from the real issues such as said overlords' mental illnesses of unfathomable greed for both money and power. The Civil War WAS a large part about slavery, but I can't say that it wasn't that due to envy of the northern rich at the time due to slavery being too much of an advantage in the race to be the richest and most powerful. We live in a precarious time as the net makes the poorly masked workings of the mentally ill, so called "upper crust" devours our social framework from the inside out. Knowledge is freedom and knowledge is dangerous. Especially our knowledge of how these soulless powers place no value on the lives of ANYONE but themselves. Notice I said ONLY themselves, due to the fact that they DO NOT value the lives of their ilk, unlike the majority of the rest of us. Such is the nature of their illness. For others of their social status are competitors in the money/power struggle that so entirely consumes the space where the soul and the conscience should be. These so called people are of all races, yet the racism in their ranks is far greater than the general public, but pales in comparison to their "social staticism" that allows them to see the rest of us as just so many lambs for the slaughter. If we are to take our country back from these individuals, we have to stay focused on the true important issues and work together as a whole with the knowledge that the age of info provides while weeding out mind clogging "propaganda in disguise". The alternative is not pretty for any and down right hideous for the overlords. Allow things to get worse and worse for the GP till we are angered enough to take our homeland back by force. Few of our military will support the money mongers against their own, as the overlords expect or at least hope. They really do think we are all mindless drones. Wow, did I stray from the issue at hand or what? I'm glad and so proud we have the extremely talented and lethal military forces that these wars have produced, very sorry for the injured and dead it took to make them this way. Our boys (and girls) are far and away the baddest there are and will keep this nation safe from any and all aggressors. They should be HERE doing just that rather than supporting an obvious financial gain purpose. Uncle Sambamma turned out to be all about the money and broke his promise to bring our, OUR DAMN IT, kids home. How many of THEIR kids are there do you suppose? If you think he's a black man helping with the cause, think again. He's a "social staticismist" working for/with the overlords. But alas, his replacement will be too. At this point that situation is beyond our control. It has become too controlled by how elections are run to keep them from putting one of themselves in the Oval O. Stick together people. We have to. As one we will bring it back. We have too for our children. Now, while it can be done peacefully.

al91206, Even in the South the percentage of whites owning slaves was very small.

Most were fighting on the perception that the North was trying to push them around and force their will upon them or somewhere along those lines, and the idea that they would be better off as their own nation. (not stating an opinion here, just facts as best I can) Many good and noble men died there fighting what they saw as "The good cause" in a virtual no win situation. To take every group that still displays the Confederate flag in the name of those brave souls and label them racist is just wrong and racist in itself. There are those who do use it to support their racist desires, but to lump all together is giving credibility to those who do display it as such, and providing confidence to the bigots by giving them coal for their fires of hate in the ability to say "see, they are trying to take this away, and/or telling you how to live and/or labeling you as a racist." Generalizing all is never a good idea. And the politicians who allow this for the minority vote should be scrutinized greatly.