There is a piece in Time magazine this week about the reenactment of the 1861 Jefferson Davis inaugural held in Montgomery a few weeks ago.  In December we saw something similar in Charleston with the Secession Ball celebrating the Palmetto State’s leaving the Union.  Our nation has changed politically, culturally, and demographically over the past half century, and it’s not surprising that unlike in 1961 the politicians stayed away and the turnout was low.

There’s a tilting at windmills quality to how some people are trying to recognize the sesquicentennial.  Some individuals, especially within certain Southern heritage groups, cannot accept that the Lost Cause interpretation of the war is no longer sufficient and that they have lost their exclusive control of the Civil War narrative.  These groups are in danger of rendering themselves obsolete and indeed are already facing declining enrollment as their current members age and prospective, younger members stay away.  Sadly, it doesn’t have to be this way.

For whatever my opinion is worth I believe there is a middle ground that can be respectful of the sacrifices made by Confederate soldiers and civilians while acknowledging that our country is better off today because the Confederate States of America lost the war.  I submit that maintaining Confederate cemeteries; preserving existing memorials and statuary; digitizing photographs, letters, and diaries; and fund raising to purchase Civil War battlegrounds threatened by urban sprawl are a few ways Southerners could honor their forebears.  Certainly there are other ways unique to local circumstances.  What will not work is closing one’s eyes and pretending that the Civil Rights Movement never happened.

It’s going to be a long four years if reactionary elements keep trying to put the genie back in the bottle.