Is it possible to destroy everything of Confederate origin?

[Yupster]

117. As far as white privilege is concerned, to understand history

you have to place things within an era's zeitgeist (spirit of the times).

I'm assuming you mean that if a black president and a black 5 star general were accused of treason, they'd be shot without trial.

In 1865, that would be a ridiculous statement. A pollster would leave the average 1865 man rolling on the floor laughing at the thought. Not the thought of the racial injustice. Just the thought of a black president or a black general. A black couldn't even be an officer. In Lincoln's home state of Illinois, blacks couldn't even vote.

This is not an example of white privilege. It was America in 1865. The whole society was based on racial inequality. Even in the most abolitionist Christian communities, there was general agreement that blacks were inferior and would need kindly people looking after them for them to not get themselves in trouble. And those were the best friends.

No, the question of whether to hang Jeff Davis from an old apple tree had nothing to do with his race. His race was assumed. It was impossible to believe a president or general from America could be anything but white. The government deliberated for years on what to do about Davis before letting him out on bail. I bet his race never came up once.

As far as banning the flag, I don't know for sure, but I can't think of America ever banning anything like a flag before the Civil War. Again, it just wouldn't fit the zeitgeist. Back then the federal government was incredibly tiny compared to today. Other than the post office, most people never dealt with the feds. No social security, medicare, food stamps, EPA, Dept of Education. They even got by without an income tax. I don't think they would even think they had the power to ban people's symbols. That was so far outside the limited scope government played in people's lives.