Jeannie Nuss’ article for the Associated Press about the celebration of a Southern hero in Arkansas who gave his life for his country goes far beyond merely reporting the facts. A brief examination of her statements in the article makes that readily apparent:
The story of David O. Dodd is relatively unknown outside of Arkansas, but the teenage spy who chose to hang rather than betray the Confederate cause is a folk hero to many in his home state.
…A state commission’s decision, though, to grant approval for yet another tribute to Dodd has revived an age-old question: Should states still look for ways to commemorate historical figures who fought to defend unjust institutions?
…Arkansas’ complicated history of race relations plays out on the Capitol grounds. A stone and metal monument that’s stood for over a century pays tribute to the Arkansas men and boys who fought for the Confederacy and the right to own slaves. Not far away, nine bronze statues honor the black children who, in 1957, needed an Army escort to enter what had been an all-white school.
Notice that Nuss claims in what is ostensibly a news article, not an opinion piece, that the South’s struggle for independence was ‘fought to defend unjust institutions.’ Such statements have no place in news articles. This is a statement of her opinion.
As well, if the institution of slavery in a country renders the sacrifices and acts of bravery of its soldiers and citizens unworthy of honour, then, as slavery has existed until very recently across most of the planet (and continues to be practiced in some African countries), our entire view of history must be re-examined. One obvious example is that the United States will not be able to honour the slave-owner George Washington or the soldiers who fought the British for independence in the 1770s, as slavery was widely practiced throughout the colonies at that time. Those Continentals were fighting ‘to defend unjust institutions,’ Nuss could say. I’m waiting for her to write such a story and for the Associated Press to publish it. Beyond this, we must also eliminate anything which commemorates historical figures in Medieval Europe, the Roman, Greek, Persian and Egyptian empires, ancient Egypt, China, etc. When we get through erasing history to appease the consciousness of Jeannie Nuss and those like her there will be precious little left; none of our ancestors will be remembered or honoured.
If Nuss’ anti-Southern bias were not already obvious enough, she goes on to quote a notoriously anti-Southern organisation known as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) which contributed to the climate of hate and intolerance that led to an act of domestic terrorism this summer in Washington, DC.
…”It’s a very sad story, but at the end of the day, Dodd was spying for the Confederacy, which was fighting a war to defend the institution of slavery,” said Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
…[I]n a city that stripped “Confederate Blvd.” from its interstate highway signs shortly before dignitaries arrived in town for the opening of Bill Clinton’s presidential library, the question remains: Should Dodd’s name be etched into another piece of stone or metal for posterity’s sake?
…”There are currently more monuments to David O. Dodd than any other war hero in Arkansas,” Potok said. “You would think that at some point it would be enough.”
It is clear that Nuss’ article is extremely biased and anti-Southern. What is the Associated Press doing running such an article?
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