Imagine if the Russians, after being overrun by the Mongols, simply re-enacted their lost battles again and again. Imagine if the Spanish, overrun by the Moors, just re- enacted their lost battles. Imagine if they swore allegiance to their conquerors’ flags and joined their conquerors’ armies. Imagine if they came to believe that they were really just the same people as their conquerors… and then insulted and attacked those of their own people who resisted the occupation, refused to fly the conquerors’ flags and refused to fight for their conquerors. On thing is for sure, if the Russians or Spanish had behaved like this they would not be independent today – they wouldn’t even exist as a people.
Is this to say that there is no need to honour our fallen heroes, educate people about our heritage or learn about the US war against the independent South? Of course not. There’s certainly a place for such things. But, especially in an age when we are being purposefully genocided out of existence as a people, there is a higher calling than only re-fighting the battles of the 1860s. Our ancestors’ battles are over. They did their part. They did all they could to ensure our survival, to ensure a free South. We have our own battles to fight. Now it’s time to do our part.
I’ve called for a moratorium by all reenactors for at least the next five years.
I renew that call.
Come on men, let’s move forward.
Unfortunately re-enacting has become a business that some people rely on to put food on the table, roofs over their heads and cloths on their backs.
Indeed. Charles Martel did not re-enact Frankish defeats. He gave Christendom her first great victory against the Moors. A victory that would turn the tide of the war for over three hundred years, culminating in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099.
We must keep the fight alive. The Jacobites didn’t re-enact their defeats at Nasby or the Boyne, nor even their early victories such as Killiecrankie. They kept up the fight. And even after Culloden, they have kept the spirit alive. If they have kept up the fight for over 300 years, so, too, can we. Never surrender!
Come on, we reenact our victories too. If you are only calling for reenactors who don’t do anything else but reenact to be more active in other ways, then I don’t have too much of a problem, but if you are suggesting there is something wrong with reenacting, or that reenacting does not advance the truth, then I do have a problem. The very fact that our enemies hate reenacting so much should be enough proof it does something.
Besides, it is historically inaccurate to say that other groups in the past have not reenacted their battles. Plays, acts, and yearly commemorations of battles are not new.
Since the Jacobites were mentioned in the last post, I would point out that they recreated those battles over and over. Back then actually openly dressing up and going out on the field to recreate them would get a person executed, but they recreated them over and over in songs, and poems and other ways, both the victories and defeats.
victory
http://youtu.be/BcZ4uMmF0vw
defeat
29thtn, I was pretty clear that I don’t have a problem with re-enacting. Check out the second paragraph again.
Alright, but we do a lot. It ticked me off, but says something about the effectiveness of reenactors talking to the public that last year at a living history at Chickamauga, the park service prevented us from talking to the public during demonstrations and had a ranger talk for us.
Reenactors tell the truth with facts they can’t refute, so we have to be silenced.
Also, you might consider getting into reenacting Michael, so long as you don’t get in with some low class group that only reenacts as an excuse to get away from home and drink. While we can never go through exactly what they went through, going out there and figuring out how to get by with what they had to deal with, like the weather. I got soaked over night at Perryville a few weeks ago since I only had a lean-to shelter. Even just trying to deal with carrying all the heavy stuff while marching in brogans can be enlightening. And truth be told, it’s hard to beat experiences like being in a column of 10,000 Confederates marching through downtown Charleston with crowds of people all around, including on the balconies and even on top of buildings, and even elected politicians calling down and cheering on the troops.
29thtn, I don’t have a problem with it, but it doesn’t interest me at all. I would rather organise a march or demonstration or conference or something like that than put my time into re-enacting battles. It’s not my thing. My brother did it for a little while. And I’ve been to a few re-enactments. And it’s not something that interests me.
29thtn, Michael hit it on the head for me. Also, my point was not that Jacobites and others did no re-enactments at all (as one of Scottish heritage, I know my Jacobite songs and history quite well), but rather that this was not all they did. They actually did things to keep the cause alive (including rise up and fight when the rightful monarch called on them to do so). Likewise, re-enacting shouldn’t be all we do. We need to keep the fight alive, and look to the future as well.
I suppose I can see where you are coming from because there are a lot of reenactors who don’t seem obviously engaged outside of reenacting, but many reenactors are engaged. This time of year my unit is busy doing talks and demonstrations practically every week. Flying the flag in parades, talking to people at demonstrations, giving Confederate flags out to students, doing history presentations in classrooms or attending Confederate gravestone dedications. I made it to one of the Elizabethton flaggings recently, though I can’t afford to drive back and forth constantly.
Even outside of events where we wear uniforms, we are often actively engaged in things.
It just comes down to feeling a bit like it’s being suggested reenactors don’t do anything else, when many of us do. Last I checked, teaching folks about their cultural heritage was doing something. Please don’t confuse all reenactors with the farbs, as reenactors call them, who reenact just to burn powder and drink with their buddies.
29thtn, I guess I see re-enacting more as a hobby than direct Southern nationalist activism. I would much prefer people re-enacted than watched TV or went clubbing or whatever. But I’ve known a lot of re-enactors and most were not Southern nationalists. Most were US conservatives. They knew all the details of the battles and war. But they still didn’t support a free South. I know that some do now, which is good. And I’m not attacking re-enacting. I’m just saying that it’s not enough. And it’s no substitute for promoting Southern nationalism. But again, I have no problem with it. I have even noted that I think it can be a positive thing in promoting our identity and culture. In a free South, I think these events would take on more Southern nationalist over-tones – as the re-enactments in South Africa did under Afrikaner rule.
I believe you when you say you don’t have a problem with reenacting, and I acknowledge that just putting on a uniform really does not automatically do anything by itself.Perhaps I’m taking this personally since I’m a reenacter and I’m involved in all the stuff listed above. Yes, it is a hobby, but I’m not sure that makes a difference. Since reenacting involves so many people, it’s not surprising that there are differences among those people. Not all reenactors think alike, so I can’t deny that there are people who don’t go anywhere with it beyond killing some free time, but I certainly see it as more than just something to do. It’s a learning experience for me personally, but I’m also using it to teach people and honor ancestors.
You are right that just putting on a uniform that went out of use 150 years ago in itself does not mean anything, but I think we do manage to recreate at least a part of the past, and sometimes those brief moments are amazing. Also, if I didn’t think all the stuff I go through, which often is not so fun, especially since I HATE public speaking, didn’t mean anything I certainly would do much less of it. lol, maybe it’s not obvious here, but I also actually hate debating. I’m about as introverted as it gets.
What is it that I’m not doing?
29thtn, I never addressed you personally when speaking of the shortcomings of some re-enactors. Just by contributing to Southern nationalist websites I think you do more than most of the re-enactors I have known. One doesn’t have to engage in public speaking anyhow. And by the way, I’m not a fan of this either. I do it only because I want to promote our message. It makes me uncomfortable, as it does most people (one poll I saw in college showed that in the US the number 1 fear of most people was public speaking; death was number 2. Seriously. lol). There are far more ways one can promote Southern nationalism. The mantra is a good tool. Using the terms ‘anti-White’ and ‘anti-Southern’ in every day conversation helps us a lot. Not using ‘we’ or ‘our’ when talking about the US government and military helps us. Buying land in the South helps us (by keeping it out of the hands of outsiders). Having a family helps us (by reversing our population decline). Lots of things we can do beyond public speaking.