Thursday, August 10, 2017

Purple Lettuce At The Confederate White House

I sauntered down to Richmond today, expecting ... well, more. The main attraction for me was the Confederate White House and Museum. The White House was uninspired, to be kind.

The Confederate White House was built in the box style. Like a box. 
A. Box.
As its builder said when he was done, "Meh."
The museum was similar. All you could think of as you walked through it was all the Alabama farm boys fed to the Federal cannons so wealthy southern gentlemen didn't have to give up their $30K-a-pop slaves. That was nauseating and I'm a Dixiephile of the first water.

They had a reproduction of South Carolina's secession articles or statement or tantrum or whatever it was. It mentioned slavery by name, so that pretty much takes care of that.

Having said that, the Confederacy is unfair to the South. Just as "Hitler!" is probably the first thing most people unfairly think of when they hear about Germany, the Confederacy lasted only 4 short years and has almost nothing to do with modern-day Dixie. I love the South for the people, the climate, the food and the beauty. So fie on the Confederacy and their horrible White House! I'll take 2017 Alabama, Mississippi or Louisiana any day of the week.

The lettuce referred to in the title was a lovely flower on a tree behind the building. It was the best part of the stop. Enjoy.

3 comments:

tim eisele said...

That is a very peculiar flower. Very pretty, but I can't quite make out where the pollination structures are. It must be something of a maze for bees to work through.

At first, when you mentioned "purple lettuce", I though you meant one of those ornamental cabbages that are becoming popular around here. Considering what their parent plant is, they actually are quite attractive plants.

tim eisele said...

And as someone who regularly got called a "Nazi" in elementary school entirely on the basis of my German last name[1], I agree that it is not fair to tar the people of the present with the crimes of their past relatives.

[1] in spite of the fact that my German ancestors left Germany considerably before that, and several served in the US army in both world wars. But try explaining that to 4th graders.

Ilíon said...

"They had a reproduction of South Carolina's secession articles or statement or tantrum or whatever it was. It mentioned slavery by name, so that pretty much takes care of that."

I don't understand why this is so difficult for you to grasp -- the secession of the Southern States and the Northern war to conquer the South are two very different things.

The Southern States did not *declare* war on the Union; they merely exercised their right to leave it.

The *war* was not about slavery, in any way, shape, or form. The war was about the Federal government not wanting to lose its major source of income from taxing the South.