The daily removal of our monuments and memorials leaves me speechless and hurting. I've spent countless hours on social media trying to share the personal stories, the compelling family side of why we take this so seriously. It's been fruitless, I'll be honest. Most folks don't care what the truth is. They choose to believe what they want, and no amount of fact you share with them will be heard. It's inconvenient.
Many of the local monuments being vandalized and removed were erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. As a proud UDC member, I am pained by the lack of visibility and defense from the UDC as an organization. Some of these monuments are being removed at the chapters' requests! These are memorials to our families, to our grieving grandparents, for the sons, husbands, fathers and brothers who were lost. Their presence in these public spaces are an important reminder of these losses. Without them, our families and struggle will surely be forgotten. Out of sight, out of mind. Will be cower and pull them to "protect" them? These stones are not meant to offend or hurt anyone. They are certainly not indicators of white supremacy, oppression, or any such nonsense.
At this exact moment (2pm Saturday Aug 26), a rally is happening in downtown Knoxville, TN over one of our monuments there. Not a bronze statue 5 stories high, a hunk of stone that no one even realized was there until someone told them they should be offended by it.
ONE MAN with Patriot Media is down there in support of that monument, on Facebook Live so it can't be edited or spun by the news media. Any SCV with him? Any Daughters out there with him? He's hollering #GETOFFTHECOUCH and come down here and be a peaceful voice of support with me...and...crickets. This beautifully carved stone, simply honoring the men and boys who were lost during the conflict, is all of a sudden a crisis in American society.
Where are the Daughters of the Confederacy? The UNITED Daughters of the Confederacy? Why are you at home today? We've spent 126 years doing a really good job at picking up the pieces from crisis...recovering from decimation, grieving, honoring our dead, remembering them always. It's really a passive exercise, and thank God it has been....until now. We are wholly unprepared to carry our lost sons, or to even be strong enough to protect their memories. What we've lost, or never planned for, was how to be courageous. We're all caught up in the titles, hierarchy, chain of command, pomp and circumstance, and we have no boots on the ground, ladies. We can be involved without riots. We can have a voice without needing a permit to assemble. We're worried about the loss of 501c3 status, when very soon, we'll be labeled a hate group and not eligible anyway.
Just this week I read an article from Newsweek, and sadly, it did have us pegged. Most of the world sees us as a social club; a bunch of aging old biddies in fancy hats who meet every few months with our ribbons and pins, drink tea and eat finger sandwiches. Oh, and do photo ops with our monuments. And have fabulous period-dress parades! Once a year we gather in convention centers to elect new officers, who tend to rotate around in various positions of leadership over the course of their lifelong membership. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my hats, I LOVE the social aspect of our organization and I adore my like-minded sisters.
That's how the world sees us, ladies. That isn't what drives us in our hearts, but that is how we are perceived on the outside. I can't even count the number of negative comments I've seen recently, such as "you couldn't pay me to join UDC, they don't DO anything".
The fact is, we do have a lot of older members (50+). I'm 45 myself. But when we're gone, who will lead the UDC? Will it be dissolved? In today's climate of erasing history, will we just let go? If we're truly committed to the honor and memory of our families, what can we do to shake things up and encourage new membership, younger members? My own chapter suggested "don't listen to all the naysayers, let's focus on the positives". I disagree with that recommendation. If we don't hear the naysayers, we can't recognize in ourselves that which does need to change, to make us more effective, valuable, and necessary.
The UDC has such a tremendous responsibility to be at the forefront of this argument in 2017. We can bring a sense of calm, a maternal love and grief, a gentle defense to what these monuments really mean. Certainly the chapters in TN should be there in full regalia. This is your monument to your dead. National should be supporting you. And I'm talking to every chapter in every state. "Ignore it and it will go away" is not going to work this time. If there was ever a time for us to be brave, as our great great great grandmothers had to be in fearful times, it's NOW. We're comfortable in our chapter meetings and periodic dress parades. With strong leadership and a peaceful presence, the UDC can help prevent another war. Be the emissaries our ancestors need.
