We have arrived at the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. The surrender of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor began what is acknowledged by most historians to be the pivotal event defining the character of the United States.
There already have been some events noting the approach of the anniversary. A few months ago, a re-enactment of Jefferson Davis’ inaugural speech in Montgomery caused a stir from those who thought it inappropriate.
Now the placement of a historical marker on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive noting William Sherman’s burning of Atlanta has stirred opposition.
If we in Atlanta and in the nation continue with these kinds of limited exercises, we will not do justice to the legacy of the war and to the opportunity of this sesquicentennial.
We Atlantans need to approach the war from two new, more holistic angles.
First, we need to learn about the war at its micro level — to study the stories of Georgians white and black as they lived during the war and in its aftermath. We need to hear and share individual stories — beyond Scarlett O’Hara’s — as well as the primary facts of the war.
We especially need to hear the stories of black Americans: of freedmen and those who were enslaved during the war, of those who served in the military, and of those who remained after the war.
We might discuss, for instance, why Atlantans went against their fellow Georgians in the presidential election of November 1860, giving a plurality not to the secessionist candidate but to candidates who would maintain Georgia in the Union.
We might note that, in fact, the Confederate army did its best to destroy Atlanta’s rails, locomotives and infrastructure before Sherman arrived and ask why. That discussion will give a more complete appreciation of the city we live in today.
Second, we in Atlanta have an obligation to examine how the issues of 1861 — racial, political and economic — play out in 2011. Things are not as they were in 1861, certainly.
To what extent are race relations, political dynamics and economic advantages different from 1861? Or from 1963, when Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the Lincoln Memorial? If we in metro Atlanta do not share in an open discussion of these questions, we won’t be moving beyond the past.
The most important population to be drawn into this learning process is today’s young people, especially high school and college students who are coming into awareness of their own personal and national heritage.
These young people are growing up in a post-Jim Crow world. How do they see the present day and the future promise of their city?
If we give them ample chances to address the war and its legacy, we all may have the chance to honor the numberless sacrifices of the past and affirm a positive future for our region and the nation.
We in Atlanta need to define for ourselves a curriculum for the Civil War sesquicentennial that reflects both the individual circumstances of all those who lived through the war.
And in the broader sense, we need to allow ourselves to ask what more needs to be done to advance the goals we find so significant in the prosecution of that war 150 years ago.
Richard Hall is a retired educator from metro Atlanta.
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