Hatred from the Past Informs the Present
Many wealthy slave owner farmers, such as Thomas Jefferson, were rebels against the British, but many poor Whites were Tories (Tories supported the British). After the Revolution, many poor Whites migrated into the region that later became the states of Alabama and Mississippi. Many had no real money to own slaves and hence some became opposed to Robert E. Lee and the slave owning Confederacy, while other Whites opposed slavery but at the same time hated Black people.
”One Drop” of “Negro Blood”
Slave owners adopted, taught and enforced a rigid ideology of white supremacy to a degree previously unknown in previous eras. For Example, anyone with “one drop” of “Negro blood” was considered Black as if one drop could actually be counted. White men had a duty to preserve the “purity” of white women, lest so-called “white blood” be “contaminated.” This was supported by a religious practice that condemned dancing, alcohol, and sensuality to prevent Whites and Blacks from knowing each other. Hence, white supremacy was hammered into the minds of Whites to the point of it being a problem even today.
No doubt the slave owners sincerely believed in these things, but they served a function of keeping the Black slaves isolated and preventing them from joining forces with Whites. In this way, any opposition to slavery by Whites was attacked and the term “N-Lover” began to appear.
It Was White Jobs, Not “Black Jobs”
After the Civil War the false history of the South was institutionalized through the “Redeemer Movement of the Lost Cause.” This movement sought to explain away the reason for the Civil War being slavery and the promotion of white supremacy. This was done in schools and by erecting monuments, confederate flags, and symbols throughout the South in public places such as parks and courthouses. The “Redeemers,” headed up by the defeated traitor Robert E. Lee and others, even sought to create Black schools that only taught Blacks to service the needs of Whites; St Philips College was founded in this way by pro-slavery Bishop James Steptoe Johnston. The idea that Blacks should not compete with White jobs was enforced—it was White jobs, not “Black Jobs.”
False Form of Christian Evangelicalism
To keep the false history about the Civil War going, the KKK in the 1920s advocated, violence and racism against non-whites, hatred of foreigners—the Americans only concept and opposition to ethnic terms like Native Americans, Irish Americans, African Americans, Jewish Americans (Americans and English only). They promoted a false form of Christian Evangelicalism—using the Bible to promote racism, and engaged in Fraternalism which involved secret rites, handshakes, coded language, and rituals. They claimed to be engaged in Populism with claims to be about ordinary people (Whites only), while supporting the “Big Man,” or wealthy conservative individual, as an idol to be worshiped or followed in cult like behavior. Look at today’s presidential elections and this sounds familiar even today. Hatred from the past informs the present.
Conspiracies, Big Lies and Name Calling
Today, racists use Christian nationalist evangelicals to claim the “end of days” related to ideas falsely taken from scripture. Today, conspiracy theories, big lies, name calling, and cults are part of the Trump-MAGA 2025 Project which includes hatreds of all types including people of color, democracy, and liberal elites, but supports worship of wealthy conservatives (Trump). They use big lies, conspiracy theories (RFK Jr.), fake news, false history, and lies repeated over and over to attack opponents. The past informs the present, and the past cannot be quarantined from the present. This is why we need to discuss slavery and white supremacy always, some of which still pollutes this country.
