I'll Take My Stand in Dixie-Net

Tara McPherson concludes in “I’ll Take My Stand in Dixie-Net” that although the Internet is often seen as a place where race doesn’t exist, it is present in disguise.

McPherson begins the chapter by explaining how she came across the Confederate Embassy in Washington D.C. on the Internet one day. For the remainder of the chapter she discusses “Dixie-net” and “neo-Confederates” on the web. This virtual Dixie as it is referred to is a name for neo-Confederate web sites that attempt to preserve Southern Heritage. These web sites claim not to be racist and only want to preserve the history of the South. However, theses web sites are indeed racist even though they don’t come out and directly state it. The sites contain images of the southern states separated from the rest of the United States and display graphs of the South’s economic power. The sites address the “you” as white males and therefore separate themselves from the rest of the population. However, they avoid the term of race or racism in order to avoid public attention. Finally, McPherson offers suggestions such as alternative websites that show southern heritage in progressive ways and that do not privilege race in any way as a possible solution to this problem.

In what ways are sites like these racist and how do they offend or hurt some people? The sites such as those explained by McPherson are very offensive to some due to the nature of the Civil War. The war, though some disagree, was fought over slavery. It wasn’t a war of “states rights” as many from the South continue to argue. The Confederate flag alone is very offensive to many African-Americans as it represents a movement to fight for the continuation of slavery. The sites are also racist due to the fact that they separate white and black into privileged and unprivileged categories.

I found the reading to be somewhat difficult to understand and I’m not sure if I came away with the correct meaning. I have read Confederates in the Attic for a history class last semester, so I was familiar with the neo-Confederate movement. As the book explains, there are still many die-hard re enactors who have no life other than preserving the Confederacy. I feel as if this is ridiculous and a bit childish. It is also very hurtful to African-Americans, and people are still dying in the South over this argument. In fact, many radicals in the South feel as if the “war between the states” is still going on to this day. Overall, I feel as it is very disrespectful to our country and to those who reside within it.