lee statue
© Richmond Times-Dispatch
Over the last few weeks, the left has been a very happy bunch. With the 'Unite the Right' rally on August 12th in Charlottesville, they finally, finally, got that first little shred of concrete evidence (outside the online bubble of 4chan and The Daily Stormer) that some Trump supporters are white supremacists. No, not the ordinary, working class Middle-Americans who were caught in the slip-stream of the collective, months-long tantrum thrown by so-called 'progressives' when their preferred candidate lost the election. I mean an actual faction of self-admitted white nationalists, protesting (with a permit) the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Can you imagine the elation of the left when, after hearing of the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, they realised they had actual people to direct their cries of "Nazi!" "White supremacist!" and "Fascist!" at? No longer are they hurling insults at the empty air, trying desperately to make everyone who disagrees with them into some sort of Hitler-clone. Instead, they have real-life Anglo-enthusiasts to validate their virtue signalling.

How thrilling for the left to be able to justifiably use those shiny new labels; after all, "racist" "bigot" and "sexist" are so 2016. In fact, the left is so thrilled to find this fraction of Trump supporters happy to call themselves white supremacists; they've gone on a Confederate statue trashing spree to celebrate.

In the wake of Charlottesville, numerous Confederate monuments around the USA have either been removed, considered for removal, or (in the Case of Durham, North Carolina) torn down by wailing social justice warriors. However, the debate over not just monuments, but also the display of the Confederate flag, predates the events of August 12. This movement is, of course, pushed largely by the Democrats, and has understandably gained more traction over the past couple of weeks. The left would put this newfound vigour down to eradicating 'hate' by erasing history, and thus engaging in the usual leftist pastime of throwing their toys out of the pram. Then again, the right would put it down to the left's penchant for opportunistic virtue signalling. However, I would like to posit a third option.

Here's the thing. The Democrats' determination of late to associate Republicans with not just racism, but full-blown white supremacy, has marched well beyond the realms of hysteria. And with the usual leftist smoke-and-mirrors in the media, it could maybe be possible to do that - if not for those pesky Confederate statues. See, it was the Republicans who abolished slavery, and the Democrats who wanted to maintain it. The Democrats in the South formed the Confederate states in the first place, and believed in the enslaving of blacks so fervently they were willing to go to war over it. Quite a dark smear on the face of a party which, nowadays, will do anything to pretend it's on the side of 'tolerance'.

But it gets worse. The Democrats not only opposed Abraham Lincoln's three Civil War Amendments (abolishing slavery, granting citizenship to African slaves born in America, and prohibiting state governments from denying them voting rights), but instigated the Jim Crow laws. These laws legitimised racial segregation in the Southern States, and introduced a number of systemic economic, educational, and social disadvantages for African Americans. And most notoriously, it was the Democrats who, after losing the war, proudly founded the Ku Klux Klan. So what better way to avoid these awkward historical facts than to erase a history that is, well, their own?

Of course, the minute all of this is brought up, the Democrats and the left at large open their eyes wide, and insist Lincoln fought the war over money, not slavery. And that the racist history of the Democratic Party died long ago. And that white supremacists and the KKK identify with the right now so therefore their prior association doesn't matter. But nothing changes the fact the Jim Crow laws were enforced by the Democrats right up until 1965. In fact, it was only in the sixties, when the Democrats (to their credit) took a turn to the civil rights movement, that the racist Southern Dems, or 'Dixiecrats', made a move to the Republican Party. Even then, they were only on the fringe.

Some of these 'vintage' Democrats even stuck around, such as the late Senator Robert C Byrd. This former KKK member and recruiter (who died in 2010) was also a lifelong Democrat, and was pictured cosying up to Hillary Clinton a number of times. Or infamous former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, who originally ran as a Democrat in the 1988 presidential primaries, before switching sides. And who could forget the 1992 Democratic presidential campaign, when nondescript supporters grafted "Clinton-Gore" onto buttons bearing the Confederate flag? Or the fact in 1987, Bill Clinton, as Democratic Governor of Arkansas, signed Act 116, which stated, "The blue star above the word 'ARKANSAS' [on the state's flag] is to commemorate the Confederate States of America"?

Whichever way you scratch it, it's the Democrats who are largely responsible for racism in the USA. And not just the ole fashioned type. The identity politics of minorities within the Democrats (and the rest of the left) nowadays is where the bigotry of low expectations rears its ugly head. That is, the assumption that African Americans must necessarily toe the leftist line. If they dare to be different and vote Republican, they are ostracised, bullied with names like 'Uncle Tom' or 'Aunt Jemima', and dubbed a race traitor.

This is its own form of racism, and comes exclusively from the left. It just hides under the guise of "empathy". In fact, if you look at the ideology of white supremacy, which is based in tribalism, collectivism, and a hatred of anything beyond your own kind, it is far more characteristic of leftism than anything else. It certainly bears no resemblance to conservatism; a doctrine based on individualism, a free market of ideas, and the rejection of groupthink.

Considering all of this, is it any wonder the Democrats are dragging down statue after statue? Is it at all surprising how enthused they were after the Charlottesville protest? How gratified they felt in clutching their pearls and wiping their tears while secretly doing the happy dance? Of course not.

Now, I'm not saying the removal of Confederate monuments is definitely some sort of leftist conspiracy to revise their own sordid history - but the possibility is, indeed, food for thought.