#Remember the Past

REMEMBER The Past

As a romance writer, I feel that some of the most powerful love stories come in a time of war. There is an urgency during a time of conflict that makes emotions more intense, more deeply felt. To me, the Civil War was a perfect setting for such a love story. My hope is that a romance such as Southern Legacy will sweep a reader back into the past...to feel the consequences of the war that tore brothers apart, the heartbreak, and the struggle to accept the consequences.

Yet, there is more to the story. I wrote Southern Legacy with the belief that the past should not be forgotten. My father instilled in me the crucial need to remember the past for one reason—so the mistakes made would not be repeated.

When one studies history, you can look back with hindsight and understand how a situation developed and how people reacted in those circumstances. Doesn't it bother you to look back at certain times and see how people were led blindly down a dark path? My heart shivers with the examples of hatred and totally disregard for human life. I think to myself how could another human being do that to another. How does one cross that line?

In writing Southern Legacy, I wanted to show all the sides of the war. I wanted a reader to feel what my characters felt. I wanted the reader to see the point when the realization dawns on my heroine that slavery was wrong on so many levels and being complacent was just as bad. Being Southern, it was difficult to write about the Civil War. The book is my most personal book to date. I did so to show that good people can make terrible mistakes when they follow their leaders blindly. 

I truly believe that the majority of Southern people were played by their leaders during that time; the political game that turned into a deadly war with long extended consequences. The political leaders played upon the nature of what makes up a Southern person's character: loyalty, patriotism, honor, love of God and family. In addition, more than once was God's name invoked to claim righteousness for their actions. Southerners put their faith in their leaders and their leaders failed them. I will add that when leaders make the decision to go to war, it is a duty to one's country to protect it. That's why its so important not to go to war unnecessarily.

I listened to both my grandmothers talk of the aftermath of the Civil War. It hit the South hard. Both lovely Southerner women felt a deep hatred toward Yankees because of that treatment. Honestly, neither understood that we had brought the war on ourselves. They felt the South was justified in defending their home. 

One of my great-grandmothers from northern Alabama wrote her autobiography. She details how her father left for war, hearing distant cannon fire, her father returning home injuried and then leaving again never to return. She wrote of the hardship of bringing up her siblings after her mother also died. She lived in a small cabin and only a little land to farm. They were extremely poor and obviously had never had any slaves. The descendants of these kind of people (which were the majority) are the ones that hold to the pride of the Confederacy—when the call came out to defend what they felt was their country, they answered and so many made the ultimate sacrifice. Their descendants felt the harsh consequences of the war. That is what is embedded in their souls.

When they looked at the Confederate flag, they saw pride in those that came before, but what they didn't realize was others took that flag and made it their symbol of hate. That hate is not the South where I was raised. I was taught to respect all people and never judge anyone by the color of their skin...and I was raised in the deep South. In turn, that hate has tainted the flag. We have to look beyond our tunnel vision and see the true victims were the slaves. They were the innocents. When they look at the Confederate flag, they don't see pride in ancestors. They see chains. 

Its hard for me to say that the South brought it on ourselves. For a long time, I justified the war by saying it was about States' rights. The Yankees shouldn't have told us what to do...but what is the saying? Pride cometh before the fall. 

Don't be mistaken—I love the South— I love the people— I love my country, but if history teaches us anything, its to use one of our most precious rights—Freedom of Speech. 

If what our leaders are doing doesn't feel right, we need to speak up. Because we live in America, we have a right to understand our country's actions. We need to learn from history. We need to use our voice. 

More importantly, our leaders need to listen. It is their duty to do so.

Don't forget the past—Remember!