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February 6, 2015 7:17 AM Subscribe
The Brazilian Town Where the American Confederacy Lives On 'I asked if she knew there was a connection between slavery and the American South. "I've never heard that before," she said. She wasn't sure why her ancestors had left the States. "I know they came. I don't really know the reason," she said. "Is it because of racism?" She smiled, embarrassed. "Don't tell my grandmother!"'
I did a lot of work in grad school about Civil War memory and how various groups have utilized it over the years and I can get all academic and thoughtful and long-winded about it and everything, but for some reason this Confederate community in Brazil stuff just makes me sick.
posted by marxchivist at 7:36 AM on February 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by marxchivist at 7:36 AM on February 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
I'm reminded of something I learned from the C.S.A. Mockumentary - apparently the Confederacy was planning on trying to expand down through Central and South America if they'd won the Civil War.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:36 AM on February 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:36 AM on February 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
When I read this, I get the same feeling I got when learning about the history/present of French anti-Semitism. The same reaction to learning about present-day Japanese conservatives annoyed with criticism of the Imperial Japanese Army during WW2. It really, really upsets me how desperate people like this are to ignore historical context, if it makes their daily lives even slightly less uncomfortable. Social critics don't bring up "unpleasant things" because they want others to suffer. Critics point out uncomfortable truths so that people understand how common and easy it is to take advantage of others, and how to prevent similar situations from arising in the future. I wish I had something more productive to say.
posted by IShouldBeStudyingRightNow at 7:48 AM on February 6, 2015 [19 favorites]
posted by IShouldBeStudyingRightNow at 7:48 AM on February 6, 2015 [19 favorites]
I'm reminded of something I learned from the C.S.A. Mockumentary - apparently the Confederacy was planning on trying to expand down through Central and South America if they'd won the Civil War.
I'm not surprised. Contrary to confederate revisionism, the ideological reason for the secession was about expanding slavery rather than protecting it or non-slavery politics. Had the secessionists not gotten pissy over not getting what they wanted with Kansas and popular sovereignty, they would have owned American government for at least another decade.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 7:54 AM on February 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
I'm not surprised. Contrary to confederate revisionism, the ideological reason for the secession was about expanding slavery rather than protecting it or non-slavery politics. Had the secessionists not gotten pissy over not getting what they wanted with Kansas and popular sovereignty, they would have owned American government for at least another decade.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 7:54 AM on February 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
Perhaps because it's so far away and the people involved are foreigners who really don't have direct experience with America, I find myself oddly not too upset with this. I'm generally a virulent anti-Confederate, but this seems less like American Neo-Confederate beliefs and more like LARPing or something. It's distasteful to me, but a lot of it looks more like Brazilians appropriating the culture of the American South than anything else.
Not that Brazil doesn't have a godawful history of racism, and current racial issues that seem in many ways to make America look like a place of racial harmony (Sexo e as Negas anyone?) But since the American civil war wasn't theirs I appear to see their use of Gone With the Wind style clothes and stuff to be more like culturally insensitive cosplay than anything else.
Now the Americans going down there, they're a different story altogether...
posted by sotonohito at 7:57 AM on February 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
Not that Brazil doesn't have a godawful history of racism, and current racial issues that seem in many ways to make America look like a place of racial harmony (Sexo e as Negas anyone?) But since the American civil war wasn't theirs I appear to see their use of Gone With the Wind style clothes and stuff to be more like culturally insensitive cosplay than anything else.
Now the Americans going down there, they're a different story altogether...
posted by sotonohito at 7:57 AM on February 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
It's interesting how they've adopted the costumes and general message, while whitewashing the worst bits, for a joyous and happy festival.
Still want to burn it with fire though.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:07 AM on February 6, 2015
Still want to burn it with fire though.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:07 AM on February 6, 2015
I thought about going to this last fall while I was visiting Brasil. At the time, it seemed like a rather pleasant day trip.
Instead, I went to Oktoberfest at a really cute little Bavarian village near Porto Alegre.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:15 AM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
Instead, I went to Oktoberfest at a really cute little Bavarian village near Porto Alegre.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:15 AM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
...apparently the Confederacy was planning on trying to expand down through Central and South America if they'd won the Civil War.
They were trying it before the Civil War.
posted by marxchivist at 8:16 AM on February 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
They were trying it before the Civil War.
posted by marxchivist at 8:16 AM on February 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
If there's any nation which can take the sting out of race, it's Brazil. These are, after all, the people who self-reported 134 skin colours for a study by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.
posted by clawsoon at 8:19 AM on February 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 8:19 AM on February 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
Compared to the account of present-day slavery in Brazil, the antics of descendants of Confederates who settled in Brazil holding a stupid festival that whitewashes history seems trivial. Undoubtedly the event functions in some ways as a field day for racists, but the stories of Bolivians enslaving their fellow immigrants, and even their own family, shows you don't need racism in the mix to produce something genuinely horrible.
It actually suggests an interesting question: the Confederates used racism to justify a system of slavery that was economically beneficial to their ruling class. Do modern-day slaveholders need some similarly spurious sociological premise to rationalize their behavior?
posted by layceepee at 8:57 AM on February 6, 2015
It actually suggests an interesting question: the Confederates used racism to justify a system of slavery that was economically beneficial to their ruling class. Do modern-day slaveholders need some similarly spurious sociological premise to rationalize their behavior?
posted by layceepee at 8:57 AM on February 6, 2015
The confederates wanted to divide North America from South America and OMG, it happened!
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:03 AM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:03 AM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
the town of Americana, which was settled by Southern defectors 150 years ago
Do you want Draka? Because this is how you get Draka.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:12 AM on February 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
Do you want Draka? Because this is how you get Draka.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:12 AM on February 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
When people have festivals like this, what they really enjoy is the costumes and the idea of a leisured, opulent, quaint lifestyle. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it's so frustrating that they can't or won't think about it more deeply and realize exactly what they're glorifying, and look for a way to stage a historical re-enactment without glorifying the system of slavery that made that leisured lifestyle possible for some.
posted by orange swan at 9:26 AM on February 6, 2015
posted by orange swan at 9:26 AM on February 6, 2015
It actually suggests an interesting question: the Confederates used racism to justify a system of slavery that was economically beneficial to their ruling class. Do modern-day slaveholders need some similarly spurious sociological premise to rationalize their behavior?
My conjecture, after learning more about some of my own ancestors' role in agitating for the Civil War, is that racism was primary a useful political lever for keeping popular sentiment aligned behind slavery as an institution; looking at the history of the civil war with a larger, historical focus, you start to see how many of the early slavers really seemed to be adapting older modes of exploitative labor relations to a new historical and geographical setting. No doubt, they did actually believe their own marketing, as most effective sales people do. The ancestors in my own family history who bought and sold slaves were reputedly descendants of European nobles, and one can easily imagine that from their POV, slavery as an institution was really just business as usual, a way to perpetuate the Old World system of Freedom by Blood Right that had benefited them for so many generations. I think there's been some other scholarship critical of that interpretation, but it seems to hold up in the case of my father's ancestors at least.
Having seen the personally destructive effects that can come of clinging too stubbornly to the past within my own immediate family, this kind of thing definitely seems to fall somewhere along the banality of evil continuum to me. It's like, even when evil systems are dismantled, little structural bits of those defunct systems get spread around, some of them with the potential to take root in a friendly cultural setting and grow out of control all over again.
posted by saulgoodman at 9:40 AM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
My conjecture, after learning more about some of my own ancestors' role in agitating for the Civil War, is that racism was primary a useful political lever for keeping popular sentiment aligned behind slavery as an institution; looking at the history of the civil war with a larger, historical focus, you start to see how many of the early slavers really seemed to be adapting older modes of exploitative labor relations to a new historical and geographical setting. No doubt, they did actually believe their own marketing, as most effective sales people do. The ancestors in my own family history who bought and sold slaves were reputedly descendants of European nobles, and one can easily imagine that from their POV, slavery as an institution was really just business as usual, a way to perpetuate the Old World system of Freedom by Blood Right that had benefited them for so many generations. I think there's been some other scholarship critical of that interpretation, but it seems to hold up in the case of my father's ancestors at least.
Having seen the personally destructive effects that can come of clinging too stubbornly to the past within my own immediate family, this kind of thing definitely seems to fall somewhere along the banality of evil continuum to me. It's like, even when evil systems are dismantled, little structural bits of those defunct systems get spread around, some of them with the potential to take root in a friendly cultural setting and grow out of control all over again.
posted by saulgoodman at 9:40 AM on February 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
Do modern-day slaveholders need some similarly spurious sociological premise to rationalize their behavior?
Oh and yes, I think they do. That's the kind of thing Mitt Romney's 45% comments are all about: defining a new class of the population that "deserves" what they get from exploitative labor and wealth transfer arrangements.
posted by saulgoodman at 9:43 AM on February 6, 2015 [10 favorites]
Oh and yes, I think they do. That's the kind of thing Mitt Romney's 45% comments are all about: defining a new class of the population that "deserves" what they get from exploitative labor and wealth transfer arrangements.
posted by saulgoodman at 9:43 AM on February 6, 2015 [10 favorites]
When people have festivals like this, what they really enjoy is the costumes and the idea of a leisured, opulent, quaint lifestyle. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it's so frustrating that they can't or won't think about it more deeply and realize exactly what they're glorifying, and look for a way to stage a historical re-enactment without glorifying the system of slavery that made that leisured lifestyle possible for some.
Much in the same way that I put on goofy hats for St. Patrick's Day or Christmas without giving a single thought of the harm Christianity did (and continues to do today) for the sake of expanding its sphere of influence.
posted by dances with hamsters at 9:43 AM on February 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
Much in the same way that I put on goofy hats for St. Patrick's Day or Christmas without giving a single thought of the harm Christianity did (and continues to do today) for the sake of expanding its sphere of influence.
posted by dances with hamsters at 9:43 AM on February 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
Not to say Romney's consciously doing that, because I doubt he would ever consciously mean to do something so obviously malicious. It's just that one of the skills successful people in our culture often seem to have is an ability to see the world unambiguously in terms with the most potential to maximize their own personal opportunity. Those among us who tend to view the world according to conceptual frames that lead to immediate personal benefits for themselves get selected as "winners" due to the short-term focus of our economic incentives, and so, they end up with more power to shape the views of the culture at large. That's how it seems to be working to me at least.
posted by saulgoodman at 9:57 AM on February 6, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by saulgoodman at 9:57 AM on February 6, 2015 [3 favorites]
I think this is relevant (saulgoodman's comments, in particular) with the latest bout of anti-intellectual actions of certain Republican politicians (Walker, Brownback, et al) attacks on education, support of anti-vaxx, anti-handwashing, etc... They really want to take us back to a feudal age. In some ways, I argue, we never had a true land/property reform that ever eradicated feudalism 100%, and the mentality continued into industrial capitalism, and still taint things to this day. The Revolution was a continuation of feudalism in some sense, with a little bit more freedom for some people and a lot less freedom for a bunch of others. The agrarian south vs industrial north led to a division and a war regarding slavery, but the southern mindset (feudalistic/aristocratic) still ruled a large segment of the population, but it painted itself as a populist movement, the way race was used as a divisional tool. We still see it in the attacks on people using government systems for help ("welfare", food stamps, etc...) Using the stereotypes (obviously, black people are the people on welfare, amirite), we use these coded words to preach a racial concept while pushing towards a lower standard for the majority - while pinning the gaze towards the underdogs instead of those who stand to benefit most: the aristocratic, feudalist landlords.
I think the way forward requires real massive change in how we think about property and ownership - not just "Capital" in the Marxist sense of "Ownership of the means of production" but of Land itself.
I don't think Georgism is the best way forward, necessarily, but I think there are some hints there at the next sort of changes we need to implement in order to radically alter our social structures.
Of course, those who make the rules are going to rig it in their favor, and it will still be endless battles.
posted by symbioid at 10:21 AM on February 6, 2015
I think the way forward requires real massive change in how we think about property and ownership - not just "Capital" in the Marxist sense of "Ownership of the means of production" but of Land itself.
I don't think Georgism is the best way forward, necessarily, but I think there are some hints there at the next sort of changes we need to implement in order to radically alter our social structures.
Of course, those who make the rules are going to rig it in their favor, and it will still be endless battles.
posted by symbioid at 10:21 AM on February 6, 2015
At the entrance to the festa, two muscled bodyguards patted the attendees down, checking their arms and necks against four Xeroxed sheets of paper that outlined in Portuguese 42 white-supremacist symbols—the SS, the Iron Cross, the swastika, KKK. They'd been instructed to eject anyone with these markings from the party. It had been a problem in years prior.Quick, someone xerox those sheets and send them to Rand Paul.
posted by benito.strauss at 10:33 AM on February 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
I always have a hard time whenever Vice reports on something as they played fast and loose with reality for so long, I can never completely believe them if they are the only source.
posted by wyndham at 10:41 AM on February 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by wyndham at 10:41 AM on February 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's interesting how they've adopted the costumes and general message, while whitewashing the worst bits, for a joyous and happy festival.
Complete this sentence: "This year at Thanksgiving, the majority of Americans _______________."
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:53 AM on February 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
Complete this sentence: "This year at Thanksgiving, the majority of Americans _______________."
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:53 AM on February 6, 2015 [6 favorites]
When people have festivals like this, what they really enjoy is the costumes and the idea of a leisured, opulent, quaint lifestyle. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it's so frustrating that they can't or won't think about it more deeply and realize exactly what they're glorifying
Yeah, but it wasn't Brazil's war. I don't expect them to be "appropriately" solemn and reverent towards the superficial stuff associated with an American mistake. It just doesn't mean the same thing as if the League of the South threw a Gone With the Wind themed party.
posted by spaltavian at 11:16 AM on February 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yeah, but it wasn't Brazil's war. I don't expect them to be "appropriately" solemn and reverent towards the superficial stuff associated with an American mistake. It just doesn't mean the same thing as if the League of the South threw a Gone With the Wind themed party.
posted by spaltavian at 11:16 AM on February 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
I thought about going to this last fall while I was visiting Brasil. At the time, it seemed like a rather pleasant day trip.
Instead, I went to Oktoberfest at a really cute little Bavarian village near Porto Alegre.
well, that's one way to tour South America... did you meet any Schicklgrubers?
posted by ennui.bz at 11:29 AM on February 6, 2015
Instead, I went to Oktoberfest at a really cute little Bavarian village near Porto Alegre.
well, that's one way to tour South America... did you meet any Schicklgrubers?
posted by ennui.bz at 11:29 AM on February 6, 2015
did you meet any Schicklgrubers?
no, but maybe he saw this guy
posted by pyramid termite at 3:06 PM on February 6, 2015
no, but maybe he saw this guy
posted by pyramid termite at 3:06 PM on February 6, 2015
this strikes me as a peculiar combination of unknowing cultural appropriation and "not wanting to know" cultural heritage - in an american context, it's pretty awful, at least to bad old yankee me - i think the brazilian context is a lot more complex than that
by the way, rita lee of os mutantes was a descendant of confederate immigrants which is probably why her parody of janis joplin in o meu refrigerador nao funciona is so authentic sounding
posted by pyramid termite at 3:20 PM on February 6, 2015
by the way, rita lee of os mutantes was a descendant of confederate immigrants which is probably why her parody of janis joplin in o meu refrigerador nao funciona is so authentic sounding
posted by pyramid termite at 3:20 PM on February 6, 2015
Thanks for that info, PT. I've been a fan of Os Mutantes for years but had recently started wondering if something like that might not be the case after reading a little more about Rita Lee's bio. Weird. Weren't they also active in Brazil's revolutionary movement along with Gilberto Gil?
posted by saulgoodman at 4:20 PM on February 6, 2015
posted by saulgoodman at 4:20 PM on February 6, 2015
it's my understanding that at the time, just playing an electric guitar was considered semi-revolutionary in brazil - also "panem et circenses" and "bat macumba" were co-written by gil and caetano veloso - veleso also wrote "baby" and co wrote "trem fantasma" with the group
so, yeah, they were part of that scene
posted by pyramid termite at 5:08 PM on February 6, 2015
so, yeah, they were part of that scene
posted by pyramid termite at 5:08 PM on February 6, 2015
saulgoodman, a book you might find interesting about the history of protest at that time is Brutality Garden. It's a fun read!
posted by winna at 3:55 AM on February 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by winna at 3:55 AM on February 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wonder how many of us have our own ancestors that we think of nostalgically who committed their own atrocities.
posted by yohko at 2:54 PM on February 7, 2015
posted by yohko at 2:54 PM on February 7, 2015
I wonder how many of us have our own ancestors that we think of nostalgically who committed their own atrocities.
If you're not imposing a time limit, every single one of as ancestors who are responsible for and victims of atrocities, and doubtless with overlap.
posted by spaltavian at 5:27 PM on February 8, 2015
If you're not imposing a time limit, every single one of as ancestors who are responsible for and victims of atrocities, and doubtless with overlap.
posted by spaltavian at 5:27 PM on February 8, 2015
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Maybe I shouldn't do that to the Brazilians, though.
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 7:21 AM on February 6, 2015