Source : Cornerstone Speech, 1861, Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens
A fair and accurate assessment. It is true of Racism today - an evil we know not well how to deal with, but which we trust will pass away.“The prevailing ideas entertained by most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with, but the general opinion of the men of that day was that, somehow or other in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away.
The events of the 40s show that such passing may have to be assisted by means up to and including the use of nuclear weapons on organised Racists. Or conventional weapons in suitably horrific quantities. Hamburg. Dresden. Rostock. Tokyo.
Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the "storm came and the wind blew."
Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery — subordination to the superior race — is his natural and normal condition.
This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.
The first, but alas, not the last. Hence Auschwitz. Hence Hamburg, Dresden, Rostock, Tokyo and other cities not completely razed by Firestorm, just gutted.
Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect well, that this truth was not generally admitted, even within their day. Those at the North, who still cling to these errors, with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics. All fanaticism springs from an aberration of the mind — from a defect in reasoning. It is a species of insanity. One of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is forming correct conclusions from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the anti-slavery fanatics; their conclusions are right if their premises were. They assume that the negro is equal, and hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man. If their premises were correct, their conclusions would be logical and just — but their premise being wrong, their whole argument fails. “
Bottom line: the Might Makes Right Racists lost. Twice. Once at Appomatox Courthouse, once at Luneburg Heath. Don't punch Nazis, eradicate them. Hopefully by education rather than incendiaries.
