Thursday, March 08, 2012

Buffalo Soldiers And Confederates In Socorro

John writes regarding a long-standing controversy in Socorro, NM:
The discovery of Confederate bones a few years ago has brought up some issues. I think the author of this article from Daily Kos has a valid point. If a monument is going to be built for Confederate soldiers it seems even more appropriate for a monument to also be built for the Buffalo Soldiers, many of whom lie in unmarked and forgotten graves in remote mountain locations.
I like accurate historical markers, with the proper weight given to each historical event. The neo-Confederates have a fetish about Southern history that is actually quite ahistorical, and thus inaccurate. Focusing on the Buffalo Soldiers threatens to make a similar mistake, but on the other side (although it’s important to note that, because of numbers, the neo-Confederate danger is real and present, whereas the Buffalo Soldier danger is almost-entirely hypothetical).

Maybe a Buffalo Soldier memorial at Ft. Craig, and a Confederate memorial in Socorro. Or whatever is the best approach to getting closest to the real history.

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