with me in finding both the theologyrnand the social program dubious.rnOn Reconstructing thernSouthrnWhile there is much to praise in MichaelrnHill’s “The South and the New Reconstruction”rn(March 1997), there is a streakrnof unreality and wishfulness in the articlernwhich begs attention. For example, whatrnwould the Southern League have us dornwith the masses of Northerners—aA/arnYankees—who inhabit the region? Or,rnfor another twist, what am I, or anyonernfrom the neo-quasi-secessionist movement,rnto say to my father and grandfatherrnwho are, respectively, veterans ofrnWodd Wars II and I, who fought for thernUnited States under the Stars andrnStripes? Are their wounds and blood lessrnsignificant than my great-great-grandfathersrnwho fought and suffered for thernGray at Perryville, Shiloh, and Brice’srnCrossroads? For “identity,” do we gamblernover three generations of experience,rnvirtue, sacrifice, and accomplishmentrnmerely to celebrate an ancient age?rnLastly, Mr. Hill asserts, “Only in thernSouth, and particularly the rural South,rnis there a sufficiently large populationrnrooted in the old ways to allow for a successfulrnmovement against the forces ofrnglobal reconstruction.” I completelyrnagree with Mr. Hill’s aversion to “globalrnreconstruction,” but, please, let ourrnhopes not reside on the back of Bubba!rnTruth is, the “rural South” which Mr.rnHill champions has been despoiled byrnthe culture wars. For example, here inrnWest Tennessee, within 60 miles ofrnMenrphis, a small town of some 5,000rnhas been beset by all the urban problems:rngang violence, escalating teenrnpregnancies, rape, murder, and the chaosrnof federalized social experimentation inrnthe ubiquitous public schools. The ruralrnstretches do not have a monopoly onrnpublic virtue, especially in light of a Wal-rnMart on every corner and a satellite dishrnin each yard, beaming in the same smutrnand filth “enjoyed” in San Francisco,rnBoston, St. Paul, Billings, and Fairbanks.rnSo, while I concur with Mr. Hill inrnmuch of his analysis, I cannot agree withrnhis sunny hopefulness attached to thernsupposed veomen of the South. Ours isrna blighted region indeed, overflowingrnwith the refuse of the tundra districtsrnand the machinations of Madison Avenuernand Hollywood. Given the greedrnwithin the American psyche, there is,rnperhaps, only a shade of difference betweenrna 14- or 50-year-old in Memphisrnor Bucksnort and his counterpart in, say,rnAlbany, Portland, or Rockford.rn—Terrenes Neal Brow?:rnMemphis, TNrnDr. Hill Replies:rnMr. Brown raises some valid points. Inrnregard to what is to be done with thernhordes of Yankees who have come South,rnI suggest we either educate them andrnmake them into good Southerners or deprivernthem of air conditioning and forcernthem northward again.rnOn the second point, my father andrnfather-in-law were veterans of the Koreanrnconflict and World War II, respectively,rnand both came to realize toward the endrnof their lives that the country for whichrnthey fought had forsaken them and theirrnkith and kin. Both abhorred the fact thatrnthey had risked their lives so that thernDemocrats and Republicans could sellrnout America’s national sovereignty to therninternationalists. Thev often told mernstories of the myriad Confederate flagsrntaken into battle by Southern-dominatedrnunits in both wars. (Can you imaginernthat in today’s Armed Services?)rnNo one doubts or questions the sacrificesrnmade by millions of our fathers andrngrandfathers. Many patriotic Southernrnmen (whose numbers in the UnitedrnStates military were far out of proportionrnto the Southern population as a whole)rnbraved enemy bullets in the belief thatrnthey would return from war havingrnproven themselves “good Americans,”rnand thus would be afforded the nation’srnrespect. This was not to be the case,rnhowever. Less than a decade after WorldrnWar II ended, the same government thatrnhad sent them to war then began the ongoingrnassault on the symbols and historyrnof the South. Many of those old fellowsrnremember it as the Second Reconstructionrn(i.e., the “civil rights movement”).rnSimply put. Southerners were duped byrnan unscrupulous government which understoodrnand exploited their urge to fightrnfor hearth and home, and this was howrnthe wars of the 20th century were sold tornthem. Of course, it was all a lie. Theyrnfought instead for the furtherance of anrnAmerican Empire that their Confederaternancestors had fought against.rnI agree with Mr. Brown that thernscourge of modernism has reached evenrnthe most unreconstructed Bubbas allrnover the South. My own hometown ofrn3,000 people in northwest Alabama suffersrnfrom ills unimagined just a quarterrncentury ago. I do not, therefore, laborrnunder the illusion that it will be easy tornrouse even rural, Bible-believing Southernersrnfrom their lethargy. However,rnthere are still legions of folks south of thernMason-Dixon line who have but a thinrnveneer of modernity to be scraped awayrnbefore revealing the real man or womanrnunderneath. The task of the SouthernrnLeague is to rally these good folks andrngive them an alternative to the presentrndilemma. No, it will not be easy, but it isrnour duty and we shall do it—win, lose, orrndraw.rnOn TransnationalismrnIn Bill Kauffman’s sermon “Wodd Citizensrnon Mam Street” (March 1997), herndecries the purchase of a local Batavia,rnNew York, tractor factory by a Germanrnfirm as an example of foreign “Teutonicrnovedords . . . tied to Batavia only by thernflimsy cord of the almighty dollar.” Usingrnsuch epithets as “executioners” andrn”the Germans goosestepped out ofrntown,” he attempts to build a casernagainst “internationalization—the impositionrnof alien practices and culturalrnforms on native populations,” admittedlyrna deplorable trend. Mr. Kauffmanrnthen describes the “puckish humor andrngentle mercy” of the new owners of thernfactory who “one week before Christmasrn.. . without repercussion” fire all salariedrnemployees “within a few years of a fullrnpension,” and then a couple years laterrn”goosestep out of town, leaving an emptyrnfactory and devastated lives in theirrnwake.” Mr. Kauffman has fallen prey tornpost hoc reasoning, not to mention a bitrnof race baiting.rnFirst, what would Mr. Kauffman say ifrnthe new owners had been Californians ofrnGerman ancestry (or lowans of Swedishrnancestry or Anzonans of Italian ancestry)rnbut had done the same thing? Would hernconclude that if an American had purchasedrnthe firm the latter would haernbeen able to keep everyone on the payrollrnup to full pension and make the factoryrnprofitable? Second, it takes two partiesrnto consummate a business sale. Didn’trnlULY 1997/5rnrnrn