The South Will Rise Again
Political Columnist
APLEBLOG
Though the War Between the States, otherwise known as the Civil War, has been over for close to 150 years, a remnant of the Confederate ideology still thrives, particularly in the South. Nostalgic for a past gone with the wind, the South continues to challenge the federal government on issues pertaining to civil rights as it relates to States’ rights and the Tenth Amendment. Emancipation, integration, civil and voting rights, Medicare, and health care reform are benchmark legislation enacted by Congress that not only defines a civilization, but emphasized the federal government’s longstanding constitutional power to impose civil standards on the States. Nevertheless, federal sovereignty remains a point of conflict for those who subscribe to the Confederate ideology; the age-old challenge on grounds of a violation of the Tenth Amendment has not changed since mid 1800s.