I'll Take My Stand in Dixie-Net

In Tara McPherson’s I’ll Take My Stand in Dixie-Net, McPherson examines why people support the Confederate ideology over the internet. McPherson examined the phenomenon and refers to these actions as “Cyber-whitening.” Cyber-whitening represents the belief of internet users that Confederate south will once again become an independent nation. McPherson attempts to explain why there are groups who use the internet and attempt to make it white.
McPherson starts to explain early in her article that “neo-Confederates” use the internet to preserve the heritage of the Confederacy. According to McPherson, Those who attempt to preserve Southern heritage are predominately in two different classes. The first is white males between the ages of eighteen to thirty and the second class is forty-five to sixty-year-old group. Most of the sites have information on the civil war and merchants, but McPherson discloses that some of the websites have an area in which they report so-called “Heritage violations.” Heritage violations according to McPherson generally are reports of removing Confederate images. While some websites just inform Confederate supporters information on “Heritage violations,” other website offer information on the ideal that the South envisions another succession from the North. On one website that McPherson came across, McPherson described a map that had the original eleven states of the Confederacy in Confederate grey and the rest of the states in the United States filled in with a different color. Furthermore, McPherson discloses that she feels, “a new Confederacy and a virtual secession at precisely the moment that black Americans are moving to the South in greater numbers than they are leaving it for the first time since the Civil War.” McPherson also notes that many of those who are part of this virtual-Dixie believe in “Lost Cause” sentiments. These sentiments are used to remember the Civil War through celebrations such as “Civil War Memorial Day.” These celebrations show there is still Confederate pride. One may wonder why anyone would want to build a virtual Confederacy. Well by building a virtual Confederacy, McPherson believes supporters will be able to regulate who is included and can discuss the South and its heritage. In other words they are attempting to segregate the internet.
It is clear to see there is an attempt to rebuild the Confederacy, but not in reality. Rather through the internet Confederate supports are able to hold on to the beliefs of the South and discuss their beliefs with others without outside interference from anti-defamation groups. I feel this is disturbing because there is potential, although unlikely, to segregate the internet. Here is an example if the internet would become segregated. Time Warner, for example, would sell internet service in two different packages based on race. The white customer would receive high speed internet and free roam to any webpage while the African American customer would receive the dial up internet, be charged the same price for the lesser service, and be limited to what websites he/she could view. It is clear to see there is still a want for the South to be an independent nation and that is very troubling.