An older and angrier entry, but an interesting point
Very occasionally I abuse my blogging privileges and go on about something non-comic book related that annoys me, and that none of you regular readers will probably give a hoot about. This is one of those times.
So Lady Antebellum’s all around average country pop song “Need You Now” won a bazillion Grammys last night (beating Cee Lo Green’s “Fuck You” for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, which is ludicrous). They’re all over the news pages today, and I get upset EVERY time I see/hear their name. The word “antebellum” is a very specific term… it refers to the pre-Civil War American South, which was built damn near entirely on the backs of slaves. If you reference ANYTHING as “antebellum”, you bring with said reference the legacy of slavery… the two are inextricably connected.
Now, “antebellum” is a cool sounding word… I can see why someone…
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The Historian's Apprentice 
Hi Abbey,
An interesting repost, and one I completely disagree with. I think that there are just so many strange assumptions there. I’m born and raised in the northern United States, and my reaction is a far cry from the “south will rise again” mantra, so I have no inherent ax to grind. The logic just fails me here.
For instance, I am a firm believer that the southern states should NOT be flying a Confederate Battle Flag from a government building (federal, state, or local), because it is a GOVERNMENT building, and that government is not the Confederate States of America. By the same token though, I believe that if you choose to hang a 30 foot Confederate Battle Flag on your own roof, or in your garage, or in your bedroom, then go for it. Says so right in the First Amendment. If you have a band you want to call Hitler’s Henchmen, you have that right (although I’m pretty sure you won’t get a gig playing for the B’nai B’rith annual fundraiser).
Antebellum is a word that means “before the war”. Any other association is cultural. Does the author propose eliminating the words plantation, cotton, Virginia, Carolina (or any other southern state) from “public” entertainment names? I’m guessing the bands Dixie Chicks, Alabama, Atlanta Rhythm Section, and the book “A Confederacy of Dunces” must make Mr. Hanley crazy.
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I completely agree. In my opinion, the word is part of a dating system used by Historians and scholars in the same way Victorian or Stone Age may be used. In fact, I am using the term in my dissertation to define time constraints on the period in question. I feel like the original blogger has taken a Google definition of the word, seen the phrase Civil War and replied with an outcry. Even if the word was truly defined as ‘a period of enslavement that is a stain in the memory of the American public’, I don’t think it should rightly be removed from language however, in the same way we should continue to visit and recognise the concentration camps in Auchwitz – we are more likely to repeat what we do not remember. However, it did make me question whether the artist had had these same thoughts when naming their band
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Great read thankss
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