The New Past

Having successfully translated history into romance the South is now out to make a profit on it. The new version is being presented in The Civil War Centennial, a national pageant promoted by The White Citizens Councils, Life Magazine, the United States Government, and countless Southern Chambers of Commerce.

Gone with the wind is the struggle against slavery; here at last is the War that was actually a super-world-series. Everyone is urged to join the fun, and men like Senator Case of New Jersey should not try to spoil it by objecting that the Federal celebration is being held under segregated conditions.

For those of us all who have difficulty plunging into the holiday spirit, Life has undertaken to recreate the old Civil War atmosphere; to bring back those romantic days of busty belles, dashing Confederate heroes, and sleepy, loyal slaves who resented the Northern affront to Massah's rule. In addition to a grandiose series of syrupy, nostalgic articles, the editors present a "War Game" called 1863. It comes with a board that folds right out of the magazine, and later will be put on the market by Parker Bros., Inc., manufacturers of Monopoly.

"Everyone gets a chance to fight it over again," Life boasts, opposite a series of Union and Confederate flags which readers are told to cut out. There follows a complex page of instructions on "How to play the Civil War game," the humor of which is horrifying.

"Object. It is to wipe out enemy troops. The game is over when one side is wiped out or surrenders. A tie at the end of the game is a moral victory for the South. You maneuver your forces--as single units or armies composed of groups of units--to wipe out your enemy. You wipe out enemy troops in two ways . . .

Moves. As in checkers, you take turns moving. Unlike checkers, you can move all your pieces in one turn. . . ."

An arrow eventually bids you turn to Life's tour map, and repeats an estimate that this year 20 million Americans will buy cotton candy at Southern tourist traps. These they enumerate on the following three pages, beneath the heading, "What to see at the Battlesites."

The irony of the Civil War Centennial is not that the South is claiming victory, but that they indeed seem to have won. More terrifying than the game which Life has made of the Ciil War is the joke which the past 98 years has made of the Emancipation Proclamation. There was a time when the NAACP goal of "Free by '63" seemed realizable; it no longer does.

On the other hand, however, there is little reason to celebrate the centennial of Lincoln's decree. The Emancipation Proclamation could hardly be parlayed into a tourist attraction, and the rules of the game would be too simple.