Honest, legitimate historical revisionism refers to the reexamination
and reviewing of the stories told as history, with an eye to updating them
with more recently discovered, more unbiased, or more accurate
information. Broadly, it is the approach that history as it has been
traditionally told may not be entirely accurate and may be subject to
review.
One of the problems with history is telling the story with accuracy,
proper analysis, and the kind of interpretation that lends itself to
understanding the connectivity of the parts in telling the story. Some
aspects of southern history has been held captive under the spell of the
Dunning school of historical interpretation. A chief proponent of this
interpretation of history was led by W. L Fleming, an Auburn
University-trained and Alabama-bred historian. And, because he was a
southerner, Fleming offered a biased view of Reconstruction, including an
anti-black sentiment that has come to symbolize the accepted norms of
African American institutional deficiencies.
But Richard Bailey, in Neither Carpetbaggers Nor Scalawags: Black
Officeholders during the Reconstruction of Alabama, 1867-1878, as an
historical revisionist committed to critical historical analysis and
interpretation, reexamines and reviews the role of African Americans
during Reconstruction. Bailey elevates the discussion to a fine point, one
' that easily could be overlooked if he did not have such a good grasp on
the overriding purpose of this book: to dispel notions, stereotypes, and
blame often heaped upon African Americans during Reconstruction,
particularly those rooted in the Dunning interpretation, for a host of
evils occurring in the South following the Civil War.
This is significant because that same cloud of doubt regarding the
contributions made by southern African Americans, as well as their ability
to handle the same responsibilities that every other ethnic and racial
group was credited with in this country, continues to haunt African
Americans today. So, Bailey gives new meaning to a term so often vilified
in southern history, Negro domination, and with a new edition of this
important work, encourages us to see history through a different set of
lenses. This book provides the other side of the positive, untold story of
Reconstruction, and the role, good and bad, that blacks played. Bailey
helps us to understand that they played the same role as other Alabamians.
But this is only one good reason for the book. There are many others
that serve to inspire all Alabamians, especially African American males.
In a time when African American males head too many negative demographic
statistical columns, it is refreshing to rediscover good news about the
achievements of black males. This book challenges and inspires African
Americans today because it shows, against great social and economic
disadvantage, black officeholders in the aftermath of the Civil War,
managed to function just as effectively as their white colleagues. This is
important because instead of allowing themselves to be merely "victims"
and not masters of their own fate, African American officeholders took the
proverbial bull by the horns and successfully met this challenge contained
in the question: "Can they (African Americans) do it (govern, lead)?" This
book inspires anyone who reads it because ultimately one discovers an
important fact: In a new millennium, where any of our nation's heroes
either top the music charts, outrun, jump, and outscore others, it is
refreshing to remind all Alabamians about the contribution of African
Americans.
