I don't know if you saw the show titled "Finding your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr." or not but it is another lesson on self-righteousness. Gates is the guy, if you recall, who was confronted entering his residence after dark. When the police busted him he was furious that he was a victim of racial profiling. Ever conscious of television moments, Barack Obama inserted himself into the fray and had a "beer summit" with Gates and the arresting police officer.
Watching the above-referenced television movie, I was amused to see the strings of Harry Connick, Jr. being yanked by Gates. He had Connick wishing he had been born black. When Gates revealed that Connick's great, great grandfather, Irish-born James M. Connick, had served three years with Co. 5 (Co. B?), Fifth Confederate Cavalry, Harry said "It's kind of shameful."
I'm not writing about this because of racial motives but from a perspective of family history. I had no relatives (to my knowledge) who served with the Confederacy le, although many Sullivans did. I'm just irked at the behaviour of Harry Connick in this interview. He's entitled to his opinion, of course, but Gates' agenda was obvious.
How can anyone be "ashamed" of their family heritage? The motives of Southerners were varied as to why they served the Confederacy. Some did so, no doubt, to preserve the "peculiar institution." But I doubt if a guy who emigrated from Ireland only to work on the docks of Mobile, Alabama was fighting to preserve slavery. I would opine the pay being offered was a whole lot more than laboring on the docks.
Shame on you Harry Connick. You were a puppet in the hands of Mr. Gates.
Watching the above-referenced television movie, I was amused to see the strings of Harry Connick, Jr. being yanked by Gates. He had Connick wishing he had been born black. When Gates revealed that Connick's great, great grandfather, Irish-born James M. Connick, had served three years with Co. 5 (Co. B?), Fifth Confederate Cavalry, Harry said "It's kind of shameful."
I'm not writing about this because of racial motives but from a perspective of family history. I had no relatives (to my knowledge) who served with the Confederacy le, although many Sullivans did. I'm just irked at the behaviour of Harry Connick in this interview. He's entitled to his opinion, of course, but Gates' agenda was obvious.
How can anyone be "ashamed" of their family heritage? The motives of Southerners were varied as to why they served the Confederacy. Some did so, no doubt, to preserve the "peculiar institution." But I doubt if a guy who emigrated from Ireland only to work on the docks of Mobile, Alabama was fighting to preserve slavery. I would opine the pay being offered was a whole lot more than laboring on the docks.
Shame on you Harry Connick. You were a puppet in the hands of Mr. Gates.
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