Sharon Kennedy: Shelby Foote and the great compromise

Recently I was listening to an interview of the late Shelby Foote, a Southern novelist who focused on the American Civil War. During the interview, he spoke about something he called the “Great Compromise.” The way he explained it was simple. He believed Southerners thought it best that the Union wasn’t divided. He also believed Northerners grudgingly admitted their admiration for the boys in gray who bravely fought for their cause.

In 1994, Foote was convinced enough time had passed and the war could be looked at with “some coolness,” which previously had seemed impossible. He believed “No soldier on either side gave a damn about the slaves. The Northerners wanted to subdue the Southern threat of secession and keep the union intact.” He also believed Blacks didn’t want to be reminded of their history.

Foote defended the Confederate flag and considered Black’s objection to it, “A violation of the compromise and an arousal of bitterness.” If he had lived another 10 years, his definition of the Great Compromise might have changed. His supposition that various ethnic groups would live in peace was mistaken because his compromise was an illusion based on his Southern roots. He thought things were settled. He didn’t know Blacks would continue to be demeaned and White Nationalists would rise from the ashes. Contrary to his belief, neither group wanted to forget history. They wanted to rewrite it.

As I listened to Foote, I heard unexpected parallels between the North and South in our country and the Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. The brutal atrocities committed by Hamas were vile. Nothing in the Civil War compares to the vicious attacks on Israelis, but is it possible that something akin to them could happen here as the level of animosity between the races increases? Most people want to live in peace but there’s always a fringe element that wants to destroy.

The Ottoman Empire occupied Palestine for centuries. After WW1 the League of Nations placed Palestine under the rule of Great Britain. When British troops left in 1948, Israel became a state and Palestine was handed to the United Nations. The UN recommended partitioning the Gaza Strip into two states, one Arab, the other Jewish, but the Jews believed Gaza belonged to them through Divine Right. They captured the territory during the six-day war in 1967. Years later, Israeli troops forced Zionist Jews to return to Israel and leave the settlements they had built. Some Jews said their own people had accomplished something Hamas couldn’t. At the time, they didn’t know they were being protected from what was to come.

Hamas had won a civil war in 2007 and seized control of Gaza, but Israel still controlled the borders, sea and sky. It’s impossible to understand the politics, religion and power struggles in the Middle East, but is it possible that what’s happening there is happening here to a miniscule degree? Thus far no citizens have been dragged from their homes and killed or held hostage. The violence is being played out on the political stage, but who or what is waiting in the wings? While our eyes are on Israel, our own Constitution and the rule of law are being questioned. If this trend continues, what will our future hold? Historians know the seeds to many current troubles can be traced to the past.

Foote’s Great Compromise was based on faulty assumptions. Let’s hope our Constitution has an unshakable, rock-solid foundation and a second Civil War will be avoided.

— To contact Sharon Kennedy, send her an email at sharonkennedy1947@gmail.com. Kennedy's new book, "View from the SideRoad: A Collection of Upper Peninsula Stories," is available from her or Amazon.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Sharon Kennedy: Shelby Foote and the great compromise