Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is backpedaling on her startling lack of clarity on the cause of the Civil War. At a town hall meeting in Berlin, New Hampshire, Haley appeared to forget that slavery was at the root of the bloody conflict that sundered our young nation. She was called out by an attendee, who expressed astonishment that she didn’t mention the defining issue of the war.
Haley initially responded that the war broke out due to disagreement on “how the government” was going to run, but the attendee was having none of it. Haley became defensive when the attendee said slavery was the cause and he was shocked that she didn’t say so. Haley responded, “What do you want me to say about slavery? Next question.” Clearly, she wasn’t prepared to defend her position on the matter.
However, on Thursday, Haley seemed to have reconsidered her initial response, telling the “Good Morning New Hampshire” radio show that “of course the Civil War was about slavery.” Her defense was that she thought when the audience member had asked about the cause of the Civil War, he meant the issues that led up to it, rather than the direct causes, such as slavery. In retrospect, Haley said that she should have been clearer in her response.
This confusion is troubling, especially given that Haley is a former Governor of South Carolina, a state that was at the heart of the Confederacy, and a state that is still grappling with its own history of racial animus. In 2015, Haley led the charge to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse, saying that it represented “a sick and twisted ideology” that had no place in modern society. And yet, her response to the audience member seemed to muddy the waters of history, potentially opening the door to more revisionist ideas about the Civil War.
It’s worth noting that this comes at a time when Confederate statues and other memorials are being removed from public spaces across the country. Many believe that these monuments represent a glorification of slavery, and serve to provide false myths for modern-day racists. The Confederacy was founded on the idea of slavery, and to suggest otherwise is to ignore the principles upon which the Confederacy was built.
Haley’s response also plays into a larger narrative about the Republican party’s willingness to ignore issues of race. Critics of the party argue that they have been far too quick to dismiss accusations of racism, and have even embraced some of the uglier aspects of American history. Haley’s reversal is a good step in the right direction, but it remains to be seen whether the Republican party will follow her lead.
