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I am the great-great-great granddaughter of Stonewall Jackson….and I’m upset with what happened in Charlottesville

Growing up in California, it never occurred to me that my heritage as a great-great-great-granddaughter of Stonewall Jackson was something to note or be proud of.  I went to school and learned about the evils of the Civil War, and determined for myself at an early age that slavery was absolutely abhorrent. It took me years to realize that I never could, and never would truly understand how much my friends of color have to battle with racism every day of their lives, and just how much privilege I have in my life, not having to live in fear each time I walk outside of my house. My friends have patiently taught me to listen and be a supportive ally, which I try my best to do every day.

It wasn’t until I was in college that I realized that my heritage meant something to others, especially in the South. My first trip to the hometown of Stonewall Jackson in Lexington, Virginia for a family reunion was a shock when a bus full of tourists hopped off a bus and started taking pictures of the statue of Jackson and my family members. I learned to keep my mouth shut about my ancestry after a few experiences, where even in Spain an American acquaintance insisted on taking a photo with me to show off to all of his friends back home.  I felt ashamed, and then embarrassed. How could I be related to someone who fought for the enslavement of people? What does it mean that some Americans still celebrate him as a war hero?

What violence happened in Charlottesville is not how I see my family, and not how I see myself. Before the elections this past November, I had hopes to see our country move forward and follow up a great black president with a great woman president.  Now I am horrified as other families, like mine watch their ancestors’ likeness be used for hatred and violence, dragging our country in the backwards direction. I strongly believe that history should be preserved, but as a strong reminder of what not to do, driving us to push ourselves to look at how we can move as far from that grisly past as possible.

I feel that my family ties have implored me, as it has some of my cousins, to respond to the event that happened, which shocked and horrified me, from thousands of miles away. How can you justify the use of history to defend hatred, intolerance and violence?

The one thing I believe is that our country is not as divided as we fear. I am not the only descendant of the Confederate legacy, and not the only one who can barely watch the news in fear, watching destruction of our country. However, many of us are not speaking up which implies that we are accepting this intolerance. I will not comply and I will not allow the alt right to use my family’s identity for their purposes, and I encourage everyone to do the same. By speaking up we can show just how many Americans are against hatred and intolerance, and in solidarity we can stand against those who are trying to pull us down.

53 Comments

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  17. I’m just disappointed that so many people attach Stonewall Jackson’s statue and others to fighting to keep slavery alive. This was not what they were fighting for. Lee, Jackson and most others were against slavery. Slavery was a dying institution. Slavery wasn’t introduced in the war until July of 1863. That was simply to keep France and England from backing the south. A pure political move. Go study it. Then you’ll see…

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  36. I guess no one told you that Stonewall built and fully funded a school that (illegally) taught slaves how to read. He also purchased them for the purposes of setting them free. It’s a shame your education was so shallow you cannot even conceive of how a man like that ended up fighting for the Confederacy.

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  48. John Puryear

    May 6, 2021 at 7:26 pm

    Thanks to the author for these interesting thoughts. Just add that Jackson’s only daughter, Julia, married William Edmund Christian, editor of the Charlotte Democrat, in 1885. She died on August 30, 1889 from typhus. Julia’s only son, Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian, rose to the rank of Brigadier General of the US Army and died in 1952. His son Thomas Jonathan Jackson Jr., born in 1915, became a military pilot, fought in World War II, and was shot down over Arras in 1944. The body of the Stone Wall’s great-grandson was never found. I was able to gather this information from educational podcasts on the soundcloud, in which the authors tell about American history and great military leaders. I found quite a few similar podcasts there and noticed that in most cases they had over 46k plays! I’m sure this is because the authors of such podcasts used the services https://viplikes.net/buy-spotify-plays to quickly boost the number of plays.

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  51. kenneth e reader

    July 27, 2020 at 4:03 pm

    To Shelina. Stonewall Jackson’s great great grandfather, Thomas Jackson Jr (1692-1727)., came to the US from county Laois in Ireland. The family was originally Scottish and settle in Ireland in the 16th century. He settled in PA. and died there. He had two sons both born in Ireland, Nathan (settled in North Carolina), and John settled into present day West Virginia. John would be Stonewall’s great grandfather. He had five sons George, Edward, John, Gabriel and Henry. Edward was Stonewall’s grandfather and he had 10 children, the second of which John was the father of Stonewall.

  52. I am also a Jackson. My grandfather has Irish and British roots. On a vacation in the US(4yrs ago), he was called in to a meeting with an Official (honestly, i don’t remember exactly who he told me the man was.), who said that they had been doing some research and found that he’s a descendant of Stonewall Jackson. My grandfather had always heard this from the time he was a young man, but he could never find proof or anything that confirmed so. My grandfather is 96 now. I’ve always wanted to learn more about it. I would love to know of any info you may have 🙂

  53. Marie Beetlestone

    February 23, 2020 at 3:29 am

    My grandfather name was Norman Jackson are all jackson related

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