McPherson Test

The site I’ve visited from the McPherson article is the hpa.org. I quickly read the intro on the intro on the site and found in the second paragraph “Please take this time to learn more about the atrocities and the cultural bigotry that has befallen the people of the South.” WOW! I almost can’t believe I read that. This first thing proves part of McPherson’s article where she describes how they try to racialize their heritage and make it seem as though they’re being discriminated gainst. (Side note, as a graphic designer I’m saddened that someone from my field would assist them in the creation of their logo and page.)

I then traveled to their “About HPA” section and in the first paragraph see how they subtly twist the presentation of their goals and ideas in the line “The Heritage Preservation Association (HPA) is an international, non-profit, membership organization dedicated to preserving the heritage, history, culture and symbols of the Old South and Colonial United States.” Now this falls in line with how they slide things in to mask their brand of racism. It says preserving the heritage, history, culture, and symbols of the Old South. Oh, and the Colonial United States. Not the North, not Post Civil War (like WWI or II). Upon reading the rest of the page one could see that they simply have historical interests at their concern yet they do not define what their heritage, history, culture, and symbols of the Old South are except for the Confederate flag, which that item in itself is an issue.

The rest of the site provides almost excessive amounts of information meant to break down myths and poor reporting/information that the masses have exposure to. The trick here is that their information is not only very selective but can remind one of those who would claim the holocaust never happened. Their weak justifications and moderately important factoids give me the impression that they’re frantically trying to cover former meanings and goals so that they can cover their own hides. Almost in the fashion of the Nuremburg Trials with the exception of using the excuse “we were only following orders.”