Meh.

lol black people fight for such noble causes.

"You cannot be racist against white people."

"[...]looks like more than 100% of wealthy southerners were from slave-owning families."

For some reason I always read "Ebola" in the "Ricola" voice in the comerricials.

A white woman wearing a southern dress is similar to paying homage to the Holocaust?! What the fuck is wrong with you?

If I make a stereotype about a race, it's the very definition of racist.

Who said anything about living on a plantation? Does the link to the Preserve website? No. Is the house a plantation? Not necessarily. I mean, it has a wrap around porch, but my own house has own as well... I guess that means I live on a plantation?? All I see is a white woman dressed up in "Southern Attire." …

What are you talking about? Who is talking about white professors in 2014 (or slaves for that matter)? I am calling this article racist. You said it yourself, "It would be so racist to assume that a black person in the South, prior to the Civil War, was a slave. Because you would be making a judgment about a…

A very articulate and thought out post. All kidding aside, are we no longer allowed to pay homage to a group of people who benefited from slavery? That's a serious question. If there was a a group of people (in this case Antebellum Southern Belles) who a company wanted to pay homage to would it be racist to do so…

What? No. Not every black man in the south was a slave. It's 1860, you pass a black man and you think, "look at that slave!" Are you being racist? Yes, because there is a chance he's not a slave albeit, maybe a 5% chance, but still. Now, it's still 1860 and you pass a white woman dressed up nicely. You think,…

by today's standards Abraham Lincoln was a racist bigot. Who cares if people were racist back then!? Does that mean we can't dress like them!? Seriously. If a white woman was well off in the 1800's does that mean she was a slave owner!? NO. That's a gross generalization and bordering racist. A woman can dress…

No shit. I would equate "racism" to a stereotype about someone's race (whether positive or negative). If you're a southern girl who dresses up, you're a racist slave owner. That's a racist stereotype. If you have a house with a wrap around porch, you live on a plantation. Which means you're also a racist slave…

Right, because "95% of women" in the south weren't able to dress up in their Sunday finest. God forbid a white girl dresses up, she'll be labelled a racist slave owner. And GOD FORBID you have a wrap around porch, because guess what!? That house is now officially a plantation and you ma'am are a racist. If you…

I'm hardly comparing the history of two races in this country. God forbid I compare a generalization of white women to a generalization of black men. God forbid a woman goes out dressed in her Sunday finest; she'll be labelled as a racist slave owner!

Thank you! Great post. God forbid I compare a generalization of white women to a generalization of black men. How is one racist while the other is not? My ancestors have been here well before the civil war and I know that a few were well-to-do. God forbid a woman goes out dressed in her Sunday finest; she'll be…

Honestly, you're arguing that "socially distinct" women in the south pre-1860 were slave owners (or relatives), because Lord knows there were no other professions than owning slaves back then. It's a stereotype and whether the percentage of "socially distinct" families in the Antebellum south owned slaves is 5% of…

Who said anything about the planter class? Does the Preserve write-up talk about the "planter class?" No. Do they even list out plantations? No. I mean, they show a big house with a white girl, I guess that's a plantation.. Another stereotype. Okay, for the purpose of argument, let's say that Preserve is being…

Prior to the civil war? Women of inherent social distinction—AKA, rich? Soooo, slave owners then? Like, you're definitely talking about people who owned slaves. Or perhaps, more accurately, the wives of slave owners who greatly benefited from and helped uphold the institution. Right.

According to the US Census, in confederate states in 1860, there were 6.5 million "free" people (ie. 99+% white) and of them, 355,277 slaves owners. So 5% of the southern Antebellum population were slave owners. Five percent. It's racist to just say they were all slave owners. Heck, 33% of African Americans today…