--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are millions of white Americans…" description: "\"There are millions of white Americans today who still can barely bring themselves to acknowledge that the Civil War, with its twin Americas locked in a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/616/steve-erickson-9119_acknowledge_there-are-millions-of-white-americans-to_2607975.jpg" --- # There are millions of white Americans today who still can… ![“There are millions of white Americans today who still can barely bring themselves to acknowledge that the Civil War, with its twin Americas locked in a death match, was about slavery. They'll argue it was about economics, and they're right only because one of those economies was a slave economy…” quote by Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/616/steve-erickson-9119_acknowledge_there-are-millions-of-white-americans-to_2607975.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/616/steve-erickson-9119_acknowledge_there-are-millions-of-white-americans-to_2607975.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/616/steve-erickson-9119_acknowledge_there-are-millions-of-white-americans-to_2607975.jpg) > “There are millions of white Americans today who still can barely bring themselves to acknowledge that the Civil War, with its twin Americas locked in a death match, was about slavery. They'll argue it was about economics, and they're right only because one of those economies was a slave economy. They'll argue it was about culture, and they're right only because one of those cultures was a slave culture.” [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Many Americans deny slavery's role in the Civil War, misattributing causes to economics or culture. **In simple terms:** Denial of slavery's central role. Key Takeaway Recognize historical truths. Themes history memory race economics culture Mood critical somber Type analytical reflective When to use this quote - education - public discourse - policy making Key Concepts revisionism collective denial Questions to Reflect On - Why do people reshape uncomfortable histories? - How can we foster honest historical dialogue? A Different Perspective Complexity of history may be oversimplified. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civil war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-war/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Twins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twins/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“If I own a business, I work for myself. And if I have no revenue, I work for free. That’s not slavery. That’ll be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/if-i-own-a-business-i-work-for-myself-and-if-i-have-no-revenue-i-work/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“...Rusche and Kirchheimer relate the different systems of punishment with the systems of production within which they operate: thus, in a slave economy, punitive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/rusche-and-kirchheimer-relate-the-different-systems-of-punishment/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [But the fact is we did have colonies in the east of Poland, we did have a slave economy there. But this is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olga-tokarczuk/but-the-fact-is-we-did-have-colonies-in-the-east-of-poland-we-did/) [Olga Tokarczuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olga-tokarczuk/) > [“The German economic historian Fanz Oertel in the 1950s points to another drastic consequence of a slave economy. A slave economy initially allowed an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-f-cantor/the-german-economic-historian-fanz-oertel-in-the-1950s-points-to/) [Norman F. Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-f-cantor/) > [The capital amassed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through various forms of slave economy is still in circulation, said De Jong, still bearing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-capital-amassed-in-the-eighteenth-and-nineteenth-centuries/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Southern slave economy, sharecroppers after that, coal miners after that, and machinists and millworkers during more recent times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/southern-slave-economy-sharecroppers-after-that-coal-miners-after/) [J.D. 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He was not viewed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/there-s-no-question-that-o-j-simpson-had-been-a-substitute-white-man/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [Most white Americans only discovered the blues with the British invasion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronnie-wood/most-white-americans-only-discovered-the-blues-with-the-british/) [Ronnie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronnie-wood/) ## More by Steve Erickson > [If you're a smart writer, you listen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/if-you-re-a-smart-writer-you-listen/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [To the extent that I've ever understood postmodernism - and I'm sure there are people out there who do, but I'm not one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/to-the-extent-that-i-ve-ever-understood-postmodernism-and-i-m-sure/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [I have members of my immediate family, and my wife's immediate family, who voted for Donald Trump, and now there's this gulf that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/i-have-members-of-my-immediate-family-and-my-wife-s-immediate-family/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [Before I begin a novel I have a strong sense of at least one central character and how the story begins, and a more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/before-i-begin-a-novel-i-have-a-strong-sense-of-at-least-one-central/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [I'm my own "ideal reader" in the sense that I write novels that I would want to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/i-m-my-own-ideal-reader-in-the-sense-that-i-write-novels-that-i-would/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [The material dictates the approach. 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