Just Call Me A Carpetbagger [Updated]
by dsb nola on October 22, 2009
People toss around the term “carpetbagger” a lot, often Southern liberals (at least in New Orleans), and I think it’s odd given so many of the so-called carpetbaggers were actually trying to do the right thing:
Although carpetbaggers often supported the corrupt financial schemes that helped to bring the Reconstruction governments into ill repute, many of them were genuinely concerned with the freedom and education of black citizens.
So, yeah, I think it’s a bit off for contemporary liberals to adopt a term coined and popularized by 19th century Southern whites bitter about the end of slavery. I’ll climb out on that limb (see below). I’d say the South could’ve used more carpetbaggers. However, I don’t expect anyone to stop using the term in this fashion–the allure of reductive name calling being what it is.
A cartoon threatening that the KKK would lynch carpetbaggers, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Independent Monitor, 1868.
Image credit: Wikipedia Commons
Update: For further historical context, go here.
