Looking for gathering places for Neo-Confederates, I found a Museum of the Confederacy – a big Georgian mansion with a campsite of neatly arrayed tents and campfire nearby. No one was there both time I went, though the iconography revered the Southern soldier, especially Robert E. Lee, and despised the “Black Republican,” Abraham Lincoln. Here is my gentle traveller of the rightwing world in front of a giant portrait of Lee (in his military uniform?)reading the Bible to a young boy.
I looked up one of the female names among the members of the group, Kasandra Beck. She is the founder of a group called The Bonnie Blue Flag (a Neo-Confederate emblem of great reverence – see this one of the many YouTube videos to understand). In the description of the group, it was noted that there was no affiliation with the KKK even though the members are dedicated to the memory of the Confederate States of 1861-1865 and support the Museum of Confederacy in Second Life. When I contacted Kasandra to ask about the group (”Hi Kasandra, I see that you are the founder of The Bonnie Blue Flag group and active in Civil War activities here in SL. I’m really interested in what folks are doing here and would like to learn more. Do you have any time to talk with me?”), she was offline. Later, she answered and we arranged to meet the next morning. When I logged on and sent her a message, she replied right away that she was concentrating on building something. While I waited for her to be ready, I told her, I would teleport to a Nordic longhouse sim where a live concert was about to start. I figured a nice folk guitar would help quiet my anxiety. 
Interesting avatars come by; one women was accompanied by a 2D stick figure who, as I talked with her about her companion, turned out to be a member of her “family.” She showed me her family portrait - and, beside her photo in the picture, the rest of her family is drawn in stick figures as if by a child. Other avatars teleported in but one woman stood outside the longhouse with me instead of going in and dancing with the others. I was busy multi-tasking and didn’t pay much attention to her. After a few minutes, she walked closer to me and I noticed her exotic outfit. In her profile she declared she was a slave, and I saw she was a member of several Gorean groups. Strange. I guess she was checking me out for Kasandra – who, besides her Civil War work, was a “free woman of Gor.” Well, I didn’t look like someone wanting to roleplay exotic erotica (I was wearing a turtleneck shirt, a skirt and plain shoes that day), and my profile is full of conservative political groups. Clearly, not a sex toy. I waited for another hour for Kasandra. She never showed up.
NOTE: As of April 27, 2008, The Bonnie Blue Flag group is private and my membership in the group was cancelled sometime earlier without my ever knowing it. The Museum of the Confederacy is no longer in Second Life – the sim where it once stood is an open field.
Tags: Bonnie Blue Flag, Museum of the Confederacy, Neo-Confederates, Second Life
