How Do Republicans-Freed-The-Slaves Sites Miss This?

Were you to peek inside the recent gathering of a secret Wall Street society, you’d have witnessed investment banking tycoon Warren Stephens taking the stage in a Confederate flag hat, performing an ode to finance to the tune of “Dixie.” “In Wall Street land we’ll take our stand,” you would have heard him croon, as 200 of his well-heeled brethren nibbled foie gras.

Is this linkage of Wall Street and the slaveholding South merely a coincidence?

Actually, there’s a very old affinity. Throughout its history, Dixie has often worn a suit.

Cotton Kings and Sugar Daddies

We tend to think of America as separate regions: the South where slavery happened, and the North that opposed it. But this regional distinction is an illusion in many ways, and one the money men gladly encourage,...