C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America - References To Actual Culture

References To Actual Culture

Many allusions are made to actual cultural events or products in present-day society. For instance, one of the "commercials" features a Cops-like program featuring escaping fugitive slaves instead of criminals. Also, the film describes (meta) fiction made to ease tensions after the "War of Northern Aggression". These include Summer of my Union Soldier, a reference to the 1973 novel Summer of My German Soldier. Also, an excerpt is shown from A Northern Wind, which is claimed to be one of the most famous Confederate films of all time. This is a reference to the Academy-Award winning film Gone with the Wind, which is further exemplified by the fact that the central female character in the former is named Violet. Other excerpts come from The Dark Jungle, a fictional film about the war of conquest in Latin America, which is a reference to Paths of Glory, as well as I Married an Abolitionist, which is a reference to the 1949 anti-Communist propaganda feature I Married a Communist. Several times during the film, a version of the song "Over There" can be heard, with the line "The Yanks are comin'" changed to "The Rebs are comin'". Another scene references the first "Confederate American Football Championship" (a parody of the Super Bowl) which featured teams named the New York Niggers and Washington In'juns. The latter is a parody of the Washington Redskins and both names may be a reference to the Native American mascot controversy.

References are made to political issues in present-day society as well. For instance, after John Ambrose Fauntroy V is accused of having a black great-great grandmother, which under CSA law would make him a colored person, he states, "My great-great grand-daddy did not have sexual relations with that woman". This is a reference to President Bill Clinton's similar comment during the Lewinsky scandal. The film closes with Confederate schoolchildren reciting a modified form of the Pledge of Allegiance, substituting "Confederate States of America" for "United States of America" and ending the pledge by saying, "with liberty and justice for all white people. Amen."