WARREN PECK (voiceover): Our next interview is with a self-proclaimed “historical conservationist,” although he lacks any education or work experience in this capacity. His task? “Defending and preserving American history, ideals, and pride,” as he puts it. And who is he defending these things from? We’ll be hearing the answer to this and more as I sit down with the namesake of the popular Turning Back the Clock with Cal Caggiano podcast.
PECK: So, as I understand it, you and your podcast first started gaining traction due to your passionate criticism of calls to remove or replace monuments of Confederate Army generals. Is that correct?
CAGGIANO: Yes, that’s right.
PECK: And it was around this time that you called for the boycotts of several American companies that you felt were erasing vital parts of American history.
CAGGIANO: I think you’re stopping short of saying something very important there. I wouldn’t just say that I felt that these companies were erasing history to become spineless, virtue signaling hacks. I would say that that was exactly what they were doing and that there’s no way to refute it. Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben never hurt anybody and you know it.
PECK: Right, my mistake. So, you’re of the opinion that—
CAGGIANO: Let me stop you right there, Warren. This is not about feelings. This is not about opinions. This is not about what I think. As a matter of fact, I don’t think at all. This is about what I know without a doubt to be the case. Our history and our heritage in this country are under attack and I am committed to defending them. For example, the virtue signaling cowards on the left have already brainwashed Americans into thinking there’s something wrong—some will even say “racist”—about lawn jockeys. If anything, I’d say putting a little Black fella in my yard shows how much I respect his race and culture.
PECK: Some would say that lawn jockeys hearken back to an era when life was very difficult for African Americans.
CAGGIANO: Are you kidding? It hearkens back to an era when they were so loved that the biggest entertainers of the day would paint their faces just to look like them! And since I’m on the subject, let me say that there is nothing so unpatriotic and distasteful as the ongoing campaign to criticize the storied history of American blackface performance. That is our history. It’s something to be proud of, not ashamed.
PECK: Interesting. Should we be proud of the Ku Klux Klan as well?
CAGGIANO: Why shouldn’t we be proud of one of our nation’s earliest politically active nonprofits?
PECK: Segregation?
CAGGIANO: Last time I checked, the Blacks liked being around each other!
PECK: So I suppose we should also be proud of slavery?
CAGGIANO: You mean the free-of-charge federal job placement program that granted employment, food, lodging, and indispensable trade skills to uncivilized savages from Africa? Just ask yourself: When’s the last time you sailed on a cruise for free?
Featured image courtesy of JimCrowMuseum@Ferris.edu.