Confederate or Black America? Americans are split between two alternative history series about the American civil war.
When the creators of the popular HBO series Game of Thrones announced that they will making a series called Confederate, set in an alternative course of history where the confederacy won the American civil war and slavery remained legal, the internet lost it. However, Amazon was quick to hit back with Black America, set in a world where the Confederacy lost and the freed slaves established a new nation in the south.
At a time when many American minority groups believe that their civil rights are under threat, it is hard to imagine that David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the creators of HBO’s Game of Thrones, will achieve the same level of success with their next project. Afterall, it is a show that explores the possibility of slavery having remained legal in parts of the US.
Needless to say, many people felt outraged by the announcement.
Let us be clear, Confederate will be a show that panders to the fantasies of racists and it will hurt an entire community. #NoConfederate
— Yoldine (@YoldineMeris) July 31, 2017
Some people took the extra mile, and suggested different alternative history plots that should be made into TV shows.
Instead of Confederate how bout a ?Native Americans take back the country.That'd be entertaining as all hell. @ReignOfApril #NoConfederate
— Courtney Thomas (@Thomas_C_Mia) July 29, 2017
But apparently, Amazon had the perfect anti-Confederate show in the making already. While Black America has been in the works for a while now, the #NoConfederate controversy made it a perfect time for the creators to reveal its plot.
Black America imagines a world where the freed slaves took three southern states and formed their own nation. After decades of relative peace with the Union, the two frenemies are on the brink of war. It already has die hard fans.
I don't know if I'll like #BlackAmerica or not. But I promise you, I will watch each episode twice just to spite #NoConfederate pic.twitter.com/1UOARn9gDg
— Jenét Morrow (@JenetAllDay) August 1, 2017
And even those who fantasize about it having been the actual course of history.
Confederate is alt history of what bigots would like to to have happened. Black America is alt history what should have happened.
— Exavier Pope (@exavierpope) August 1, 2017
With little known about either show, both of them might not be what people are expecting. As bad as Confederate sounds, it might not be so glamorizing of the confederacy, and Black Nation might not meet anticipations and be less liberating than we would like it to be.
In end, one tweet really sums it all up.
The fact that both "Confederate" & "Black America" will be out roughly the same time will be very interesting indeed.
— Dolfin Dolfin (@PuffyCurry) August 2, 2017