There was only one official Confederate flag. It looked like this.
Most people who fly, or even tolerate, a Confederate flag are secret racists, hate mongers, segregationists, or they have Freudian fantasies about returning to Antebellum societal values.
The current panic about the Confederate flag is justified because the flag is responsible for 9 innocent people losing their lives in Charlestown, South Carolina.
All of the above are FALSE.
1. The predominant issue in the Civil War was states' rights vs. nationalism. Who was the sovereign authority: the Union or the individual states. A hundred years before the Civil War, Thomas Jefferson supported state sovereignty and even argued that states had a right to leave the Union. Most of the southern men who fought and died in the War Between the States never owned a slave and would not have fought to preserve anyone else's slaves. They fought for their state. Robert E. Lee was opposed to both slavery and secession. He said that he never desired to raise his sword again, save in defense of his Virginia.
2. There were many Confederate flags. Various states adopted various patterns and colors. Various regiments unfurled widely different flags over the course of the four year struggle.In any major battle, several different flags floated across the battlefield. The one pictured above is usually called the "battle flag," but even it had many variations. Many southern state flags contain some likeness to one of the Confederate flags. We assume states must now redesign their state flags. If you look at the Alabama state flag, you can't help but be reminded of a few of the Confederate flags. Will Governor Robert Benley ban the Alabama state flag, as he did the "Confederate flag," by removing it from the Civil War memorial?
3. There are as many motives for owning or displaying a Confederate flag as there were flags--even more. I have never flown a Confederate flag or worn one on clothing or on my vehicle. However, I am a student of history and trying to understand or teach history while censoring the "Confederate flag," is a mockery. I see the flag is historical reality. To me, it symbolizes a region of the country that once fought for its independence (right or wrong)--and it honors brave, sincere gentlemen (yes, gentlemen) who served their state/country, as they perceived it to be, and many died valantly under this flag. What gives you the right to desecrate their sacrifice which occurred more than 150 years ago?
4. Finally, the Confederate flag had absolutely nothing to do with the horrible tragedy of nine innocent people being murdered in South Carolina by a nut who may or may not have had any historic understanding of the Confederate flag, its meaning orits heritage. Context, heritage and meaning, by the way, have all been arbitrarily assigned by liberals, North and South, who use the flag as a convenient excuse for the worse barbarianism possible in human nature. Unfortunately, the current panic is fueled by two nearly unstoppable sources: liberal media and politicians. I should say, the lack of context, heritage, meaning and understanding has been exercised by the liberal media and politicians who depend on them for survival.
What bothers me most is that anyone who stands up and calls mob rule, anarchy and panic censorship irresponsible suffers the same fate as the flag. They have to be removed. Where will it end? It will end when logic replaces emotion and sensible people begin to realize that the Confederate flag did not have one single thing to do with the madman who murdered nine innocent persons in South Carolina. If only it were that simple. It's easy to remove the flag but not so easy to remove madmen from society. Let us not all become mad in the process.
Well, back in the day... if someone asked for a fag or said an event made them feel so gay, they were really asking for a cigarette (which could be smoked anywhere- before science discovered the carcinogen links) and a gay feeling was used to describe feeling happy. These terms have changed as history has changed throughout the years as have many words, terms and phrases.
ReplyDeleteThe symbolism of the confederate flag may have also started out as a bold statement of independence, however, times have changed and it is an antogonistic tool used to inflict hate, fear and intimidation towards mankind. If it was, infact, used to represent states' rights in opposition to nationalism, the contemporary understanding of people should show overwhelming support. Sadly, as people are subjected to confederate flags waiving in their faces at a stoplights, they acknowledge freedom of speech and shake their heads in sadness that this country isn't as accepting, loving and understanding as Americans should be. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, this flag has evolved into representing pro-Life, religious back-woods conservatives who turn a blind eye to religious mantras they claim to be upholding, such as: love thy neighbor as thyself, turn the other cheek, don't judge others. This outwardly displays complete hypocrisy. The Confederate flag screams, "Don't infringe on rights, rather bend over backwards to allow me to practice it."
This justification article saddens me. America is comprised almost entirely of immigrants. We have too many people willing to cast the first stone and run.
Thanks for taking the time to write this article and for sharing historical references as well as your opinion. I do, however, hope you're able to understand how people view this display of individualism in modern day times and realize this is a perspective of a vast majority not in your community.