November 22, 2008

Scowling At Confederate Flags

The first of many aspects of the South that caught me off guard when I moved down here from Las Vegas in 1997 was the fact that there are still people around here who think the Confederates have a fighting chance against "Northern Oppression." It's been a while since I have taken a history course, but I could have sworn the Civil war was decided 143 years ago.

Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those Black Men that get offended every time I see one. I don't assume that who ever flies a Confederate Flag is automatically a racist. Any one who took notes during history class knows that the Civil War didn't become a fight over slavery until the Emancipation Proclamation (drafted about halfway through the war to prevent foreign powers like France from aiding the South). But I also don't believe in this "heritage over hate" bullshit. I think "heritage over hate" is what a "rebel" would say if he accidentally drove their pickup to the wrong part of Atlanta and ran out of gas.

Is there really "heritage" involved with the Confederate flag? How can this represent Southern culture when it was used during a time when the South didn't even want to be part of the United States anymore? I'm sure everyone nowadays flying the Confederate flag is proud to be living in the United States although their great-great-great-great-grandfather's probably didn't.

My purpose is not to have every Confederate flag burned. I think there are very few people who fly the flag for historically accurate reasons. I don't scowl at the flag when I pass a Confederate burial ground or a Civil War museum. Anyone who dies in battle deserves respect in death no matter what cause they were fighting for. I do scowl at stupid redneck highschoolers in Indiana who wanted to show their "heritage" at their school by wearing confederate flag paraphernalia (Indiana fought for the North as I recall...so much for heritage). I do scowl at Neo-Nazi's and Aryan White Supremacist that use the flag in their rituals and stupid shit that they do (I'm sure the people that created the original confederate flag had different aspirations for the flag).

Now for the Klan members...I don't care what the hell they do. They wear their sheets for the whole "ghosts of the confederate soldiers" theme so I can't really scowl at the fact that they use the flag in their cross burning rituals. *as a side note, what kind of self respecting adult joins an organization with titles such as grand wizard and cyclops?* I only ask that the Klansman keep the sheets on their heads...PLEASE keep them on your heads. I saw the mug shots of the eight Klansman that shot the woman in Louisiana. Now I see why they wear masks, that's the smartest thing they have ever done.

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