The Confederate flag has a long history of being defended by ‘southern pride’ which is nonsense to begin with. Then the argument insists it is about state rights…while ignoring that the flag was being waved at a time when those states were fighting for slavery and opposing desegregation. So why does this flag fly on the grounds of the state capitol?
In wake of the Charleston shootings by domestic terrorist Dylan Roof, the Confederate flag has been the become the sub-story. As one of the nine victims, Clementa Pinckney, was a member of the South Carolina state senate and his body will lay in state at the capital with that hate flag flowing freely not too far away. All of a sudden, the Confederate flag seems like a bad idea does it not?
In another edition of revisionist history 101, the Confederate flag that southerners love so much is not even the real flag, let alone been prominent for as long as they think. The controversial flag was Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia battle flag, it was rejected as the official flag of the confederacy. So if anyone wants to even defend the flag for any false heritage reasons, it should only be Virginia.
The flag then became obscure after the Civil War, which for some reason the south has to be reminded they lost. It never became this symbol of ‘pride’ until 1948 when the Dixiecrats came to form. You know what their platform was? Keep the south segregated and retain the Jim Crow laws. Those were the state rights that you flag supporters are so proud of.
It is quite amazing how you can be proud of a symbol’s history, acknowledge the racism of that history and then say the flag is not racist. While technically true, it is flag and not a person, it stands for bigotry and up to this point in time the only people who were flying it were racist, so how is it now racist?. The Ku Klux Klan, the ultimate group of white supremacy use the flag, that has to mean SOMETHING is wrong here right?
But White supremacy needs to subtle right? In 1962 to apparently honor the Civil War’s 100th year anniversary, South Carolina flew the flag on the dome of the state capitol. Really this was reactionary move to the Civil Rights movement, and again what is the South’s infatuation with this war? See these are questions that can not be answered without bringing up slavery and the oppression of black people in America. If it was really about your precious state rights, then why not create a new flag that does not misconstrue your message?
This flag STILL flew proudly, until 2000. When a compromise was reached to remove the Confederate flag from the dome to a memorial of the Confederate soldiers. It was not until the cowardly actions of last week that we could get a real movement to remove it completely. It took nine lives to be lost by a racist gunman to really think about this issue.
South Carolina’s governor Nikki Haley has called for the removal of the flag, Wal-Mart and Sears are removing all merchandise from their stores related to it. I am glad that is finally happening, but why does it have to be when at the expense of lives? What is the obsession with mourning the lives lost over 150 plus years ago and then say we should be over slavery? It is impossible to say racism is over and to ‘get over it’ while the biggest symbolism of hate and white supremacy, next a hooded sheet, is sold, displayed and preserved in our faces.
Facts are that ‘southern pride’ relation to the confederacy is non-existent. The flag has no official connection outside of being a rejected design. It was resurrected to serve as white pride and displeasure in the black race. There is nothing sacred or special about that cloth. There are those naive enough that will say ,”It is just a flag”. Iconography means a lot, it if pictures meant nothing, Jesus would be depicted the same in every painting. There is only flag that needs to be on government property and it has 13 stripes and 50 stars. When the flag becomes obselete, then the south can rise
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