| Author |
Message |
    
Melisha
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 04:09 am: | 
|
This post is regarding the confederate flag issue. I mean I can understand why it should not be on the state capital grounds but recently I heard of some statue in some state that needs to be removed on the account of it representing a confederate. I can't quite remember how the story went maybe someone who also heard about it can shed some light on it. But is this going too far? And who is pushing for the removal of these confederate emblems? Could it have a backlash for all that we've acheived? I mean personally I feel that attacking everything confederate may be an assault on white southern history and can cause more problems for ourselves as blacks then we think. I think we are opening old wounds. What do you all think? |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 11:12 am: |
|
Melisha:
If we are going to suffer a backlash over all we have achieved over whether this flag, a symbol of defiance and rebellion to the United States is going to fly, then we are going to suffer one anyway.
Most of these flags went back up in the 1950's in defiance of the Brown Decision and other Civil Rights initiative--the assertations of those who just say that they are just expressions of heritage are either naive ignorant or bald face lies. Remember that no one is pushing for them to be removed from private property, but from government grounds--black people are taxpayers and citizens of these states and have a right not to be insulted by the entity they are supposed to support. Imagine the outcry if, in Wisconsin and St. Louis and Cincinatti and other areas where you have large numbers of people of German ancestry they were to fly the Nazi flag or incorporate that insignia into their state flags--and I know you are going to say it is different, but maybe if you would see one flown at a Klan rally on Martin Luther Kings birthday down the street from a church where they were having a ceremony, you might feel a little different (yeah, Troy, I know, doggonit I keep going back to dat bad ol' Klan, but see, though they ain't out there in the hoods and robes, they are still carrying that in their minds)
I'd be interested in knowing where you live. Do you live in a state where it is part of the flag or flown on state grounds? As for reopening old wounds, these bozos are still fighting the civil war--the wounds aint never closed yet. |
ABM
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 11:52 am: |
|
I agree with you, Chris. Although, I don't think you make your point strong enuff.
The biggest problem with how this anti-Confederate flag campaign has been waged it has been mistakenly framed as black vs. white or North vs. South. This issue is really more acute than even matters of race/geography. Simply: Flying a flag with confederate emblems atop any state capitol is a blatant act of treason against the United States of America. And those who approve such should be tried as traitors.
The Confederacy was a deadly enemy of the United States, not a part of it. It was every bit the equivalent the Germany and Empire of Japan during WWII. And since more Americans died during the Civil War that all other US wars combined, you could reasonably argue that displaying Confederate is even MORE treacherous than officially sanctioning Nazi or Japanese regalia. For a state to proudly plop Confederacy-laced banners atop government buildings in America is equivalent to taking an official, blatant and severe stance against the very existence of this country.
Why those who oppose the Dixie insignia (and the Old Glory-waving crowd) have not picked up on this important aspect of this issue confounds me. |
Snake Girl Poisonous
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 01:04 pm: |
|
Excellent point, ABM.
|
Troy
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 01:53 pm: |
|
Hey Chris:
I actually agree with you on this one. ABM's contribution is icing on the cake.
ABM:
I think Old Glory represents rebellion. It is a symbol around which the young and dumb, or old and angry can rally around to obtain a sort of perverse pride. In mcuh the same way whilte boys shape their fingers into W's like Compton gang bangers or the way the neo-nazi's sport the Swastica and others get skull and bone tatoos.
Politicians support conferate symbols because they fall into one of the groups I mentioned or the are trying to palcate those groups for votes.
People simply are not interested in looking at this on a fashion other than emotional. The desire to fly old glory represents a sense of dissatisfaction with the current state more so that a nostalgia for a by gone era.
The affinity for the cnferacy is misguided. Most of the white folks supporting the confereacy and what it represents are far better off today than they would be back during the confederacy or earlier. They are just too simple to realize it.
|
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2003 - 02:59 pm: |
|
The Confedrate flag represents a code, and its deciphered message is: "I'd just as soon not be around these nigras." |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 02:00 pm: |
|
Troy:
We agree on everything. You just haven't seen it yet. |
Claxton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 10:56 pm: |
|
Melisha, much of the battle over the Confederate flag--more accurately, the Confederate battle flag, which is different from the Confederate national flag--has been waged in South Carolina and Georgia. In South Carolina, the flag flew atop the state capitol for nearly 40 years, until political and economic pressure forced it to be removed. In Georgia, a small replica of the battle flag composed the canton of that state's flag, as it also does in Mississippi. Georgia's push to create a new flag--one that shows the state seal and all the flags that were flown over the state at one time--cost Democratic governor Zell Miller his job in 2000.
While I agree that the Confederate battle flag should never be flown from any public facility, particularly not one owned by any local or state government, I actually think that in some way, we're doing disservice to the people who need to see it the most--black children. They need to understand the original meaning of that flag and how that meaning has been changed over time.
|
|
Email This Page