I Have A Message For Those Who Claim The Confederate Flag Represents Their Heritage

[TexasTowelie]

By Allen Clifton

I’ve lived in the South my whole life, Texas to be exact. To say the South is like an entirely different country in some aspects is exactly right. As a progressive living in this state, sometimes I really don’t feel like I’m on the same planet, let alone in the same country as many of the conservatives I encounter. The ignorance I’ve come across living here is often so absurd that I almost feel as if these people are willfully and pridefully ignorant. Especially in today’s world. With Google at most of our fingertips and an endless supply of information at our disposal, how can so many people be so incredibly stupid?

Which brings me to my point; my message to those who seem to proudly boast that the Confederate flag is a symbol of “Southern pride” and “Southern heritage.” I really feel the need to address those people directly.

I’ve met many of you. The “proud Southerner” who sees the Confederate flag as a symbol of your roots, your “heritage” as many of you call it. You live in a state of denial that’s almost unparalleled. Do you know why you’ve been allowed to live in denial for so long? Do you know why, in many areas of the South, the Confederate flag is still seen as a symbol of “pride”? Because it took nearly a century after the Confederacy lost the Civil War before African-Americans in many of those states were finally given equal rights. Even long after the Confederacy was defeated and disgraced, many still held on to the racism that fueled it.

It was just over 50 years ago that we still had segregation, bans on interracial marriage and even water fountains from which African-Americans weren’t allowed to drink. That’s why that flag remained a symbol of “pride” – because it was still tied to the generations of your “heritage” linked to slavery, oppression and pure hate.

Read more: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/message-claim-confederate-flag-represents-heritage/

[SheilaT]

1. The confederate flag represents

slavery. Any display ought to be against the law.

I am so fucking tired of the apologists for slavery that I am practically foaming at the mouth.

[Judi Lynn]

12. You're not alone, SheilaT, believe me. They are diseased emotionally, morally. n/t

[LovingA2andMI]

2. Nikki Haley: TAKE DOWN THAT FLAG - Because Yes, You Can!!

Governor Nikki Haley can indeed TAKE DOWN THAT HATEFUL FLAG.

[eShirl]

3. At the very least, update it to the most current version.

[EuroStyleSocialist]

8. Perfect!

[LuvNewcastle]

4. I had family on the Confederate and Union sides.

The person I know the most about was my g-g-great grandfather. The family saved the Bible he carried with him during the war, some letters to his wife, and a few other keepsakes. No flag was saved. I know others who had family in the Civil War, and they have guns, swords, and various other kinds of memorabilia, but I don't know anyone who has a Confederate flag from the era.

Our ancestors saved what was important to them from the war, and they apparently didn't think flags were all that important. It was the flag of a lost cause, after all.

To my long gone relatives, the flag was probably used for Confederate cemeteries and museums. From what I've read, the rebel flag was brought from obscurity by the Klan and the segregationists. I see no reason at all to fly that flag today. It's offensive to a lot of people and besides, that particular flag wasn't even the national flag of the Confederacy. We know what that flag represents, and it isn't any sort of heritage I want to remember.

[DavidDvorkin]

5. That wasn't even the Confederate flag

That was the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, if I'm remembering correctly.

[appalachiablue]

7. Since 1861 it was the battle flag of the Army of Northern VA under Lee. The flag was later

adopted as the symbol of the CSA South, aka Deep Fried Dixie. GD thing needs to be taken down everywhere, permanently like the Nazi flags and symbols that are only permitted in museums and libraries in Germany. It's a sign of hate, southern shame and violence not pride.
The only ones in my family in the CW were two brothers who served in the Union Army and were taken to notorious Libby Prison in Richmond. They survived the war to return home to WV which seceded from VA in 1861 to be separate from VA and the CSA. Mother took us to Gettysburg and Antietam as kids. As a small child she had seen the old soldiers assembled for Veterans events in Philadelphia and Richmond.

[bvf]

6. To anyone using "heritage" and "pride"

in this context, I say:

Fuck your heritage.

Fuck your pride.

[EuroStyleSocialist]

9. I'd love to ask one of these "Southern pride" people ...

So, what is it about your heritage that you're most proud of?

[TexasTowelie]

10. I think that being a bigot would be at the top of the list.

Welcome to DU. In order to see all of the discussions occurring in the various group, please go to the Latest Threads tab and change the filters in the black bar to show "All".

[yurbud]

11. when I see a Confederate flag, I think, "There's a racist who doesn't have the balls to fly...

a swastika."

Because unlike the Confederate flag, there's no "heritage" fig leaf to hide behind with the swastika--you are an open racist.

The confederate flag is the symbol of cowardly, half out of the closet racists.