Walton County rebel flag compromise is misguided

[struggle4progress]

11:56 p.m. EDT July 31, 2015

... Since 1964 (the year the first modern Civil Rights Act was passed), Walton County has flown the familiar Confederate battle flag at its courthouse in DeFuniak Springs. That’s the big red one with 13 white stars arranged on a blue X, the flag seen on keychains and “Hell no, I ain’t fergettin’ ” auto tags at truckstops and beer joints across the South. That’s the one ... that a whole bunch of people — black and white — consider a symbol of slavery, oppression and secession.

The commissioners voted to replace the battle flag with another banner of the Confederate States of America, with a circle of stars on a blue field at the left and three horizontal bars of red and white on the right two-thirds of the flag. That’s like promising to make sure the water is just as cold in the black drinking fountains as the white ones, or saying black residents may now use the side entrance of the courthouse instead of the back door.

Intentions aside, it’s not an improvement, not even a compromise. They don’t get it ...

The Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce annual retreat is set for Sandestin in mid-August. The local NAACP told the Democrat Friday that organizers should consider changing venues over this issue. That’s hardly feasible with more than 500 participants already locked in with reservations ... But the NAACP’s push demonstrates that there could be economic repercussions for Walton County in the future ...

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2015/07/31/walton-county-rebel-flag-compromise-misguided/30978193/

[Igel]

1. It's backtalk.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?"

"You're the teacher, you tell me."

"What are you supposed to be doing?"

"I don't know, if you weren't such a crappy teacher I'd know. Do your job and stop denying me my education."

"You weren't paying attention. You were talking."

"That's your fault, not mine. And those kids over there aren't paying attention and they're talking. Why are you stoppin' me and not stopping them?" (The other kids are invariably not of the same race.)

The backtalk patter is infamous. The socially acceptable way of terminating this in the home environment isn't allowed to teachers, at least not white ones; and there are a lot of landmines around the edges. The trick is to not fall for the jive at the beginning. You treat the backtalker like something offensive to step over on the sidewalk and don't engage him on his terms.

You see a variant with the flag, and it's a wonderful thing to see (I've seen a lot of DUers do the backtalk patter. It's an anti-conversation masquerading as communication, pure attack masked as self-defense imitating dialog.)

"The Confederate Flag isn't really your heritage."

"Oh? Please tell me my heritage." Backtalker leans back, knowing a sucker's about to bite.

"Let me 'splain that to you since you've had it wrong all your life, like your parents before you, they tricked you and I'm here to tell you what you really think and what you should feel. The flag that you're flying is an anti-civil rights symbol and has this meaning for all humans, even if you don't know it. The flag that actually flew is this one over here." The sucker's taken the bait, gleefully so.

"Really? That's my heritage? You're sure? Okay, I'll take that flag down." The hook is set.

"Thank you for compromising and doing entirely what I want."

"Yup, you got your way. I'll fly that one, the one you just said is my heritage. Thank you for your guidance." All that's left is the breading before frying up the catch.

"But no, that's not right."

"It's what you told me I'm supposed to fly. Why did you lie to me?" And the catch is gutted and breaded and the grease is spattering.

If you're going to be a 'splainer, you'd better be ready for backtalk.

[struggle4progress]

2. The monument was erected in 1871, during Reconstruction and on church property,

so no confederate flag would have flown at the original

It was then moved to the courthouse at the county seat. But that burned in 1885, and the county seat was relocated. The monument went to another church for several decades. Between 1915 and 1925, the Klan was rebuilt, but the murder conviction in 1925 of a top Klan leader largely ended the national movement, except in Florida, where the Klan remained politically influential. White supremacists rescued the monument from the second church and installed it on the courthouse lawn at the relocated county seat in 1927, where it could again remind just whose courthouse this was