Old Times Here Are Apparently Forgotten

Cornell American ^ | May 31st, 2006 | Vanessa Durante

[stainlessbanner]

Last month, Ithaca High School administrators sent a letter home with students, informing their parents that the flag of the Confederacy had been banned. Ithaca High School students can no longer display the emblem on belt buckles, t-shirts, or anywhere else while on school property. Apparently, the students wearing their Dixie Outfitters t-shirts, in a proud nod to our country’s better half, were white. It is unfortunate that civil liberties apply only to those in privileged groups, such as blacks or Hispanics.

Because the United States Supreme Court has ruled in favor of protecting the freedom of speech exercised in displaying the stars and bars, Ithaca High School had to claim that the flag was creating some sort of disruption in the school that hindered the educational process. No specific instances were mentioned in the administration’s letter.

I found the claim interesting, though, because, were it true, it would clearly indicate that racism is much more of a problem in Upstate New York than in my hometown in Southern Virginia. To think that racial hatred could be stirred up by a high school student’s belt buckle is frightening, indeed. The school’s objection to the battle flag is even more astonishing considering the fact that only 6.7% of the population of Ithaca is black. But apparently the race wars here are far more intense than in my hometown, of which 13.34% of the population was black. And yet, in my public high school, where displays of the confederate flag were common on car bumpers, t-shirts, or belt buckles, and where a significant minority of the student body was black, and even in a state that historically had supported slavery, the flag was never accused of disturbing a classroom, much less of inciting racial hatred.

Ithaca’s black population is proportionately only slightly more than half that of the United States. This is an unusually white city. And apparently race relations here are in such tension that they can be upset by a kid’s t-shirt. Schools in the South, much less segregated, are clearly more at ease and have put issues of racism farther behind them;thus, students there can better appreciate the historic and cultural value of the Confederate flag. It leads one to wonder on which side of the Mason-Dixon Line racism is still prevalent today.

The Confederate flag is not—and was never—a representation of the institution of slavery. The North, in an attempt to glorify its states’ fight to suppress the South’s effort to free themselves from the North’s exploitation, has oversimplified and at times even falsified history by painting the War of Northern Aggression as a war fought over issues of morality. Children in Northern schools are never made aware that there were no more abolitionists in the North than in the South.They are never taught that the North never claimed to want to abolish slavery but merely to stop its expansion to ensure that the free states would not be outnumbered in Congress. Many Northerners do no even know that the majority of Southerners who fought and died in the Civil War did not even own slaves.

In accordance with their favored depiction of the Civil War as a moral battle in which they fought for good while the South defended evil, the North has emphasized the issue of slavery while allowing the issues of representation in national politics, economics, and regional identities which primarily caused the war to recede into the background. Erased from history are the values of self-government, freedom, and honor that led Confederates to fight to preserve their home. This is what the Confederate flag represents, and this is why it is still of the utmost importance to Southerners today. It is why black Southerners will proudly call themselves Southern and will fly the Confederate flag. The South is, above all, a cultural entity. Southerners have a dramatically different culture from Northerners; this culture of chivalry, modesty, graciousness, and hospitality is represented by the stars and bars, and it must be remembered and preserved.

If the Confederate flag has in fact caused the feelings of ill will in Ithaca High School that the administration claims, the blame must fall on the administration itself. No Southerner would be so naive as to equate the Confederate flag with support of slavery. It is a failure of Yankee schools that children are not taught the broad scope of economic, political, and even cultural factors which led to the Civil War but are only presented with a gross caricature of a war between good and evil.

Even more frightening than this restriction of freedom of speech in Ithaca High School is what has caused this common misunderstanding of the Confederate flag. In perpetuating their myth of the North as the force of good in the Civil War, the North has revised history in a way that should frighten all Americans. An emblem of a group of people’s heritage and culture has been banned because others have formed prejudices and misconceptions about it. Moreover, these prejudices and misconceptions are fueled by the public school system itself. By banning the Confederate flag, the state attempts to erase from memory the Civil War. To forget that Americans in the past were capable of such atrocities as slavery robs us of the lesson that can be learned and leaves us dangerously vulnerable to repeating past mistakes.

If the Confederate flag calls to mind slavery, and schools wish to erase from common memory all remnants of this dark period in American history, why stop at the flag? Perhaps next, Ithaca parents will receive letters requesting that their children be sent to school clothed in only synthetic fabrics because cotton was once produced through the slave labor of blacks. Or, in order to really be free of uncomfortable memories of our national history, maybe Ithaca High School will ban all black students from school property.

[JimRed]

Paging City Of Evil...

[NativeNewYorker]

city of evil ping

[Protagoras]

...a very disturbing article,

Everything that perpetuates this terrible and unnecessary system of forced government "education" is disturbing to me.

The "problem" in question is a symptom of the problem, not the actual problem.

[TheKidster]

The flag represents a rebellion that was put down. If the starts and stripes aren't good enough and one doesn't want to be part of the USA then I suggest taking the confederate battle flag along as the person leaves to find a country they can support and be proud of.
For black people the confederate flag represents the American south of the 16th - 19th centuries which is where slavery was institutionalized and cemented as part of the culture. A black man who waves the confederate flag is simply and ignorant fool. There never was a need to propagandize the confederate battle flag and associate it with slavery, the fact that it was carried into battle by slave owning states that rebelled against the union is association enough.
The rebellion wasn't based only on a desire to continue the institution of human slavery in the USA but state's rights, economic issues and others like the author states but black people see the flag and know who carried it. Men who owned, sold, traded, beat, raped, exploited, and dehumanized thier great great grandparents. Unfortunately for those who warmly reminisce about and associate with that particularly unsuccessful rebellion, this association will always exist.

[Thunderchief F-105]

"...There once was a young Senator from Mass.
who wanted a strange piece of a**.
When he had found it,
he went out and drowned it.
Now, that's what we really call class....!!"

[hocndoc]

Back around 1980, Robert E. Lee High School dropped their football game tradition that involved running on to the field, unfurling a huge Confederate flag. Although I personally don't identify with the Confederacy (the only ancestors I had in this country then were American Indian), I thought it was a shame then, and do now.

In my opinion, the divisions were strengthened by the move. Rather than demonstrating true inclusion and tolerance, the school lost a tradition due to arbitrary perceptions. The history of Texas could have come to be "owned" (is that a term that dates me, or what?) by all the students.

[stand watie]

YEP!

free dixie,sw

[cowboyway]

informing their parents that the flag of the Confederacy had been banned. Ithaca High School students can no longer display the emblem on belt buckles, t-shirts, or anywhere else while on school property

I agree that Confederate symbols should be banned from public school property IF all symbols are banned; political, societal, educational, cultural, etc.

The Confederate flag is not—and was never—a representation of the institution of slavery

The Confederate flag at issue was/is a Battle Flag.

Slavery became the issue in 1863, two years after the start of the war, when disHonest Abe rapidly began losing support to re-colonize the South.

Or, in order to really be free of uncomfortable memories of our national history, maybe Ithaca High School will ban all black students from school property.

Actually, the white students should be banned since whites are the oppressors.

[Condor51]

***It seems to me that every slave bought and sold in this nation was bought and sold under this flag (US of A).***

Well.. true. BUT remember, slavery in 'this nation' (USA) only existed from 1787 to 1865, or 78 years. Ergo all this talk of 400 years of slavery in 'America' is hogwash as for the other +/-322 years it was legally done under this flag:

However, the problem for the reparations & race pimps is that their Reparations Lawsuit in British courts for 'damages' was dismissed outright a few years back because as the court ruled - slavery was legal (I LMAO with that).

So now we're the only suckers left.

[stainlessbanner]

the only ancestors I had in this country then were American Indian

What Nation?

[pblax8]

HAHA

There goes the credibility of the author's effort


You must be a graduate of Ithaca High School.

[stand watie]

my hometown HS plays the "Tyler Lee" REBELS in football.

TOUGH TEAM every year & NOT a Friday night that we "look forward to", either!

otoh, it "does my heart good" to see/hear the student body screaming the REBEL YELL throughout the games (even when the TIGERS are LOSING!), especially since there are so many NON-white students doing just that!

free dixie,sw

[ladtx]

I lived in a town that played Tyler Lee also, we didn't look forward to those football games either. We could always beat them in baseball though.

[stand watie]

spoken like a all too typical,LOUD-mouthed, SELF-righteous,arrogantly IGNORANT, DAMNyankee.

did you learn that silly BILGE as a "victum uv duh gubmint apruved publick screwl sistim"????

free dixie,sw

[stand watie]

if you aren't the HERO of "friday night lights" you ain't a TEXAS hero!

don't you know that "HS football in TX is not the main thing-it's the ONLY thing!" (lol)

which is YOUR team????

free dixie,sw

[Thunderchief F-105]

....now, take it easy...! don't let your blood pressure go through the roof...! this fellow probably has no clue that there were blacks who fought for the Confederacy, too...! and that some of the worst race riots ever seen in this country took place "up Nawth" and NOT down South; some folks have a way of fergittin' these little facts of life... there are plenty of articles available that document the terrible treatment of free blacks in the New England states before and during The War of Northern Agression, too. No, there probably won't be too many black folks who will wave the Confederate flag (the original "Stars and Bars" was NOT the Confederate battle flag...!), but there are a helluva lot of white Southerners who take a lot of pride in their Southern heritage....and rightly so....!!

[Charles Martel]

The Confederate flag is not—and was never—a representation of the institution of slavery. The North, in an attempt to glorify its states’ fight to suppress the South’s effort to free themselves from the North’s exploitation,

*********

HAHA

There goes the credibility of the author's effort.

The U.S. flag of that period is the one which is emblematic of slavery. After all, it flew from the topmasts of the many slave ships and above U.S. port cities where Africans were sold into slavery long before the war.

I think the author's allegations about the Union states' self-glorifying efforts might've been correct up until the 1960s. Since then, white liberal guilt is the motivating force. They are ashamed that slavery, as an institution, ever existed in this nation. The most convenient way to assuage those pangs of guilt is to take it out on anything "Confederate".

Pretty shallow thinking, if you ask me. But then again, we *are* talking about the political left.

[TheKidster]

Wow, that makes you angy doesn't it. Touches a little nerve?
The facts are the facts and perception is everything.
I learned in school that the civil war was mainly due to states' rights issues, economic exploitation and inequality as the nation's economy moved more towards industry and away from agriculture. Slavery had a part in that because that was the life blood of the plantation system, without slave labor they wouldn't be able to compete with the North's industrialized economy. If they couldn't use thier slaves as part of the census to establish representation they were losing out in political power because the more and more concentrated populions in the North were recieving a percieved unequal amount of representation in Congress.
With all that said, the people who carried the confederate battle flag were in part slave owners and in majority supporters of the institution. You can spin it any way you want but a piece of Sh*t on a silver platter still stinks. The confederate battle emblem represents a rebellion that was put down, defeated and ended badly for those who participated. It was and is a symbol of human slavery, a practice as repugnant as pedophelia, rape, and murder (which were considered ok to commit against one's property). I suspect that those who refuse to see this, like yourself would probably welcome the practice again if they could get away with it.
When you drive down the road with your confederate flag bumper sticker this is what most people think "Dumbass racist redneck"
If you don't like it and it you get angry when people point the truth out to you then take it off and put up the starts & stripes. That is the flag of the country you live in, the country that exists today, the country that put down the rebellion and allowed, for a time black men to participate in the government process for the first time. I know you hate the image "spades" having power over the white man but I thought I'd put it in your little head one more time.

[ladtx]

We lived in Marshall, TX for 11 yrs. Our 2 youngest boys went to HS there.

[cowboyway]

Well noobie, you jumped right in the middle of it, didn't you.

And, from your misinformed missive, it appears that you are a product of public school indoctrination.

Black people that view the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of racism are, like yourself, useful idiots of the left wing damnyankees.

And regardless of your Lilliputian opinion of the 'rebellion', it is still a part of American history and a very large part of Southern history. Unfortunately, the pre, during and post war events have been, shall we say, revised to, most conveniently, fit a left wing liberal agenda.

BTW, why don't you go back to DU where you belong.