Posted on 06/01/2006 9:07:55 AM PDT by 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.
free dixie,sw
heard any GOOD aggie jokes lately???
fwiw, i'm an ORANGEBLOOD.
free dixie,sw
You wouldn't believe how many people confuse the Union Jack with the Confederate Battle Flag. My husband is British, and for a gift I bought him a plate to go on the front of his car that was the Union Jack. We constantly got asked "Where'd you get that Confederate Flag?"
fwiw, you are NOT "my friend".
free dixie,sw
I personally choose not to display the Confederate flag, but do not assume anything of those who do. And I will defend them, as long as they are ethical.
You said,
""I wish the confederate flag wasn't associated so heavily with slavery, and instead was associated with the importance of preserving state sovereignty. It would be nice to have a lasting legacy or symbol of the importance of states rights and decentralizing the government.
""I can understand why you would be frustrated with it but honestly there is not much help coming from your ranks.""
Stand for what you wish - don't bash those who do. Join the ranks!
free dixie,sw
Well, you know, principals are principals. My question to you would be, would you be willing to go to war if they did?
free dixie,sw
You are a fine photographer or sure got lucky. That is one lovely shot.
You're talking about the yankee bankers that got embarrassingly wealthy off the slave trade, right?
Noooooo, perception is NOT everything. Perception does not change the facts. Perception is only an indicator of one's personal bias, based on one's experience and level of knowledge of the subject matter.
Amen to that.
And don't forget Howard "get the Confederate flag flying rednecks vote" Dean.
About 1,000 casualties, lynchings and horrific mutilations, over $2M in property damage, black orphan asylum burned to the ground . . . most black families fled New York, never to return. . .
Proof of your assertion is required! Its a known fact the North took full advantage in Congress to throw the screws to the Southern States whenever they could.
You have a point, but since you are so strongly supportive of historical "facts". I have a few questions for you. How do you feel about the fact that a very large percentage of blacks sold into slavery in Africa were originally sold by their black African owners to white ship masters who transported them to the new world? Who is more despicable, the white man who buys a black man or the black man who sold him in the first place? Since you are universally opposed to slavery, how do you feel about the current slavery situation in many African countries like Benin, Sudan, Nigeria, and Mauritania? Wikipedia says, "However, it is estimated that 95 percent of the African slaves transported to the New world from the 15th to the 19th century were sent to Latin America and the Caribbean. In total, the Spanish colonies received about 2 million." Since 95% of all slaves imported to the western hemisphere went to countries other than the us, do you have the same feelings regarding their flags as you do the Confederate battle flag? Two final questions, do you feel about those black freemen who owned slaves, as can be documented here as you do about white slave owners? If not, why?
bump for later
Then clearly you aren't familiar with Jefferson Davis' administration.
Excuse me Mr. Chip On The Shoulder. How about weaker white civilization vs. a stronger black one? Do you want to change history and imply that in the 16th century the white civilizations of Europe were on par with the black ones in Africa in terms of dominance?
And before you get your panties in a wad again, the two geographies WERE mainly distinguished as black and white.
I'm not implying anything about ability. I am implying everything about superiour firepower.
Self-righteous, mis-informed and wandering into the FR battlefield unarmed. Is it any wonder my ancestors got so angry at these pests?
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