Here's the flag of the 1st Maryland Cavalry, CSA under which my 2nd great uncle fought. I'm still looking for a better GIF image of it.
Posted on 10/19/2004 5:14:54 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
As I drove down 5th street yesterday, I spied a bumper sticker that addresses an issue I have been waiting for an excuse to write about. It was in the back window of a pickup truck, whose ability to operate I found simply amazing, strategically situated between an empty gun rack and another sticker depicting Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) urinating on "Osama" with a devilish grin on his face.
I will leave the "Osama" reference and defamation of an innocent newspaper comic strip character alone for the purposes of this article, and will concentrate on the content of the other bumper sticker. It was a simple, Confederate flag, next to which was written the words, "Heritage not Hate". Now, if I have ever read something more deserving of one of my diatribes, I cannot recall.
This statement, which for the record I believe to be sheer nonsense, speaks of an issue with which I had very limited experience before relocating to North Carolina, but an issue of importance nonetheless.
All my life, the Confederate flag was something of a joke to me. M history classes in high school and earlier had taught me that the Confederate defeat during the Civil War was a good thing, that the moral argument against slavery (espoused by the Lincoln government in Washington) was a black and white issue, about right and wrong, and that the Union triumph is 1865 was righteous.
Granted, the history I was taught spoke from a biased perspective, from the moral high ground of the abolitionists and northern intellectuals, and never really addressed the true, underlying reasons for the Civil War, which I would come to learn much later. After considering all the information I have been able to locate on the subject, after long hours of trying to understand just where the Confederacy was coming from and why they wanted to defend their way of life, I have come to a few conclusions.
Naturally, these conclusions reflect my upbringing and Northern perspective, and I am more than confident than my loyal readers will have more than a few comments of their own to contribute.
First of all, "Heritage not Hate", is an extreme cop out. Sure, the Confederate flag, displayed in the year 2004, some 140 years after the actual conflict ended, may stand for some long forgotten Southern pride issue. It may stand for the struggles that people in the Southeastern region of the United States suffered through and the wars that they fought.
It may stand for some perceived difference between the North and South, which apparently has persisted to this day, and may fondly recall the era of Southern dominance of the United States.
Woops, little mistake there. The South has never "dominated" anything. It is another region within the greater whole, just as it was then and remains so today. As for the "Not Hate" part of the bumper sticker, a more laughable statement I cannot recall. There are far too many damning coincidences that will forever relegate the Stars and Bars to the level of racist propaganda.
Why is it that hate groups all over the country, to this day, fly the Confederate flag as a symbol of their ideology. White Supremacist organizations,
, the sad, pitiful remnants of the Klu Klux Klan, along with many other neo-Nazi and racially motivated groups all include the Confederate flag amongst their symbols of worship.
Is this coincidence? Are people who fly the Confederate flag, be it in bumper sticker form or on the end of a flagpole, trying to align themselves with such openly evil and backward-thinking organizations? I don't think so. I think that people fly the flag to recall the once glorious Confederated states of America and celebrate their history, while at the same time somehow overlooking the racial implications inherent in the very symbol they hold so high.
Make no mistake. Whether you choose to recognize it or not, the fact remains the same: The Confederate flag is a racist symbol. It was during the Civil War, it remains so today. I challenge anyone to show me an African-American person with a Confederate Flag bumper sticker or "The South will rise again" written in their computers screensaver.
Is this a coincidence? You would sooner find a swastika flying outside the Israel embassy as you would a Confederate flag flying at an N.A.A.C.P rally. To me, the symbols have long been morally relative to each other. Both stand for hate, oppression, and the wanton murder and destruction of a group of people because of some perceived inferiorities. Plantation owners in the South, before and during the Civil War, treated slaves the same way they treated horses and sheep.
They were not human beings, quite the contrary. They could be bought and sold like farm equipment and with as much compassion. So to during the Nazi era in Germany; Jews were not considered people in the same way that German citizens were, therefore their wholesale murder could be justified. Anyone who cannot see the glaring similarities between the Confederate flag and the Swastika needs to pick up a history book and do some research.
If you care to display a symbol that represents the brutality and viciousness and lack of humanity that was involved in something like the slave trade, as the Confederate flag clearly does, you are entitled. The first Amendment to the Constitution allows you the freedom to display just about whatever you care to, but consider this. If you are going to fly the Stars and Bars, don't sugar coat it. Don't downplay the racial aspects and idealize the cultural aspects. They are one in the same.
Be up front and honest about your feelings. Confederacy= Hate I think would be a far more realistic bumper sticker, and as we speak I am in negotiations to have a number of said bumper stickers produced. Let us just call a spade a spade and forget about the "Heritage not Hate" nonsense. It is hateful, you know it is, and beating around the bush about it only takes away from the power of the argument. Let the responsive mud slinging commence!
Here's the flag of the 1st Maryland Cavalry, CSA under which my 2nd great uncle fought. I'm still looking for a better GIF image of it.
[sarcasm]
An Armenian should know better than to write a piece of trash like this that is only worthy of an Ottoman hack.
You'd think so ... maybe he's been cut off from his heritage.
I think maybe the poster "Do Be" was responding to the original article, rather than to Stainlessbanner.
Is that one of Dr. Spock's offsprings?
Mr. Kajolian: Let me guess. 1) you ain't from around here, are you? 2) you went to government school?
Hey I recently had lunch with that guy! He doesn't like his mexican food too hot, right HK? :-)
No.
I think this self righteous cretin is Armenian myself.
Screw Him....he can go live somewhere he doesn't have to deal with Southern Heritage....I'm tired of the tyranny of the minority.
I too have the Bonnie Blue.,...for my home flag and the front of my ever aging LR.
I shall look for you Martin....I have seen a few....one was on a Beemer on Hobbes the other day.
I'm partial to the BB since it has a strong connection to my homestate of Mississippi
~ "Duty...is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things... You can not do more-you should never wish to do less."
"I cannot raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children." ...R.E. Lee
That my friends is "Heritage".
To reduce that great struggle as a war only about slavery, cheapens and demeans many great men. That is the thing that is truly hateful. It is my Duty...to never forget what that word "Duty" really means, or how best to honor it. ~
Very well said!
I was also taught that the Civil War was based on "States Rights". Heritage is very much a part of the reason that some still embrace the flag that their ancestors fought to defend. I have no use for the KKK, Nazi's, or other "hate" groups.
I had an uncle killed on December 7, 1941 aboard the USS Arizona. Do I hate the Japanese? No, in fact I have Japanese children on my sports teams who are terrific kids as well as having respectful parents. The ethnic origins of the individual do not define their outlook and beliefs in life.
Very large BTTT and well said.
With Boston I think you have the right general idea, i.e. New England, but I believe the target location is Maine.
Perhaps it is not just a rumor that the South is more conservative than the North.
Allow me to demonstrate what passes as leaders and heroes to New Englanders such as Peter Kalajian.
The perception of a difference remains fairly strong.
Gay marriage is a constitutional right only in New England.
Incarcerated felons retain the right to vote only in New England.
Perhaps they are not trying to align with any "backward-thinking" morons, but rather to celebrate past heritage. Perhaps some just want to join in defense against the "forward-thinking" progressive liberal morons of Mr. Kalajian's New England where Adam and Steve have the a constitutional right to get married, the parish priest may molest children under the "one free grope" rule, and convicted felons enjoy the right to vote, and Ted Kennedy is the more conservative Senator of his state.
Harper's Weekly, Vol 7, No. 315, Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization, January 10, 1863
Rebel Negro Pickets as seen through a Field-Glass
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