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!
I'll note once again, you still haven't assured me that you stopped beating your wife. Have you?
You tell me. You're the one who agreed with Hitler.
Wlat's "factual case" about Lincoln consists of nothing more than cutting and pasting a string of irrelevant out of context Lincoln quotes and ignoring everything else. That you find a marxist Michael Moore-loving, Lincoln worshipping deviant to be "credible" speaks volumes about your own person, capitan. I've said many times that the Wlat Brigade and the Lincoln Cult are diseases. They corrupt everything that touches them and draw it into the loony left. It happened to Wlat. It happened to #3fan. It happened to several others before them. And now it's happening to you.
You are showcasing your small intellect, and it is not a pretty sight.
Tommy D. is about as credible as ... well ... you.
Go ahead and make your case. This should be good.
From your perspective, I'm sure that true. But from the rest of the world's perspective, you are the festering canker which can be ignored, but not easily cured.
I'll note once again, Duke boy, you still haven't assured me that you stopped beating your wife. Have you?
I already did on the previous thread and you would not repudiate the sentiments of Hitler's Lincoln-praise just like you won't repudiate your little buddy #3HitlerFan now.
A diseased Lincoln cultist would think that, but from there we need only to turn to the facts.
FACT #1: Your side's ranks have produced a known neo-nazi, #3Fan
FACT #2: Your side's ranks have produced a marxist left wing nut job and adopted him as your de facto leader, WhiskeyPapa
FACT #3: Your side's ranks have over a dozen names on the banned freeper list.
I've always wanted to see the Confederate Flag and the Rainbow flag flown side by side. Maybe Jim David (if anyone else knows who he is) can help me there...
As far as I am concerned, there is only one person "on my side" and that's me. I am responsible for the content of my posts. Don't blame yourself, though, for your mental afflictions. You probably had a parent with the "pox." The signs are all there.
I have no idea what #3fan said. I only have your account, and I have come to realize you have little or no intellectual honesty.
As for "Hitler's Lincoln-praise," only a diseased mind like yours would be interested in another diseased mind like Hitler's. Of course, I discussed your problem on the previous post.
It seems that your intellectual and emotional development stopped around the 7th grade. Sadly that happens far too often to the offspring of women who "ply their trade."
So you may claim, but the fact remains that you both associate with and converse in friendship along side the other members of the Wlat Brigade. If you are so responsible for your own actions, then surely you can denounce your old buddy #3Fan.
No. You know exactly what he said because you have been informed of it many times. You CHOOSE not to acknowledge what he said because you are ashamed of admitting the irrefutable fact that you befriended a neo-nazi.
I see you are speaking from familial experience again.
Another rabble rouser on the loose, trying to divide conservatives one way or the other. Are you related to
bushpilot?
As far as I know, souls have no color and God is no respecter of men. I know it's more fun to fight, but
for the sake of peace, let us love one another.
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