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!
Being in favour of so-called 'southern heritage' (buzz line for something else ) does not make you a conservative, just a despicable segregationist which is totally rejected by the vast majority of thinking Americans.
This thing does not united, but divides, which only assists our enemies.
Allow ME to reply.
You Sir, are WRONG. And not all Southern Heritage supporters are in favor of secession, and the MAJORITY do not believe in racial prejudice or in "segregation".
Wake up and smell the coffee. Are you the poster boy for La Raza?
You need to learn to respect other cultures besides your own. Southern Heritage is not what you think.
Take a good look until it sinks in:
The only uniform you honour is the one of the Lost Cause.i still ask: DID YOU SERVE in the ARMED FORCES of the USA?
free dixie,sw
he simply repeats the self-righteous,ignorant,self-serving bilge & LIES served to damnyankees in the "publick screwls" by the intellectual/academic/social ELITISTS out of the NE.
what is REALLY pitiful is that the mass of damnyankees are so DUMB that they don't know that the elites look down on them and secretly despise the "great unwashed" common folks.
the masses are the UNwitting TOOLS of the elitist HATERS. nothing more;nothing less.
free dixie,sw
HYPOCRYTE, aren't you????
free dixie,sw
The neo-confederate element has absolutely no place within the overall American conservative movement. President Bush nor Ronald Reagan, when he was alive, would never espouse the 'real' goals of the neo-confeds.
there ARE however HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of PALEO-Confederates from the old rebel families, who have not forgotten & will never forget how sweet "breathing free dixie air" was.
btw, let me tell you what i think, based on current trends, WILL happen:
1. Le Republique Quebecois will leave Canada.
2.Los Estados Unidos de Azatlan will depart the USA in about 20 years, taking CA,AZ,NV,CO & NM out of the union.
3. then the new SOUTHRON REPUBLIC will quietly & peacefully be born. sadly, i won't live to see it.
the TRUTH is that we yanks/rebs (longterm) are NOT destined to live in one country, but we CAN be friends & trading partners.
free dixie,sw
every time you open your mouth, you make damnyankeeland look WORSE.(thus PLEASE continue your IGNORANT rants against dixie.)
BUT why not take your act over to DU, where you will be WARMLY WELCOMED with open arms??
the DUers LIKE LOUDmouthed, arrogant, rude damnyankees.
free dixie,sw
free dixie,sw
This ranting is a carbon copy of the main neo-confederate goal. Pure sedition & treason. Why don't you just sign up with the Islamic terrorist and (try) just try to divide this nation.
"breathing free dixie air" LOL the stench of dead logs in a ultra humid swamp...just ducky ..LOL
"Le Republique Quebécois will leave Canada." If this insanity were to take place it would ruin Canada. You like that, right?
SOUTHRON REPUBLIC? Learn to spell 'southern' After reading that collection of madness no wonder there was a Civil War.
http://www.southerncaucus.org/104.htm
Just wondering if you are familiar with HK Edgerton.
By the way President Lincoln was cowardly shot in the back by a traitor....like you.
(It's all coming out now. Never fails.)
southron is one of the 19th century spellings of southern. we southrons have adopted that spelling for those of us who favor peaceful separation from you HATERS.
given YOUR ignorant hatred of dixie,her culture,her sacred battleflags, her memorials to our war-dead,etc,etc i'm surprised that your're not out RANTING for our secession or for YOURS!
the "smart set" LIBS up there certainly are talking yankee secession RIGHT NOW. the NY SLIMES & washington COMpost have been full of it & have been since 11/03/04 when HANOI-john kerry (the prototypical damnyankee fell on his sword!).
the difference between the sections is:damnyankees want to run everyone elses business & we southrons just want to be left ALONE. we will HAPPILY let you leave. BE GONE!
free dixie,sw
If this was another era your kind would be looking for the nearest tree for Mr Edgerton. Deep down even Mr. Edgerton is cognizant of the real truth lurking just under the surface of the hard-core neo-confeds.
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