“...Why should I be silent when supporters of the Confederate flag aren’t??...”
I never said you SHOULD be. I said - You believe one way, others believe differently. Don’t be surprised when people push back when they don’t share your view - Especially when they push back on a newbie.
“What path did Southern states want to take?..”
Regardless. To them, it was about THEIR right to determine their own path as sovereign states.
We all agree now that no man can own another human being. That wasn’t the case back then. And there were many other issues going on at the time as well. Lincoln even said it himself - “If I could save the Union without freeing one slave, I would do it. If I could save the Union by freeing some of the slaves, and keeping the others in bondage, I would do it...” etc. Lincoln didn’t make it about slavery until well into the war, when the Southerners were kicking the living hell out of the North.
As for the “Racist” accusation, you are quite right - you never stated it outright. It was implied throughout some of your remarks.
The fact that YOUR ancestors were slaves doesn’t give you any moral high ground here. Other people here have ancestors who died BECAUSE your ancestors were slaves.
To me, I see those Southerners as Americans as much as the Northerners were - My kin, my ancestors, my people. I have family throughout Florida, Georgia, and Maryland, and I can guarantee you that somewhere in the family tree on Mom’s side there’s a relative who died in that conflict - wearing Blue OR Gray, and we NEVER owned slaves.
Slavery existed all over the world. It ENDED here because several hundred thousand Americans died.
Many of those same Americans who died in that conflict had ancestors who were slaves to someone else throughout history, in Europe. So again, you don’t own the moral high ground on it.
If people want to fly a Confederate Flag to honor THEIR dead ancestors and family it’s their right to do so. Like it or not, it’s Freedom of Speech.
As for the “Racist” accusation, you are quite right - you never stated it outright. It was implied throughout some of your remarks.
I never implied it either.
I live near Mississippi. I shop there often. Lower taxes than where I live.
Never joined any boycott of MS.
So I believe in freedom to show the Confederate flag. I don’t agree with it tho.