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Hi Illbay,

What is Southern Heritage? For me, Southern Heritage is pride in and respect for your family. It is grits or nothing for breakfast. It is knowing that Barbeque is a noun. It's sitting in a tree freezing your butt off waiting for supper to walk by. Its country music and NASCAR. For me the Confederate flag has always been around. From those corny license plates that had the fat old soldier saying "Ferget hell!" to the child t-shirts that read "I'm a little rebel", it wasn't racial, it was a statement that said, "I'm country, I'm from the South, and I'm proud." I remember singing "Dixie" in elementary school music class. We didn't fly the Confederate flag every day back then. We saved it for special occasions like holidays, high school football games and NASCAR races. We can't sing Dixie in school any more, and the flag has been banned from high school games. NASCAR will probably start frowning on it too. When you see those flags flying at NASCAR races, they're not being flown by bigots, but by people who are proud to be from the south. Some people think of the Confederate flag as being a symbol of racism, but to me, it has never stood for slavery. When I was a child decades ago, I never associated the flag with slavery. I remember asking my mother what the rebel flag meant. She told me, It means we're not going to let anyone push us around. It was always a symbol of being a rebel, proud, a symbol of the south.

What IS "Southern heritage"?

It goes something like this, speech fascist.

It is the belief that the culture and traditions of the Southern region of the United States are admirable, redeeming, and edifying. They, in many ways, form the core of conservative thought: civility, individualism, traditional morality, and pride in one's homeland.

We are not, nor ever have we been consumed with and defined by "racism", if that term is taken to mean irrational hatred of our black neighbors. Slavery, though hardly a sin exclusive to us, is an institution of which we are deeply regretful and ashamed; it will forever be a blot on our past, as well as a convenient bludgeon for condescending cretins like yourself. We do not, however, put on idealist blinders and pretend that we are all the same; we are not, never have been, and are reminded of it every day.

But we will not roll up into a fetal position, be perpetually ashamed of ourselves to gain your good graces and acceptance, and be told to trash can the memory of a venerable, if imperfect, American institution like the Confederacy.

Does that enlighten you a bit?

Southern Heritage is many things to many people.Mine goes like this. I was born,raised and spent most of my life in the South.I have always abided by the law whether I considered it just or unjust.I have payed all my taxes and bills to the state and federal government and did everything required of me by them up to and being drafted. I have supported my government state and federal. I like grits,corn bread,Bar-B-Que and have always treated my elders regardless of their race with the upmost respect. I have honored and respected those who have fought and died in all wars this country was involved in whether or not I agreed with this countries stand or not.I also suspect there has been more tyranny carried out under the stars and stripes than was ever carried out under the Confederate Banner. I have never nor do not believe any of my anscestors owned slaves and if they did I condem and forgive them for it.I was not left anything from my ancestors in the way of money or land or anything of a material nature.I am 62 years old and retired. I never drew any of my military bebefits,unemployement or any subsidy of anykind up until now to which I now am drawing my social security. From everything I read I live in a small rural county where 300 men died in the Civil War and from all accounts none of them owned slaves and they fought for a cause for which their leaders here determined was correct and in most cases they fought to protect themselves from damn marauding Yankees like Sherman who burned,raped and pillaged their property.By the way in the Civil War I suspect most of the leaders of that time like the Kennedys and Clintons were directing this war from far away and were not hurt or injured other than from some movie or novel portraying such. Like most of us even today they probably didnt know the real truth behind everything they just answered the call of those leading.In the South and throughout this nation as a whole you still have those who are uneducated and held in poverty.But these are the ones who normally follow blindly and are more patriotic than those who are well educated and rob,steal and beat the system.It is a sad state of affairs when a baseball player can make more in one at bat than a citizen can in working a year but we can wear emblems honoring them or their teams at a very high cost .We can allow numbers to still go uneducated but yet pass them on through our systems of education just to use them as our gadiators.Now you and some politically correct outfit tell me I cant honor those less fortunate,uneducated or in a lot of cases forced to defend what they thought was right by wearing an emblem of a Flag they died for.I tell you and all like you to go to hell.You and those like you with your political correctness,diversity and anything goes mentality have brought America to its knees and she may just not recover this time.We have crumbled from within just like the twin towers.

What IS "Southern heritage"?

Well, why not ask the blacks in Mississippi who voted to retain the Confederate state flag?

You strike me as having a personal problem with Southern heritage. You hate it so much, you claim that it is not recognizable.

If it isn't recognizable, then how come you hate it so?

If you hate Southern heritage, fine -- but let's not pretend that it isn't recognizable.

For me, Southern Heritage, describes a code of behavior. It is immediate mutual respect, manners, self-control, and self-reliance. This is the social glue that enables a peaceful society without government having to legislate social regulations.

It is also a common recognition that you should not need any government except minimal structure.

It is a collective conscience of morality and loyalty to your neighbor, your community, and your state.

It is knowledge of your role and your heritage that enables you to carry out your responsibilities. It is preservation of the collective good by understanding the mistakes of the past.