Critics of new flag heckle governor on campaign trail

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 09 June 2002 | Jim Galloway

[flyervet]

The minutes of the 1956 debate do exist and they clearly say that the reason for the change was to prepare for the upcoming centennial of the war.

Uh-huh. You are right and the state of Georgia is wrong and we know that because you repeatedly restate your point. Sure. And Rep. Mackay was just foolin' when he said, "There was only one reason for putting the flag on there, like the gun rack in the back of a pickup truck, it telegraphs a message." And the 1956 General Assembly threw out a flag that was not only nearly identical to the CSA National flag, but was designed by a Confederate Officer, over the objections of nearly twenty Georgia Confederacy heritage groups to honor and memorialize the Confederacy. Sure.

I can just hear ol' Griffin now:

We had to spit on our Confederate Heritage in order to honor it.

The UDC opposed the flag change, but the SCV supported it.

Actually, John B. Gordon Camp himself also spoke out against the 1956 change (if you're at all familiar with the SCV, I'm sure you know who he is). The SCV of the time wanted the Confederate battle flag to be used only by the UDC, SCV and Children of the Confederacy for ceremonial use. Of course, their feelings, and the actual Confederate flag designed by an actual Confederate officer that was already proudly flying from Georgia's flagpoles, weren't as important as taking time out from a legislative session devoted almost entirely to segregation to recognize a centennial that wouldn't happen for another five years. Right.

[doryfunk]

'And Rep. Mackay was just foolin' when he said, "There was only one reason for putting the flag on there, like the gun rack in the back of a pickup truck, it telegraphs a message."'----

No, he wasnt fooling. The problem is that both you and the current general assembly completely missed the message being sent. The flag symbolises the willingness of the South to fight against a tyrannical federal government that had overstepped its constitutional bounds.

[flyervet]

Exactly. They believed that federally mandated equality for blacks was tyrannical and unconstitutional, so they adopted a symbol that showed their opposition and defiance of the government on the civil rights issue.

The 1956 flag had as much to do with memorializing the Confederacy as the 1876 flag had to do with granting women the right to vote.