Right before I got out of the car this morning on my way into work, I was flipping through the stations on my radio and ended up on Shade45, one of the rap stations on Sirius. Although not really paying attention, I heard something along the lines of "The Sons of Confederate Veterans are planning to fly the Confederate Flag over state capitol buildings in South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, etc. to show their support for the southern heritage." That gets me really steamed!
They played clips of people claiming that the flag is about souther heritage, not racism, or is in any way connected with reminding people who to vote for this november. I call shenanigans. Here's why:
I think that it pretty clear to anyone who ever took basic american history that the south ceceded from the Union in advance of Lincoln's election to the presidency because they were sure (rightly) that he was going to push an abolitionist agenda. Thus, the southern states decided that they wanted to betray their allegiance to the United States and do their own thing.
Now here's the rub. I understand that the people living 150 years after the civil war want to honor the valor of the fallen soldiers who died to protect a horrendously racist, unfair and predatory system, but is it appropriate to fly the colors of a country that essentially attacked our own? Wikipedia says that the war started when the southern forces attacked a federal installation in Charleston Harbor, so it seems to me that not only did the southern states breach their loyalty to the United States, but they also commit an act of war/aggression/terrorism on the United States.
Now, the flyers of the flag argue that its not about racist theory or an indication of trying to revert back to the way things were pre-1861. I don't buy it, but even giving them the benefit of the doubt, its still inappropriate to fly that flag in this country. The reason I say this is because that flag is anti-American. The Confederacy was anti-American. The people who want to remember the Confederacy are seeking to honor those who a) did not support the United States; b) did not support the troops of the United Stats; and (among many others) c) sought to irretrievably damage the short and long term prosperity of the United States.
What pains me is that there are people in this country, who on one hand want to honor and remember what happened 150 years ago by using a symbol that was waved on the battlefields of Gettysburg, Antietam, Frederisburg, Vicksburg, Atlanta and so many others, on the side opposite the Stars and Stripes, and on the other side want to talk about their patriotism and the inability of "some" to lead us. I can't imagine what goes through the minds of some people in this country, who want to take down our flag and replace it with something that is antithetical to all we purportedly stand for-the republic for which that flag stands, one nation.
I've lived in the south. I know that they love their country. Why would these people want to take a metaphorical crap on the United States?
I see your "its not racist" and I will raise you "yes, but you are worshiping treason".
Thats my rant for the morning.