Posted on Jun 27, 2015
Millions of Americans still embrace the Confederate flag. Should we dismiss them all as racists?
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After the horrific, racially motivated massacre last week of nine black Bible study participants at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, there has been a righteous rush to remove the Confederate flag from government property and the goods of many national retailers. And it seems we've reached a landmark tipping point: After decades of defending the Confederate flag, many conservative lawmakers have publicly and aggressively joined the fight against this longtime symbol of the South.
However, there are still millions of Americans in the South who (probably quietly, these days) remain deeply invested in the Confederate flag. I am not one of them. But I do believe their concerns and beliefs are worth considering without dismissing them wholesale as a bunch of backwards racists, as much of the American left seems eager to do.
Some defenders of the flag worry about a slippery slope. They oppose its removal from state capitols and insignias because they think there's no logical stopping point.
First came the calls to take down the Confederate flags flying over state property. Then Virginia moved to scrap a small license plate program for the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Before long, private companies said they would discontinue selling Confederate-themed products. Now everything from roads to statutes commemorating Confederate figures could wind up on the chopping block.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/millions-of-americans-still-embrace-the-confederate-flag-dont-dismiss-them-all-as-racists/ar-AAc9zqW
However, there are still millions of Americans in the South who (probably quietly, these days) remain deeply invested in the Confederate flag. I am not one of them. But I do believe their concerns and beliefs are worth considering without dismissing them wholesale as a bunch of backwards racists, as much of the American left seems eager to do.
Some defenders of the flag worry about a slippery slope. They oppose its removal from state capitols and insignias because they think there's no logical stopping point.
First came the calls to take down the Confederate flags flying over state property. Then Virginia moved to scrap a small license plate program for the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Before long, private companies said they would discontinue selling Confederate-themed products. Now everything from roads to statutes commemorating Confederate figures could wind up on the chopping block.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/millions-of-americans-still-embrace-the-confederate-flag-dont-dismiss-them-all-as-racists/ar-AAc9zqW
Confederate Flag
Political Correctness
Military History
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 89
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Was the Civil War About Slavery?
What caused the Civil War? Did the North care about abolishing slavery? Did the South secede because of slavery? Or was it about something else entirely...pe...
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I think this article articulates the connections some people have been trying to make and others may not fully understand:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/10/us/conderate-flag-southern-economics/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/10/us/conderate-flag-southern-economics/index.html
One battle the Confederate flag is still winning - CNN.com
If you want to understand Southern heritage, don't follow the Confederate flag debate, follow the money, say historians.
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NO, but it also doesn't mean we should fly these flags over our government facilities. These flags belong in a museum or on your personal property.
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I think that you CAN separate the Honor of a family's Confederate War Dead, from what the Confederate Battle Flag has come to mean to many white racists and segregationists, KKK, etc. Everyone should read the book "Confederates in the Attic" by Pulitzer Prize winning Author tony Horwitz if you are not from the South, so that you get some understanding of what the Confederacy in general means to White (and Black) Southerner's, as well as the loss of the Civil War (they call it "The War Between the States"). Only White Southerner's know what is like to be an American and have your country invaded, and your homes burned downed, and to face starvation and the loss of so many of your young men. They (and by definition a big part of this country) have not really healed from the humiliation of losing the war and the trauma that has gone with that. Yes, I am sure that is hard to believe 150 years later. I think that the Charleston Murders are a new opportunity for white and black southerners to speak honestly with each other about how to get beyond Jim Crow, and the Civil war, and slavery, without dishonoring the contributions of many Southerner's who did not see themselves as fighting for an unjust cause, but saw themselves repelling the Northern invaders. Most of the war was fought in the South or in Border states. Gettysburg was the exception and that ended badly for the Army of Northern Virginia.
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Capt Lance Gallardo
I am by Birth and inclination A Northerner (California was a Free Union State at the time of the Civil War, and sent Soldiers to the Union Cause) and I would have fought for the Union. The Civil War was fought principally over the issue of slavery. The Southern newspapers at the time were pretty clear on the main reason for the War of Succession. The idea that people in the South thought their was nothing inherently wrong with "owning" another human being AND calling yourself a Christian, is a contradiction that I , like Strom Thurmonds Son, Sen. Paul Thurmond, recently said on the floor of the South Carolina Senate, will never understand. “I am aware of my heritage,” Thurmond said of his family’s place in S.C. history, and specifically the Civil War. Referring to slavery and the War’s role in preserving it, Thurmond said, “I am not proud of this heritage. These practices were inhumane and wrong, wrong, wrong.” http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/TheBattery/archives/2015/06/23/charleston-state-sen-paul-thurmond-whose-father-ran-for-president-as-a-dixiecrat-will-vote-to-remove-the-confederate-flag
Charleston state Sen. Paul Thurmond, whose father ran as a Dixiecrat, will vote to remove the...
State Sen. Paul Thurmond of Charleston, the son of longtime U.S. Senator and once-ardent segregationist Strom Thurmond, took the podium this morning and declared “the time is right” to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol.
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Capt Lance Gallardo
I think we are missing the point with most of the discussion. This is about removing the Confederate Battle flag from our public places and from our public symbols. If you want to honor your confederate ancestor with a confederate battle flag on their grave or fly it from your private property, that is the first amendment in action. That is your right. We are talking about the display of the confederate battle flag in public places on public lands or on public symbols like state flags or seals.
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SOUTHERNER'S DON'T FORGET THEIR WAR DEAD!
My mother's father John V. Gallardo (FROM CALIFORNIA) is still buried in the Philippines, KIA March 14th, 1945. Earl O Brake of Alabama was killed with him repelling a Jap Dawn banzai Attack. Earl was awarded the DSC Posthumously.
http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=6498 All families of the fallen should have the type of closure that our families had. The families never really get over their loss of their love one. I know that neither Earl's family in Alabama or my family has ever really stopped missing a son, a father, a grandfather, or a brother. Earl's family reached out to my family 65 years after their deaths and it was very special. Southern families don't forget their war dead, whether they are Confederate dead from the Civil War or WWI or WWII or Korea, Vietnam, and now Afghanistan and Iraq. This is something my family found out when Earl's niece presented my family a ringed binder full of first-hand accounts of the men in their platoon and company who knew Earl and my grandfather and how they met their end defending their company's strong point, armed with two BARS and grenades. The platoon commander put two of his best men in that fighting hole, because he knew if the Japs attacked, that is where the company defensive perimeter would get hit first and hardest. He needed two men who would not run, but would fight until they could not fight anymore. He was right. Both men died where they were placed and accounted for close to a hundred dead Japs. Earl's family spent 60 years trying to get Earl upgrade to the Medal of Honor. No matter. We know what my grandfather and Earl did, that day in the jungle hills outside of Manila.
My mother's father John V. Gallardo (FROM CALIFORNIA) is still buried in the Philippines, KIA March 14th, 1945. Earl O Brake of Alabama was killed with him repelling a Jap Dawn banzai Attack. Earl was awarded the DSC Posthumously.
http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=6498 All families of the fallen should have the type of closure that our families had. The families never really get over their loss of their love one. I know that neither Earl's family in Alabama or my family has ever really stopped missing a son, a father, a grandfather, or a brother. Earl's family reached out to my family 65 years after their deaths and it was very special. Southern families don't forget their war dead, whether they are Confederate dead from the Civil War or WWI or WWII or Korea, Vietnam, and now Afghanistan and Iraq. This is something my family found out when Earl's niece presented my family a ringed binder full of first-hand accounts of the men in their platoon and company who knew Earl and my grandfather and how they met their end defending their company's strong point, armed with two BARS and grenades. The platoon commander put two of his best men in that fighting hole, because he knew if the Japs attacked, that is where the company defensive perimeter would get hit first and hardest. He needed two men who would not run, but would fight until they could not fight anymore. He was right. Both men died where they were placed and accounted for close to a hundred dead Japs. Earl's family spent 60 years trying to get Earl upgrade to the Medal of Honor. No matter. We know what my grandfather and Earl did, that day in the jungle hills outside of Manila.
Valor awards for Earl O. Brake
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Private First Class Earl O. Brake (ASN: 34807192), United States Army, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company F, 103d Infantry Regiment, 43d Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces on 14 March 1945. Private First Class Brake's intrepid actions, personal bravery and...
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Capt Lance Gallardo
I think that you CAN separate the Honor of a family's Confederate War Dead, from what the Confederate Battle Flag has come to mean to many white racists and segregationists, KKK, etc. Everyone should read the book "Confederates in the Attic" by Pulitzer Prize winning Author tony Horwitz if you are not from the South, so that you get some understanding of what the Confederacy in general means to White (and Black) Southerner's, as well as the loss of the Civil War (they call it "The War Between the States"). Only White Southerner's know what is like to be an American and have your country invaded, and your homes burned downed, and to face starvation and the loss of so many of your young men. They (and by definition a big part of this country) have not really healed from the humiliation of losing the war and the trauma that has gone with that. Yes, I am sure that is hard to believe 150 years later. I think that the Charleston Murders are a new opportunity for white and black southerners to speak honestly with each other about how to get beyond Jim Crow, and the Civil war, and slavery, without dishonoring the contributions of many Southerner's who did not see themselves as fighting for an unjust cause, but saw themselves repelling the Northern invaders. Most of the war was fought in the South or in Border states. Gettysburg was the exception and that ended badly for the Army of Northern Virginia.
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I always felt it should be only one flag representing our nation that is "Old Glory", the word racist is used way too much.
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The more we allow others to pick and chisel at our freedoms as AMERICANS, the weaker will our foundation grow. I don't agree with everything everyone may do, but as long as it doesn't endanger my safety, it does not violate the principles of the republic, which is what we are supposed to be.
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