Wednesday, June 04, 2008
The South shall rise again!
A group of Floridians calling themselves The Sons of Confederate Veterans have been in the news lately for raising a gigantic Confederate flag on a small piece of property at the intersection of US 92 and I-75 Tuesday (June 3rd). Apparently, this is another group of people proudly claiming to be the descendants of Confederate veterans. As everyone should know, the Confederacy seceded from the United States in 1861, eventually leading to the slaughter that was the American Civil War. Confederate sympathizers and apologists like to associate the war with anything but slavery, but the fact is, the Southern economy was built on slavery and the decision to secede was at least in part inspired by the South's demands that slavery remain a legal means of conducting the Southern states' agricultural business. So the Confederate armies were, on some level, fighting for the continuance of slavery as a business practice.
In my mind, fighting for the right to own slaves is akin to fighting for the spread of cancer or claiming pride in being the descendant of Joseph Goebbels. The Confederacy was about maintaining an economy and a way of life centered around the treatment of human beings as property. Being proud of that is akin to being proud of a father who also happens to be a pedophile, or a grandfather who was a convicted rapist. Can you imagine standing up and shouting, "My great grandfather fought to protect an institution which was itself a crime against humanity and I am damn proud of him for it!". That is the sort of mentality we are talking about here and one would think that over 140 years on, people would get past it and move on, but apparently a very determined minority continues to hold on.
Being proud of the Confederacy is like being proud of Nazism, it takes a special kind of angry, ignorant whiteness to go there. Over half a million Americans died fighting over the Confederacy. Countless others died because of the Confederacy's preferred business structure, many of them dying in shackles on slave boats crossing the Atlantic. What is there to be proud of here? An unsustainable economy? A poorly planned war campaign? The dividing of a nation? The slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people? These are all part of the Confederate legacy and these are all things modern Confederate apologists claim to be proud of. That is like claiming to be proud of being the offspring of Benedict Arnold. It makes no sense, but then very little does at this point in my life.
So Tampa will soon be blessed with a Civil War memorial and a high-flying Confederate flag. A flag that symbolizes division, racism, unnecessary death, and ignorance. Just one more point of pride for my hometown!
Labels: stupid is as stupid does
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In general I agree with you, I don't like the confederate flag, and for the most part I don't like the people wo are proud of it either. Most of them are racist and just do it out of hate... but not all do. It could just be that they are proud of their ancestors who served... nothing more. I doubt it, but it could be.
Most likely if I knew these people and what they stood for, I would not like them... but I don't so I don't have enough info to say one way or the other. It is a part of history however, and we can't just ignore it. We can't judge soldiers on the battles they faught/fight in, just remeber that they were willing to fight and yes, respect them for that.
Food for thought, you are against this current war in every way shape and form... but you are proud of Scott, right? Would you hang or wear something in support of him, his unit, etc. Regardless of what will go down in the history books about this current war (most likely negative things), I will always teach the girls and their children that Daddy/Grandpa served his country and is very proud of what he accomplished over there and they should be too. I will always hang and show support for OIF because Scott was willing to serve and give up his life without question and that is honerable even if everyone doesn't support the cause.
Like I said, I doubt that is why these people are doing this and I'm sure they have some alterior motive... but without knowing for sure, it could just be that they are pound of their ancestors for serving and it just so happens they served in something most people didn't like.
All in all though, most people who wear or hang the confederate flag are reacist and if that is their reason for hanging it, then they are VERY wrong.