I do not fly the "Rebel Flag" nor do I think it should be flown from any institution of government or civil function. However, I do think that it has a place flying over monuments to the Civil War soldiers that fought under that flag. And there is nothing wrong in Confederate monuments, they are part of our history.
There is no revision to history that reconciles slavery and bigotry to the American Dream. They have both existed together and in opposition since the leanings toward separation from Great Britain began to gather steam after the French and Indian Wars. Consistently, three Presidents are listed as the greatest in the history of the nation. Washington, Lincoln and FDR are generally listed, and usually in that order. One owned slaves, one used slavery and its dissolution as an economic tool of war, and the last was woefully short on civil rights, given all of the other extreme positions he took.
So, even within the pantheon of America, there is no genuine, untainted hero. Nor, will there ever be. We are all human and possess a limitless ability to pervert and corrupt the world around us. We don't all do that all the time, but all of us have done it at one time or another.
My family, at least as far as documentation allows, came from and supported the South. Every male of age during the Civil War that I can identify, fought for the Confederacy. Some of them gave their lives during the War. Some of them served the entire War, despite injury and privation. Some of them deserted and were, shall we say, less than honorable about circumstances. In this regard, my family is like many others.
Where I have a problem is that this argument over a flag that was, truthfully, not a very significant banner during the War, is not about propriety and place. It is about connotation and symbolism. Every flag has its champions and its detractors. But, before I was born, and all during my life, this flag, the "Rebel Flag", has been used for things I do not support. Every other flag in our nation, including Old Glory, has been as well. However, there is an issue that I have to pick at with some people.
There is this massive outcry of undying patriotism, how American it is to fly this Rebel Flag. "No one can make me take it down!" And, I applaud the protective stance of free speech. However, when it is then followed by how it is about heritage, and honoring our heritage, that I get a little testy.
We don't have anyone crying foul and standing up to protect that "heritage" when the Klan parades around under that flag. We, at least sometimes, hear people upset that they carry the American flag at their rallies. I am not saying that they cannot. I think they are booger eating degenerates, but that freedom is protected under the Constitution.
What bothers me is that there is a desire to continue to stand up for our "heritage" that gets really loud, only when it is safe. When the Klan is in town, there is never any talk about them perverting that flag, (you know the one that only fools believe is a standard for racism and violence). When the skinheads march around with their swastikas and Rebel Flags, there is no outcry that they are perverting that flag (you know the one that stands for blacks and whites, that both died fighting in the War under it.)
Why? Well, because it is easy to claim your rights are being infringed and to declare anger and hatred to people that you know full well are not out to cause you harm. You can have all kinds of courage, dip your dong in the conspiracy theory water and paint away with it. Because, you know you are talking foolishness and there is no chance of repercussions. It is flat cowardice, or collusion. Collusion is the inactive or tacit agreement and assistance with objectionable activity that one hopes is not discovered publicly.
But, when the folks that will hurt you, or you are sure probably could do you harm, show up, the room gets mighty silent. I understand being afraid of the Klan, and the AB. I fear their physical potential and quite honestly despise them. However, I spent more than 21 years protecting freedoms that they hold as well. I don't agree with them, I don't subscribe to their hatred and paranoia, I don't have any respect for their position. But, they have the right to assemble and spout whatever ignorance they wish. What they can't do is do it under the flag of my heritage, without me speaking up.
Or, I can renounce that flag, and what it has come to stand for. I can make all kinds of claims about how I don't care what others think, I am an American, by God, and I pick and choose what I stand up for. It is easy to stand up for things that imaginary. It is part of the Texas paranoia around the military training exercises. It is easy to prowl around and "surveil" what is going on, because everyone of those morons is still smart enough to know that the military is not out to take over their town or weapons. Big boys get to play with their big toys, and pretend to be about the civic business of the state.
You don't see any of them trying to get onto a nuclear facility or an active military installation to do any surveillance. Why? Because then, the military would be after them, and they know it. You don't see any of the pile of folks in Oklahoma that had to show up and fly the "Rebel Flag" for the President. I guess they thought he had never seen it, really, no idea why flying it in front of Obama is any more relevant than in front of George Bush. Or, is there something obviously different about those two men that makes it relevant?
The problem with stupidity is that it transcends situations. This is not a couple of Budweisers in the back of a F150 and then go home and shoot possums for fun. This is a public statement that is made to our black President, with the disingenuous claim that it is not racial. If you are not intelligent enough to see that, then you are exactly what the worst elements are hoping for, a pitiful fool, ready to make an ass of themselves for no purpose of worth, but plenty of anger and outcry.
Do I feel strongly about this? Yes. I don't care who flies that flag, because it has become a symbol of something I am not. I am not an American comfortable with prejudice or bigotry. I am not an American comfortable with hatred and violence. That is why I won't fly that flag, because the people that had the responsibility long ago, did not stand up for what they claim are the best qualities of that heritage. They did not speak out when required, because of cowardice, or complicity. Both still exist, and I am not an American that believes in cowardice and I will not be complicit.
There are other flags and symbols that are similar. The swastika is just a rune, used in a foreign language and time. The hammer and sickle are just tools. The rising sun is just a red ball. Except that they are not, and good people on both sides died because of it. Don't dishonor yourself or your intelligence with claims that you can't see that, or that it is imagined by activists, or that while it is true of some people, it doesn't matter. It matters the same way calling someone ugly, or fat, or nigger does. Those are just words, and there is nothing illegal about using them. But, no one genuinely claims not to understand their power and purpose.
And, yes, stupid is one of those words, and I have used it a lot in this post. On purpose. While it might not be right, it is required for my service of my heritage. Because I did not serve, nor did my ancestors serve, so that we would devolve to the lowest form of coercion and fear. We are called to be Americans, to strive to rise above. That is how it is, to my mind, and I don't like seeing us fail. Fly whatever flag you want, my service was based on guaranteeing that right. But, don't claim it is for heritage. We lost that opportunity many decades ago, and everyone knows it. Too quiet on the dangerous front, but pretty loud in the no risk room. That is not American. That is not my heritage. That is not what we are about.
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