That I can recall, I only ever owned one rebel flag in my life. Dad took me to a small circus at the Oxford Civic Center, and bought me a “Dukes of Hazzard flag,” as the merchant called them, for $1.
I’ve never had any desire to fly it as an adult until about two weeks ago.
It’s unfortunate that bad guys are, all too often, sufficiently empowered to set the narrative. I don’t think white supremacists have taken the rebel flag as far into the abyss as the Nazis took the swastika, but I fear the difference is only one of degree.
I’m amenable to careful and considered display of this flag. I don’t think it should fly over government buildings, for example. But I think removing it from war memorials is at least misguided. And I think the budding war on anything to do with the Confederacy is motivated much more by loathing of the South than a sincere desire to remove a symbol some consider racist.
I believe this because I see and hear the kinds of people who are screaming the loudest.
It’s time for someone with a larger audience than I have to find the courage to stand athwart this hysteria.
I’ll write more later. Maybe. I hadn’t addressed this here because I was sure it was fleeting nonsense. Alas, no. It’s a full frontal assault.
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I do think there are appropriate times and places for the various confederate flags to be displayed (note: the one most people call “the confederate flag” is technically the battle flag of northern virginia. The actual confederate flag has an interesting history of changing quite a bit during the war, but the commonly held “confederate flag” wasn’t technically the the official confederate flag for very long, if at all). Primarily, I think it’s only really appropriate for museum settings. I don’t really think it’s terribly necessary to have the flag actually flown though. Flying a flag is meant to indicate a current status or sovereignty, none of which apply to the confederate battle flag.
One of the sillier things I’ve seen in this whole thing is people flying the U.S. flag right next to the confederate battle flag. The only pairing of flags I can think of that would be more cringworthy would be flying the Nazi flag next to a flag featuring the Star of David (such as the Israeli flag).
Godwin’s law, satisfied.
I’m getting tired of bossy finger-waggers stoked by wholly manufactured outrage.