I hate it too. It represents slavery and rebelling and segregation to me. All my relatives fought for the good guys on the winning side in the War of Rebellion. Except for one great great great aunt, married to a Union admiral uncle. She was a Southern lady and flew the Confederate Flag over her house in Elmira, and the local constabulary was too cowed by her outgoing personality to force her to take it down. I live in Maryland now, but my ancestors fought against slavery back in the 1860s, from upstate New York. Just corporals that hated America's original sin. I still hate it when people own other people. It informs my conservative libertarianism. Lincoln was right to push for the 13th Amendment with every fiber of his being. I HATE 'the cause' because the cause was slavery.
But.
Apple Corporation wants to ban a video game because there is a Confederate flag in it?
Oh, for F***'s sake...
Leave it alone, Apple. You can't erase it from history. Southern Americans fought Northern Americans and vicey versey. People fought and died and suffered bravely on both sides. That happened. More people were killed in that war than all our other wars combined. Wishing it to go away doesn't make it so. It's just a game. Not some desire to go back to segregation times.
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And for you still flying the flag? Take it down. Not because I said so. Not because the authorities are forcing you. Not because you are being pressured to. Not because of any fool thing I said. Take it down because you want to. That'll show em! Huh? You have other things more important to your heart. And your pride in the good things about your past will never fade. But, the hell, whatever. It's just a flag. And YOU want to take it down. No one told you. No one forced you. No one guilted you. You just did. And you take that away from the Leftists. You pull a Jackson on them, coning around behind where they didn't expect it. Brilliant! And. So, win win.
And Apple? Cool your tits.
It's not that Apple hates America. Not nearly that simple. It's that they hate reality.
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And after all that, if ONE extra orange 1969 Charger goes to the car crusher because of this hoo ha, so help me....
I great great grandpappy from North Carolina fought for the Union as well. That said, if people want to fly the Battle Flag it is their right until freedom of expression is outlawed. If organizations or governments want to display it in some historical context (such as a Confederate Memorial), that should be fine too. Flying it over a government building is wrong and should stop. I understand that some see it as racist but many who display it do so to honor their forebears or what they see as defiance to an overreaching Federal government.
ReplyDeleteAfter the collapse of Reconstruction, as a part of the process of national reconciliation it was agreed that the losers would be allowed to console themselves with their courage. I take it that agreement is no longer valid?
ReplyDeleteWhen the flags come down, the monuments will be next. It's already been proposed in my city. I thought the Russians were the only ones who liked to rewrite history.
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