So, sorry I've been out so long. I've been very busy with my job and also a trip to the US. You know how those things go. However, there was something that happened while I was away that I wanted to talk about and hopefully it won't lead to a lot of folks coming onto my blog and blasting me.
The Confederate Flag, or more precisely the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, recently came up in the news, as I'm sure you've all seen. The debate is over whether this symbol is one of heritage or of hate. It's a discussion that needs to be had, to be honest, as this is one area where I think the country needs to have a discussion.
Let me lay out my bonafides for you in why I can talk about this. Yes, I lived most of my life either in Florida, DC or overseas, but I was born in Arkansas, have family that still live in the South, and can trace some of my family back to the South at least to 1800. I can make scratch biscuits and gravy, BBQ with the best of them, think Dr. Pepper is God's gift to man, understand what chitlins are and why I won't eat them, and can even tell you what the plural of Y'all is. (It's all y'all in case you were wondering. Y'all's is the possessive, as in, "Are those y'all's boiled peanuts?) I have been told, but not verified for myself, that at least one of my ancestors voted for secession as a member of a State legislature. I know some of my ancestors actually fought in the war on the side of the South, many under the very flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, probably under John Bell Hood's Texas Brigade, and one of them on the side of the North. (He was basically disowned afterward and lost everything.)
Now that I've established my Southern bonafides, let me tell you where I land on the role of heritage of the Confederate flag. To me, it ain't heritage. There are many things that the South has to be proud of, and that flag isn't one of them. I'm proud of my ancestors, but don't agree with what they fought for. The Civil War was about slavery pure and simple. Know how I know this? I read the founding documents on why the States decided to secede. Here is the Declaration from the State of South Carolina as to why they were leaving the Union. Solely about slavery, and how numerous states weren't following the Constitution and returning runaway slaves back to their masters in the South. It also talks about the election of Abraham Lincoln, and how he was anti-slavery, and that it was too much for them. Here are Mississippi's and Georgia's just to make sure you understand it was not only South Carolina. This was a flag that fought against the Union in order to keep men enslaved. It was used as a standard in the 1950s and 1960s to push for continuing segregation. I'm sorry, but I can't support that. I understand the arguments that you're just honoring the memory of your ancestors, but that flag has been used for hate, at least since the 1950s, and has also been adopted by others outside of the US to voice white supremacy ideas. (See the usage by German white supremacists as a stand in for the banned swastika.)
There are many things that you can be proud of in being a Southerner. Some of the best things about the US is because of the South, and that's something that needs to be celebrated more, rather than an antique of a past that really isn't as we'd like to remember it. Here's a list of things that better show the heritage of Southerners in the US. Feel free to use any of these to show your pride in being a Southerner, as it shows the best of us.
1) The Constitution
2) The Declaration of Independence
3) George Washington
4) The Gemini and Apollo space projects (Huntsville, AL)
5) William Faulkner
6) Harper Lee
7) Jazz
8) The Blues
9) Country and Western Music (We have both kinds here.)
10) Rock and Roll
11) Soul Music
12) Elvis
13) Southern Rock
14) Peanut Butter
15) Dr. Pepper and Coca-Cola
16) Gospel Music
17) Dolly Parton
18) Alex Haley
19) Brooks Robinson (Greatest fielding 3rd Baseman ever. I will hear no arguments.)
20) Otis Reading, Sam Cooke, Bo Diddley, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin
That's just 20 off the top of my head. There is so much more, but I don't need to flog a dead horse. I know that my blog won't change minds, and I'm sure it will enrage some people I know. However, it's something to think about. It doesn't dishonor the heritage of the South to remove the flag. In fact, to me, it moves the South forward. Sometimes we can't move forward because we're so fixated on remembering the past. If you want to honor your family that fought in the civil war, find out the flag of the group they fought with (regiment or even company) and use that. The catch-all flag, which wasn't even the official flag of the Confederacy, just doesn't do it now. It has too many bad feelings associated with it now.
As always, these are my own thoughts and not those of the US Government or the Department of State.
