As you may or may not have heard, the State of Georgia (US) has adopted a new license plate with the design from the Confederate Battle Flag on it (twice!) And of course, the debate is renewed between the Sons of the Confederacy and the Civil Rights Advocates. The controversy just doesn't stop, now does it?
The debate between the two centers on the meaning of the flag. Civil Rights Activists say that the flag is 'reprehensible' and the Sons of the Confederacy merely want to show their pride in their ancestors' part in the war. Is that so bad?
What a lot of people tend to forget is that the War Between the States (aka The Civil War) was not fought on the single issue of slavery. Everything is predicated on that one stance and it's just not so. The war was fought on the North's belief that the South should not secede and the South didn't like the way that the government was running things and forgetting them. Slavery was merely a small part of that argument.
If you look closely, you can see that the logo which includes 'that flag' also ahve some added embellishment identifying it as associated with the Sons of the Confederate Veterans and the date 1896. The war was some 35 years earlier. And, unless you believe in that "sins of the fathers" sort of thing, honoring one's family's endeavors in history should be encouraged.
Perhaps I've lived in the South too long or become somewhat inured to it all. Here we tend to see 'that flag' everyhwere: on people, places and automobiles. In addition, I've learned more about the South's involvement in the war, it's place and the true history of the War of Northern Aggression. (Yeah, Yeah, I know what you're thinking, that the South started it all by trying to seceded, but let's face it, if the North hadn't advanced things, the South would have merely seceded and no war to complicate things. The South didn't WANT the war, the North felt the need to escalate things.)
But more than all that discussion on who started what, the thing which bothers so many is that the flag seems to say "I hate you cuz of the color of your skin." At least that's what the NAACP seems to think. In a country and state of mind where we can have BET (Black Entertainment Television) and a Black Miss America, and even a special award for those "of color" who exemplify the race, we cannot seem to allow someone to honor his ancestors black or white, (who fought in a war) by placing a logo on his license place which includes the Southern Cross.
I can see both sides. And I don't like either one. I guess I go back to my drawing board and try to figure out how this Southern Stuff works.
What a lot of people tend to forget is that the War Between the States (aka The Civil War) was not fought on the single issue of slavery. Everything is predicated on that one stance and it's just not so. The war was fought on the North's belief that the South should not secede and the South didn't like the way that the government was running things and forgetting them. Slavery was merely a small part of that argument.
If you look closely, you can see that the logo which includes 'that flag' also ahve some added embellishment identifying it as associated with the Sons of the Confederate Veterans and the date 1896. The war was some 35 years earlier. And, unless you believe in that "sins of the fathers" sort of thing, honoring one's family's endeavors in history should be encouraged.
Perhaps I've lived in the South too long or become somewhat inured to it all. Here we tend to see 'that flag' everyhwere: on people, places and automobiles. In addition, I've learned more about the South's involvement in the war, it's place and the true history of the War of Northern Aggression. (Yeah, Yeah, I know what you're thinking, that the South started it all by trying to seceded, but let's face it, if the North hadn't advanced things, the South would have merely seceded and no war to complicate things. The South didn't WANT the war, the North felt the need to escalate things.)
But more than all that discussion on who started what, the thing which bothers so many is that the flag seems to say "I hate you cuz of the color of your skin." At least that's what the NAACP seems to think. In a country and state of mind where we can have BET (Black Entertainment Television) and a Black Miss America, and even a special award for those "of color" who exemplify the race, we cannot seem to allow someone to honor his ancestors black or white, (who fought in a war) by placing a logo on his license place which includes the Southern Cross.
I can see both sides. And I don't like either one. I guess I go back to my drawing board and try to figure out how this Southern Stuff works.
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