Christmas lights still adorn the Southern Cross flag painted on the side of Trent's Body Shop
Today I drove Capt. Roy down to Swansboro so he could pick up his car after some body work at Trent's Body Shop.
The Battle Flag of the Confederate States of America is of course a common sight within the former confederacy, though I never saw many in Central Texas during my 20 years living there... but they were plentiful in East Texas.
Many folks tell me that the flag is only meant to proclaim pride in "Southern Heritage," and is not related to any racist ideologies... I have a hard time buying this line, as the flag was hoisted by armed forces seeking to preserve the slavery regime of the Southern states... I similarly cringe at a host of "code words" such as "States' Rights" and "Southern way of life," which I invariably interpret as meaning institutionalized concepts of racial superiority/inferiority, apartheid, discrimination, and of course slavery.
But then again, I also have a hard time understanding why so many apparently peaceful and law-abiding boaters proudly fly emblems associated with violent and unlawful piracy from their boats.
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2 comments:
I understand that people would like to believe that it is about heritage, but it is a racist symbol to African-Americans because it represents a time when "their" ancestors were enslaved. If I had a lineage of Nazi war criminals, people would be appalled if I wanted to fly a Nazi flag on government property because "it's my heritage" and because of what it represents.
Flags and symbols are a matter of free speech and should represent ALL Americans....not just some.
You know ladies and gentleman what really gets me is that the author of this blog writes that she is offended by the Confederate Stars and Bars Flag. When she should really be talking about our American Flag, the Stars and Stripes, that was a symbol of slavery for over 100 Years! Yes, our Country and our Government endorsed the Institution of Slavery openly and blatantly from 1765-1865 under the Stars and Stripes!!! The institution of Slavery in the New World (US) existed in 1650 and actually, lasted until 1865. The Confederate Stars and Bars Flag actually only existed as a Confederate Gov't Flag for less than 4 short years. As sad as it may seem, of the over 140,000 Confederate Soldiers that were killed in the American Civil War, less than 10% of those casualties actually owned slaves. Most slave owners were very wealthy, older men who were given commissions as Generals, Col's, etc. Very few actual southern slave owners did any fighting. I don't endorse slavery in any way, shape or form. The institution of slavery was terribly wrong. But facts are facts. If anyone should be angry about a flag that is a symbol of "slavery and oppression", it's the United States Flag, the Stars and Stripes.
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