Another story developed while I was away that I would like to take a short look at.
Evidently, due to the recent massacre at the Charleston church and other happenings in our country, certain southern states are re-examining their use of Confederate symbols in state and local flags.
Yes, the Confederacy still lives in certain parts of the south, whether unknowingly or knowingly, with certain symbols from the Civil War era embedded in some state and local flags.
One of the main reasons for the Civil War, or at least what we have been told, is that the south wanted slavery, the north did not.
There were many other reasons for the Civil War, many of them economic, and tied into the slave trade.
Anyway, Confederate symbols are thought to be anti-black, bringing up a time when blacks were treated as, at best, second class citizens in this country.
Thus, with all the goings on happening lately, is it time to remove these symbols from our flags, from clothing, from other things that are out there?
Many southern states, and southerners, look at their rebel past as something to take pride in. The Confederate symbol, or at least pieces of it, can be found everywhere in certain areas, and really, no one has taken offense to it with much vehemence over the years.
Heck, I have seen people of color wearing this symbol.
I have seen southern rock bands like the Allman Brothers--a mixed race band--adopt the symbol as their own.
But now, we are in a PC culture, and some think this symbol has to go, and go now.
I can understand both sides.
One one side, people say it is a matter of pride. On the other side, people say it is racist.
Look, if a state or municipality used the swatstika on their flag, I think I would be upset, so I can certainly understand what some are saying.
I think I would back the removal of these Confederate flags and symbols, but I think it has gone a little too far.
"The Dukes of Hazzard" was a popular TV show of yore, and it is still popular among both adults and kids for its comedic hijinks.
Toys are marketed to kids under that name, and the manufacturer owning the rights to the toys now will not produce them with Confederate symbols.
What's next, electronically blocking out the flag on the TV show so no one sees it?
Yes, the PC Police are coming to take us away, ha ha, ha ha!
It's like blotting out the past because it does not apply today.
That is simply wrong. We can learn from past mistakes, past errors in judgment.
Get rid of the flag, but don't get rid of our past.
So I guess this one is also acceptable now too? http://www.warstore.co.uk/ekmps/shops/marlina/images/german-ww2-regular-nazi-5-x-3-flag-1493-p.jpg No, I didn't think so. You'd be hysterical even if you saw this image in use today: http://thumb9.shutterstock.com/photos/thumb_large/83940/83940,1250528573,12.jpgYou are woefully ignorant. The Confederate flag faded out of general use 150 years ago, but was resurrected by the Klan and other white supremacist groups during the Civil Rights era. Let's not go overboard -- I actually saw someone suggest we ban showings of "Gone With the Wind" -- but there's no need for this symbol of hate to be flying over government offices or racetracks anymore.
ReplyDeleteLarry, the 'PC Brigade' need strangling at birth before their ridiculous ideas start to take on credibility. The swastika for example was originally a good luck symbol. Whilst shopping in India some years ago, I came across a shop selling all manner of goods adorned with them. I asked the shopkeeper as to why it was appropriate to sell these goods and he explained how that culturally the swastika was a powerful omen of good fortune and revered by certain members of the community. This had been the case for centuries, but of course all modern people in the western world now associates it with horrors of the worst kind. It was hi-jacked by extremists with whom it is now inextricably linked. We have the same problem here in the UK, where extreme right-wing groups have 'adopted' our English flag as a symbol of their bigotry, to the extent that British people are now in danger of being branded 'racist', simply by displaying the flag in public, such is the power of racism and the racist bigots message. We have adopted a whole series of new words, completely alien to our grandparents, simply because some overpaid clown in a parallel word has deemed that certain words and phrases are now 'offensive' or 'socially unacceptable'. I grew up in a world where 'gay' meant 'happy' and a 'dyke' was a ditch for water. We have allowed the crackpots to run the asylum and we are all paying the price. We should all learn from history, not try to amend it, or apologise for it. Unless we learn, we are destined to repeat the same mistakes and then everyone loses.
ReplyDeleteObviously, you are misinterpreting what I wrote, as usual, to fit your own agenda.
ReplyDeleteDid I not say that "Look, if a state or municipality used the swatstika on their flag, I think I would be upset, so I can certainly understand what some are saying.I think I would back the removal of these Confederate flags and symbols, but I think it has gone a little too far."
It goes too far, as you said, when people are suggesting banning "Gone With the Wind," when people are saying that the use of the Confederate symbol on the "Dukes of Hazzard" cars should be blurred on the reruns so they cannot be seen, and yes, it it getting a little PC Police stupid when we start to change our history because it is not in key with what our overall beliefs are now.
I would not ban "Amos and Andy," nor would I ban "Sanford and Son," even though both share many of the same stereotypes.
The flags should be changed because they do bring up certain sensitivities, but would I change "Hogan's Heroes" to a "soldiers camp" because it might offend present day Germans?
You can't change history, you can learn from it. Get off your very high horse and read what I said, not what you want me to have said.
Good points, Harrysmate. However, I am a bit of a hypocrite, because although I know the history of the swatstika, being Jewish, it has such negative connotations that I can't ever view it as a symbol for good fortune. I know that singer Donovan used it on the picture sleeve for "Atlantis" here in the states, and it riles me that he did so knowing what he did. So I am no insensitive to symbols and what they mean and what they mean, if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteI just think that people get carried away with what they think they should do rather than what is right. I try to go the right way, rather than have myself be told by others what I should do. I feel that is why God gave us brains. We are not robots, so why act like one?
Thanks for writing. It is good to hear from someone from across the pond on this, proving that the PC Police are not just a U.S. concoction--it is all over the world, and it is strangling us.