Over the course of the past week or so I've been involved in numerous discussions about the anti-Confederate mania that's been sweeping the nation, with the main focus of those discussions being the display of the Confederate Battle Flag both on the State House Grounds in Columbia and across the nation. In each of these discussions I've posed two questions to the folks who want the Battle Flag and all things Confederate done away with, and so far not a single person has even attempted to answer them. To me, this speaks volumes as the questions are relevant, pointed, and logical - they also point out the big flaws in the "other side's" viewpoints, something that so far no one wants to admit.
So what are these two earth-shattering questions, you ask? Well, here they are, one at a time.
#1. Just what will removing the Battle Flag from the Confederate Soldier's Monument at the State House solve?
The answer I get most often is that "the State House and the grounds should represent all of the people of South Carolina, and with the flag there it doesn't." There is, admittedly, some logic in that statement, but my answer to that has always been as follows: "Well, if you remove the Battle Flag then it won't be representing me, will it? So who's right and who's wrong?"
In the first place, the Battle Flag is placed at the Confederate Soldier's Monument to honor the men who fought and died for the state in the War Between the States. It's there to represent THEM, not us, and was placed there to honor THEM, not us. If anything, the flag at that location represents the grateful people of South Carolina who refuse to ignore or forget the sacrifices of the citizens of the state who died defending the state. Removing the Battle Flag from the monument would be tantamount to removing the American flag from Arlington National Cemetery. (I can almost hear the liberal eyes rolling now...if any liberal reads this, that is, which I doubt.) The main thing is that removing the Battle Flag from ANY location absolutely will not solve the racism problem our country faces. The ONLY thing that will solve it is EDUCATION. No one is born a racist, they are TAUGHT racism by someone somewhere along the way. Until we as a nation start teaching our children NOT to be racists, the problem will continue - in both the white community and the black community. In case you haven't been keeping up with current events, black people can be racists, too. It's not just a "white thing."
And here's the other question, the really tough one:
#2. You say that removing the Confederate Battle Flag from the State House grounds will "ensure that everyone will be equally represented." If the flag is taken down because YOU want it down but I want it to be displayed, how is that "equal?"
In every discussion I've ever had over the past two weeks, it is always at this point that the other person gets nasty and starts slinging labels (such as "racist") or insults. This, I have found, is the usual liberal reaction when confronted with a question that makes sense and/or proves their "logic" to be drastically flawed. As of this writing I have not had one single person attempt to answer this question when I posed it to them.
The one statement that was made last week which I think is the biggest crock of horse dung I've ever heard was the one made by NASCAR officials at Daytona when they released their statement in which they asked all NASCAR fans not to bring a Confederate flag to the tracks. The nice folks at Daytona Speedway said:
"As members of the NASCAR industry, we join NASCAR in the desire to make our events among the most fan-friendly, welcoming environments in all of sports and entertainment."
Fan-friendly and welcoming environment, sure - unless you're a Southerner who wants to wave a Confederate flag to show pride in the South and support for the sport that was born in the South. If that's the case then the atmosphere will not be very "friendly."
So I guess it should be no big surprise that at the Daytona 500 this past weekend the stands and the infield were awash with Confederate flags. This has been called "Southern Thunder" in the news media, and it's a warning shot to those who would tell us Southerners that we can't fly the flag of the South. And y'all better pay attention.
As I'm typing this the South Carolina legislature is meeting and discussing whether or not to remove the Battle Flag from the State House grounds, and as much as it saddens me to say this I think it's going to end with the legislature voting to remove the flag. There just aren't enough South Carolina politicians with the balls to tell the NAACP and everyone else to grow the hell up and get over it, and leave the flag there. No, they'll cave in because they fear the continuation of the boycott by the NAACP, or they're considering running for President, or they're coming up for re-election soon, or for some other silly damned reason. But what it boils down to is that not enough of them have the cajones to stands up for Southern and South Carolina history and tradition.
And that's a shame.
Deo Vindice. (Look it up.)
IHC
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