I think you're correct in the historical point of view, but I think you
misinterpreted what I said, or at least took a slightly different spin off
it than that which I intended. If you consider the War of the Rebellion, as
it's called up here in Occupied Canada, you extend from New Mexico across
Kansas and Nebraska, to Minnesota and Michigan and all points east, which
is a rather large chunk of the Contiguous 48. If you then add the number of
people who moved even farther west to avoid the unpleasantness, you can see
the war's impact on the entire Lower 48.
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay area, I can understand how the
unpleasantness farther east and long before may not have made an impact on
you. Fair enough. But I can assure you that many of the people who made
their way into that area immediately prior to and during the Civil War were
profoundly aware of it.
But my statement was "You don't have to have roots in Dixie . . ." which I
believe not only to be accurate, but also to encompass rather large areas
of real estate. I don't think I've ever been anywhere in this country, with
the exception of Hawaii and Guam, that I haven't seen a Confederate flag in
one form or another. The fact is, that flag started as a symbol of racism
and oppression, was briefly diverted into a symbol of something rather
nebulous and foggy that I call Southernness for lack of a better word, and
has now reverted, thanks to contemporary bigots, to its original
symbolism--and has expanded far beyond the borders of the old Confederacy.
I suspect you'll see it where you don't expect to see it, if you're really
looking, and your travels happen to take you into enclaves of White is
Right folks. (Idaho comes immediately to mind.)
But that's beside the point. Racism and bigotry are damned close to
universal, and if folks don't dislike one species of human, they'll dislike
another. As an aside, the first time I went West on an extended trip, I was
surprised at the prejudice I encountered against Native Americans. I had
always thought the pre-Columbian indigenous peoples of this continent were
rather cool, and I was surprised to find that others did not hold my point
of view. True, if I had _really_ thought about it, I would not have made
that mistake. I also was surprised at the depths of bigotry displayed
toward people from Mesoamerica. They weren't part of my experience. As for
people of Asian origins, the degree of prejudice shown them _really_ took
me by surprise. The old laws concerning Asians, particularly Chinese, in
areas such as the one you grew up in, boggled me until I put them into the
context of Southern Apartheid, and then they clarified.
I hope I'm wrong, but I fear the old Confederate battle flag is going to be
resurrected in many places that neither saw nor considered it in the past.
It _is_ a powerful symbol of racism and oppression, and should _never_ be
viewed as anything else. Just yesterday as Joan, Ben and I drove to
Augusta, we passed two houses flying Confederate flags, one with a sign
reading "Stand For Liberty." I would like to have climbed down from the car
and ripped both of them off their poles, but I'm sure that would have
resulted in physical altercations, and my arrest. Unlike Germany and it's
Nazi symbolism, we can't outlaw symbols of the old Confederacy.
But we don't have to mistake them for anything other than what they are.
Next time I go that way, I may try to pull a Chris Crawford and get photos.
PS: I realize some of the above screed is a bit of a non-sequitur rolling
away from your post, and for that I apologize. For a lot of reasons I won't
go into here because I've gone on long enough, I _really_ don't like that
flag, and am deeply and profoundly offended by its presence on the current
American landscape.
--Bob Whitmire
Certified Neanderthal
On Sun, Jun 21, 2015 at 6:16 PM, Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 6/21/2015 2:41 PM, Ken Norton wrote:
Moose, I have absolutely no idea what point you were trying to make.
All right, if you care enough to mention it ...
Bob proposed this flag as a sort of universal symbol: "You don't have to
have roots in Dixie to display the Confederate flag as a symbol of ... "
He offered as an example: "I see them up here from time to time."
I suggested that the universe in which that flag has mind and heart space
as an important symbol may be smaller than he imagines from within it,
certainly including not only the South, but the Northern and other states
that were involved in the conflagration - but not the far West.
--
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