The Confederate Battle Flag has been pulled down.... · 3:29pm Jul 11th, 2015
So I just found out TODAY (I know, I'm late) that the flag on the grounds of South Carolina's capitol building was removed.
I must say, I'm ashamed in the political community for removing a flag that does not stand for what they think it does. A flag that represents 150 years of history of that city, and all because nine people died.
Don't get me wrong; nine people being killed is sad, and it's even more discomforting knowing that the individual who killed those people did so because he was a racist piece of trash.
Still, because NINE people were killed, now MILLIONS are not only angry, but getting violent. Four people were killed in Chicago over this incident; the SOCV (the Sons of Confederate Veterans) march took place in the capitols of ALL 50 states last week, and because of that march, four more people were killed, but is that going to be where it stops? Of course not!
People are going to continue to fight and die over this flag that they're clueless about in the first place!
For those of you who don't know, "the" Confederate Flag has nothing to do with the Confederate STATES of America. It was a battle flag that was picked by General Robert Edward Lee's soldiers to carry into battle. A similar one was also borne by the Army of Tennessee, but again - this flag WAS NOT adopted as a state flag by ANY state, including South Carolina.
In fact, here's the South Carolina State Flag that was adopted in 1861:
This flag's definition has been blown way out of proportion, and now we have idiots on both sides fighting and defending the flag for the wrong reasons.
Side Supporting the Flag
"That flag represents the blood spilled by my ancestors fighting for their freedom!"
Well, maybe, but that's not 100% true. First of all, are you sure you had an ancestor in the Civil War? Better yet, are you sure he fought for the South? Because many Northerners migrated South to fight in the Confederate armies, and vice-versa. That's why there was such an issue of brothers killing brothers, fathers killing sons, sons killing fathers, and....you get the idea.
"The flag of Dixie is important for our heritage!"
I agree, the flag IS an important part of our heritage, but it's not the flag of Dixie Land, either. Dixie Land is Louisiana, a nickname given to the state after they started printing their own money when the war started. The state printed $10 dollar Confederate bills, that came to be later nicknamed "Dix", and so the state was nicknamed "Dixie Land". One more wrong reason to be used defending this flag.
"My ancestors bled for this land, and that flag! You could never understand!"
I doubt you could, either, unless you were enlisted. How could you possibly know what that's like? To fight on the front-lines, not knowing if you poke your head up above your trench, a bullet could come whizzing by and kill you? To watch your friend die beside you, because he did just that, and now parts of his head are on your uniform? How could you POSSIBLY know that? That's like saying you don't like Pop-Tarts when you've never eaten one before. It's ignorant as hell.
Now for the OTHER side, which is just as ignorant.
Side Apposed to the Flag
"That flag is racist!"
No, actually, it's not. That flag has not only nothing to do with racism, but actually more of acceptance. General Lee had several dozen African Americans in his army, serving on the front-lines, even, in an unofficial capacity. This simply means that they fought without pay, benefits, or even the promise that they would be freed after the war. They fought to defend their homeland against the Yankee invader.
"That flag symbolizes the pain and suffering of my ancestors during their enslavement!
Again, no it doesn't. But this brings up another question - how do you even know what pain and suffering under enslavement is? Were you EVER enslaved in your life? How could you make such an outlandish statement? That's like saying Pop-Tarts are disgusting, when you've never even had one.
"That flag stands for rebels and traitors!"
Hmm, well, so does the Star-Spangled Banner, then, because we bore a similar one at the time, only 13 stars, of course, during our time of treason, did we not? Did we not commit the act of treason by rebelling against the crown, and murdering English soldiers? Of course we did!
Our reasoning behind the secession from England might have been different than the South's reason for seceding from the United States, but the motive behind it is all the same - we were tired of being treated like trash, and we decided to do something about it. Just because we lost, and the Colonies won doesn't make a difference. Treason was still committed, so calling us southerners traitors is just hypocrisy.
So in summary, both sides are defending and fighting this flag for the wrong reasons, and now Nikki Haley has just done the same thing - she's removed that flag for the wrong reasons. People are angry, and it won't stop here. There are already a ton of people protesting at D.C., and there's still protesters at the South Carolina capitol, as well.
It will never end; people can't be pleased one way or the other, still, it could've been avoided if people offended by the flag just kept it to themselves. But then again, people just like to bitch, don't they?
