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Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday he opposes his state allowing specialty license plates featuring the Confederate flag — despite his past defense of the historical value of Confederacy symbols.
Still believe that the Confederacy wasn't about slavery and racism? Well, their own vice-president, Alexander H. Stephens, disagrees with you. An excerpt from his famous cornerstone speech:
"Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."
LOL. I bet you think you just made a devastating point, don't you?
Let me reply with the equally ridiculous sound-byte: You think the Union was not about racism, do you? Well some quotes from Lincoln...:
"What I would most desire would be the separation of the white and black races."
— Spoken at Springfield, Illinois on July 17th, 1858; from ABRAHAM LINCOLN: COMPLETE WORKS, 1894, Vol. 1, page 273
"Why should the people of your race be colonized, and where? Why should they leave this country? This is, perhaps, the first question for proper consideration. You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side. If this be admitted, it affords a reason at least why we should be separated. It is better for both, therefore, to be separated." — Spoken at the White House to a group of black community leaders, August 14th, 1862, from COLLECTED WORKS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Vol 5, page 371
"I will say, then, that I AM NOT NOR HAVE EVER BEEN in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the black and white races---that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with White people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the White and black races which will ever FORBID the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together, there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the White race."
— 4th Lincoln-Douglas debate, September 18th, 1858; COLLECTED WORKS Vol. 3, pp. 145-146
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And try reading this one about the truth of the so-called Cornerstone Speech:
The truth is that -- that to begin with --at least a high percentage of those who resistered the objections to the speciality plates could not answer the question of between what years the war was fought, much less know the difference in the Stars and Bars and Battle Flag.
The amount of historical ignorance out there is astounding, and lots of it amounts to mis-information concerning the plate itself. I hasten to add that reasonable people can disagree on the causes and issues and etc, concerning the War Between the States or "Civil War." What is pathetic is the morality play some try and turn it into...
But anyway, unlike some seem to believe, this was NOT an attempt to put the Confederate (Battle Flag) -- in and of itself -- on official Texas state license plates. On the contrary it was an application for an historical organization -- in existence since 1896 -- so have its logo (which only incorporates a Battle Flag) onto speciality plates in the same way any other non-profit organization can do. Which includes the NAACP or even the Black Panthers. If one doesn't want to display the tag? Then don't buy it and don't look at it. What is so wrong with that...?
Perry's stance is pathetic and cowardly, and I am ashamed to say I ever defended/supported him. At least the spokespersons for the NAACP who opposed the freedom of speech and equal treatment under the right of approval for vanity tags never made any secret of where they stood. I'll give them that much...
Regardless, there is going to be a suit and a victory won...like has been done in other states. So those celebrating for now are not going to get the last laugh; count on it!
It is so funny (not ha-ha funny, but strange) that the individuals/groups who honk and blow about tolerance and freedom of expression, are usually the biggest bigots of all.
On a final note, here is a good bit of reading for how this whole "Confederate-bashing" came about to begin with...which was really nothing more than political power, wealth, and self-interest....
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