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I know enough about Trump that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. One reason I don't buy anything that man says. I've known he was a nutcase BEFORE he started running for office.
Trump had no control of the situation where he was born, like all of us. If you are dismissing him as a person now in part because of that, then you are simply practicing that which you condemn.
The Greek philosopher Epictetus said this long long ago. "Men are not worried by things, but by their ideas of things".
The Confederate flag is just some colored cloth. Everything else about it exists only in the individual's head. Why get so hell bent out of shape because of what someone else might be thinking about the flag?
Some of these behaviors, I have seen in some White people in my lifetime. I've also seen this kind of behavior from some persons who were non-Black minorities. I've been in situations where someone who was a minority tried to dismiss how I felt or who looked at my experiences as a Black male as "whatever" or wanted me to basically "shut up". This is part of why I might talk about my experiences on CD, but I rarely talk about them in real life. You never know who will react and how. People are different. I've been around some White persons who were willing to listen and understand where I was coming from. I've also been around some White persons who seemed to not want to here, or tried to make me feel like I should just "get over it".
I think about the issue of the Confederate flag. I don't like to talk about it much in public. I know how I feel about it and why I feel the way I feel about the Confederate flag. However, I know I might get gaslighted or made to feel like a crazy man.
You're in good company:
Quote:
...I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured. ...
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]", 16 April 1963
I see a parallel. Discussing this issue just brought tensions to the surface. The tensions were always there. Alot of problems were always there. Now those problems are being shown for what they are. Discussing the Confederate flag has shown what was always just beneath the surface.
I see a parallel. Discussing this issue just brought tensions to the surface. The tensions were always there. Alot of problems were always there. Now those problems are being shown for what they are. Discussing the Confederate flag has shown what was always just beneath the surface.
Agree.
The recent discussions about the Confederate flag, the Confederate monuments & statuary, & the continuing false historical narratives based on mythologies, et cetera, are littering our public spaces & our minds. It's a form of pollution so to speak, & unhealthy for living beings. Covering up a festering wound, no matter how 'pretty', does not work to heal it, it reflects only upon our long-term neglect or indifference.
The recent discussions about the Confederate flag, the Confederate monuments & statuary, & the continuing false historical narratives based on mythologies, et cetera, are littering our public spaces & our minds. It's a form of pollution so to speak, & unhealthy for living beings. Covering up a festering wound, no matter how 'pretty', does not work to heal it, it reflects only upon our long-term neglect or indifference.
Another way to look at it is like this. The discussion itself exposes open wounds. The veneration of Confederate generals and the Confederate flag isn't really covering up anything. The denial is a major factor. It's there and can easily be seen, but getting people to think otherwise is the trick.
I can make this comparison. The Emperor is naked. Everyone knows he is naked, but the Emperor will punish you for pointing it out. A better analogy. A kid is maliciously knocked off his bicycle. He falls, lands on his arm really hard and starts crying. Common sense says this kid is seriously injured, and got this way due to someone's malicious behavior. However, someone tells the kid "shut up and quit crying, you're not hurt. Be a man". Cries of anguish denote immense pain. The kid's arm swelling up or looking kind of deformed is a sign of a broken arm.
The kid can't heal if he doesn't go to the doctor and get his arm checked out. And the evidence shows that he should go. However, he's told "nothing to see here, be a man". With this Confederate flag situation, nothing is really hidden. The truth is there. The veneration of Confederates shows that true healing has not begun. It shows that there are still problems that have festered. In this case, we see the wounds, but people are saying "no injury here". Truth is, some people are not interested in healing and reconciliation. Some people just want to continue the same old thing and for everyone else to basically "shut up".
Another way to look at it is like this. The discussion itself exposes open wounds. The veneration of Confederate generals and the Confederate flag isn't really covering up anything. The denial is a major factor. It's there and can easily be seen, but getting people to think otherwise is the trick.
I can make this comparison. The Emperor is naked. Everyone knows he is naked, but the Emperor will punish you for pointing it out. A better analogy. A kid is maliciously knocked off his bicycle. He falls, lands on his arm really hard and starts crying. Common sense says this kid is seriously injured, and got this way due to someone's malicious behavior. However, someone tells the kid "shut up and quit crying, you're not hurt. Be a man". Cries of anguish denote immense pain. The kid's arm swelling up or looking kind of deformed is a sign of a broken arm.
The kid can't heal if he doesn't go to the doctor and get his arm checked out. And the evidence shows that he should go. However, he's told "nothing to see here, be a man". With this Confederate flag situation, nothing is really hidden. The truth is there. The veneration of Confederates shows that true healing has not begun. It shows that there are still problems that have festered. In this case, we see the wounds, but people are saying "no injury here". Truth is, some people are not interested in healing and reconciliation. Some people just want to continue the same old thing and for everyone else to basically "shut up".
Paraphrasing Tom Robbins here from Even Cowgirls Get the Blues:
When they tell you to shut up, they mean 'stop talking'. When they tell you to grow up, they mean 'stop growing'. They want you to reach a nice level plateau & settle there, predictable & unchanging, & no longer a threat.
Some of these behaviors, I have seen in some White people in my lifetime. I've also seen this kind of behavior from some persons who were non-Black minorities. I've been in situations where someone who was a minority tried to dismiss how I felt or who looked at my experiences as a Black male as "whatever" or wanted me to basically "shut up". This is part of why I might talk about my experiences on CD, but I rarely talk about them in real life. You never know who will react and how. People are different. I've been around some White persons who were willing to listen and understand where I was coming from. I've also been around some White persons who seemed to not want to here, or tried to make me feel like I should just "get over it".
I think about the issue of the Confederate flag. I don't like to talk about it much in public. I know how I feel about it and why I feel the way I feel about the Confederate flag. However, I know I might get gaslighted or made to feel like a crazy man.
It is interesting that as I come from Alberta, I frequently would see the CBF displayed, mostly on vehicles. The perception I think most Albertans have of this is, "Meh, rednecks" (we have a lot of people who identify as such). Now, rednecks in Alberta seem to have a different connotation than the word has in the USA; it essentially means the following as Member of Parliament Lee Morrison stated:
Doesn’t belong to the right clubs or believe in the latest trendy ideology or “politically correct cause”.
Believes in public service and the ideal of individual rights over collective rights.
Believes in hard work, entrepreneurship and the philosophy that those who create wealth should have a better standard of living than those who merely benefit from redistributed tax revenue.
Says what he means and means what he says.
Believes in community service and neighbor helping neighbor, rather than looking for help from the strangling “tentacles of central government.”
It seems in the USA, the focus is on distrust in government, lots of guns, and subtle or not so subtle discrimination of those that don't "look like us" or "belong". I don't think most Canadians who identify as rednecks have that strong dismissal of "others" that is prevalent in the USA.
The biggest difference is that the CBF may identify someone who is rougher, but does not connotate discrimination, and certainly not religiosity as it invariably is associated with in the USA. It was not until I started spending my winters in Florida that I learned of the racism and the true history of its use.
It has no place in any official capacity, say in any way as a State flag, and should not be given deference nor reverence. I was educated, and others can be too.
Paraphrasing Tom Robbins here from Even Cowgirls Get the Blues:
When they tell you to shut up, they mean 'stop talking'. When they tell you to grow up, they mean 'stop growing'. They want you to reach a nice level plateau & settle there, predictable & unchanging, & no longer a threat.
Courage is always needed, you have it.
That is one way of putting it. In short, Tim Robbins was talking about someone being told to "toe the line". And that is what I've gotten when someone tells me "It's just a flag". If it's "just a flag", why are is there so much controversy surrounding it?
It is interesting that as I come from Alberta, I frequently would see the CBF displayed, mostly on vehicles. The perception I think most Albertans have of this is, "Meh, rednecks" (we have a lot of people who identify as such). Now, rednecks in Alberta seem to have a different connotation than the word has in the USA; it essentially means the following as Member of Parliament Lee Morrison stated:
Doesn’t belong to the right clubs or believe in the latest trendy ideology or “politically correct cause”.
Believes in public service and the ideal of individual rights over collective rights.
Believes in hard work, entrepreneurship and the philosophy that those who create wealth should have a better standard of living than those who merely benefit from redistributed tax revenue.
Says what he means and means what he says.
Believes in community service and neighbor helping neighbor, rather than looking for help from the strangling “tentacles of central government.”
It seems in the USA, the focus is on distrust in government, lots of guns, and subtle or not so subtle discrimination of those that don't "look like us" or "belong". I don't think most Canadians who identify as rednecks have that strong dismissal of "others" that is prevalent in the USA.
The biggest difference is that the CBF may identify someone who is rougher, but does not connotate discrimination, and certainly not religiosity as it invariably is associated with in the USA. It was not until I started spending my winters in Florida that I learned of the racism and the true history of its use.
It has no place in any official capacity, say in any way as a State flag, and should not be given deference nor reverence. I was educated, and others can be too.
The term "redneck" would have a different meaning in Canada. Even so, it is still bizarre to see a Confederate flag in Canada. It's hard to imagine. When I'm discussing "redneck", I'm talking about what it means for here in the USA. As it applies to the Confederate flag, that flag seems to be the flag of choice among "redneck" types here in the USA.
I think the best way to understand what the war has done, is to go to the USA and learn about it. You did just that. Some people might see the Confederate flag as giving them an edgy image, a rougher, tough-guy image. However, that flag is chosen more than other flags. It can't be for nothing. However, to really understand what the Confederate flag issue really is, being in the USA, and particularly the South is a good place to start. It is good for more people to get educated about the Confederate cause and the Confederate flag. The Civil War left its mark on the USA, especially in the South. It continues today.
The term "redneck" would have a different meaning in Canada. Even so, it is still bizarre to see a Confederate flag in Canada. It's hard to imagine. When I'm discussing "redneck", I'm talking about what it means for here in the USA. As it applies to the Confederate flag, that flag seems to be the flag of choice among "redneck" types here in the USA.
I think the best way to understand what the war has done, is to go to the USA and learn about it. You did just that. Some people might see the Confederate flag as giving them an edgy image, a rougher, tough-guy image. However, that flag is chosen more than other flags. It can't be for nothing. However, to really understand what the Confederate flag issue really is, being in the USA, and particularly the South is a good place to start. It is good for more people to get educated about the Confederate cause and the Confederate flag. The Civil War left its mark on the USA, especially in the South. It continues today.
I'd be interested to understand the etymology of the word 'redneck' in Canada.
When I was living in a former Slaver State of the US, a self-proclaimed 'redneck' claimed "red necks were the only 'real Americans' evidenced by their redecks, white faces, & blue collars ~ the true true red, white & blue.
He was actually a pretty nice guy, apparently he was attempting to acclimate me to my new surroundings. Admittedly, he clued me in to certain things that, frankly, would've likely taken me years to understand. & also introduced me to the various essential 'lingo'. He informed me the origin of the term 'redneck' came from working in the fields, the back of the neck would get sun burnt thus the red neck. Stuff like that.
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