Stone Mountain/Conf flag? (college, agricultural, license plates)

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by jp01358

Whose ancestors stripped the African Americans of their heritage? If I recall correctly, weren't the slaves sold out by other Africans?

Guys, c'mon.

[suprascooby22]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Guys, c'mon.

Its the truth!

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by suprascooby22

Its the truth!

The truth is never so simple with such a complicated and historical issue. Reasons are broad, they are modern and they are ancient. You sijmply cannot have fruitful or fulsome debate about this on an Internet blog - I think it only makes tempers flare.

[suprascooby22]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

The truth is never so simple with such a complicated and historical issue. Reasons are broad, they are modern and they are ancient. You sijmply cannot have fruitful or fulsome debate about this on an Internet blog - I think it only makes tempers flare.

I completely agree but the original posters point of blacks being sold into slavery by other blacks in Africa was absolutely true.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by suprascooby22

I completely agree but the original posters point of blacks being sold into slavery by other blacks in Africa was absolutely true.

Yes. But that is but one part of a much, much larger history. It's like the old fable about the blind folks feeling different parts of an elephant, and each concluding the elephant was some other animal or thing altogether simply because the observers couldn't see the entire picture.

[jp01358]

You're right. That's exactly the point I was trying to make. Yes, slavery was wrong, and white people played a huge role in it. But I think people are ignorant as to how it really happened, and I was pointing out that the one guy's comment conveyed a very myopic view.

Now, back to the Confederate flag issue. I think there's a time and a place for it. Should it be flown at Confederate cemeteries and memorials? Absolutely. Sure, maybe it offends some people, but that's bound to happen. Those people don't have to go to those memorials, since the idea of the Civil War in general is likely to offend them. It's a part of our history, and I think history needs to be remembered.

Just because some people used the flag in a certain way doesn't diminish its historical value as long as the flag is flown in the proper context. I didn't have a problem with the Confederate battle flag being part of the old Georgia flag, but I could see why some people would. My beef was with the way that Barnes changed it.

But anyway, the Confederate flag being flown at Stone Mountain is a perfectly fine example of how the flag should be flown at a Confederate memorial in a specific historical context. Stone Mountain is a Confederate memorial. Are we going to sandblast Jackson and Lee off of its face because somebody is offended? If you don't like Confederate memorials, don't go to one. Sorry, but it's part of our country's history, like it or not.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by jp01358

But anyway, the Confederate flag being flown at Stone Mountain is a perfectly fine example of how the flag should be flown at a Confederate memorial in a specific historical context. Stone Mountain is a Confederate memorial. Are we going to sandblast Jackson and Lee off of its face because somebody is offended? If you don't like Confederate memorials, don't go to one. Sorry, but it's part of our country's history, like it or not.

The Stone Mountain carving started off as a Confederate Memorial. It might be coincidence but the impetus to create the carving started at the same time the KKK was reborn at Stone Mountain. The Venables, who owned the mountain, gave permission for both the carving and for the Klan to hold its ceremonies there. Jimmy Venable later became the Imperial Wizard. The project sat unfinished for decades, and it wasn't until the controversy over civil rights came to a head in the 1950s that the State of Georgia stepped in and paid to finish the carving.

However the carving started and despite the controversial history associated with Stone Mountain, it's clearly a whole lot more than a Confederate Memorial now.

[jp01358]

Yes, it's more than a Confederate memorial, but it's still a Confederate memorial. I think it's a fun place to go, regardless of its origins.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by jp01358

Yes, it's more than a Confederate memorial, but it's still a Confederate memorial. I think it's a fun place to go, regardless of its origins.

It is a fun place. I don't have any problem with Stone Mountain's commemoration of the Civil War. However people feel about the War, it's a part of American history.

However, that's not the same thing as the State of Georgia running up the Confederate flag at a state owned facility.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by arjay57

It is a fun place. I don't have any problem with Stone Mountain's commemoration of the Civil War. However people feel about the War, it's a part of American history.

However, that's not the same thing as the State of Georgia running up the Confederate flag at a state owned facility.

That's right. Stone Mountain is a memorial which now commemorates history. The State flag represents the entire state. Big diff.