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May the 10th is Confederate Flag Day in North Carolina.
For those of us who honor the history of those family members whose lives were lost in battle, regardless of what war, it is sad that honoring them has been twisted into something shameful by those ignorant of this state's history and indeed, the history of the South. And it is sickening that the KKK used the battle flag to promote their hate-filled ideology. But that is where things are with the misunderstandings that so many people seem to have with the actual reasons the South (and NC) seceded from the Union.
Another misconception is that the commonly seen Second Confederate Navy Jack is "the" Confederate flag. Actually, it isn't. Most regiments marched under the Confederate First National flag, wh/ underwent several revisions, to eventually include 13 stars.
Here in NC, this was not a popular war. Few residents here owned slaves; rather, most were Scots, Irish and German immigrants who worked hard in the field in order to live little better than a subsistence based life.
Those men died because they lived in a place and time that required they march off to a war, the same as men have done for centuries. If you had asked them why they were fighting, they would have told you it was to protect their land. We know this because of diaries and letters that memorialize how people felt about seceding from the Union.
So if you see your neighbor flying a Confederate flag on May 10th, please consider that just because you have been taught that the Confederacy was formed to maintain slavery, it doesn't mean that is the whole story (it surely is not the whole story). We all have the right to honor our fallen dead who were asked to serve their state and indeed, their country, regardless of how we may today feel about why the state pressed them into duty. We all agree slavery is an inhuman, disgraceful, ungodly institution.
I do not own a Second Confederate Navy Jack flag because it has been mis-used and to many represents racism and hate. I fly the Confederate First National, along with my American flag. My Southern history is important to me, because I lost family members in that awful war, but we are all Americans first. Those same family members who died in the Civil War were descendants of Revolutionary War Patriots, who also fought here in NC to help create this nation.
May the 10th is Confederate Flag Day in North Carolina.
For those of us who honor the history of those family members whose lives were lost in battle, regardless of what war, it is sad that honoring them has been twisted into something shameful by those ignorant of this state's history and indeed, the history of the South. And it is sickening that the KKK used the battle flag to promote their hate-filled ideology. But that is where things are with the misunderstandings that so many people seem to have with the actual reasons the South (and NC) seceded from the Union.
Another misconception is that the commonly seen "Stars and Bars" flag is "the" Confederate flag. Actually, it isn't. Most regiments marched under the Confederate First National flag, wh/ underwent several revisions, to eventually include 13 stars.
Here in NC, this was not a popular war. Few residents here owned slaves; rather, most were Scots, Irish and German immigrants who worked hard in the field in order to live little better than a subsistence based life.
Those men died because they lived in a place and time that required they march off to a war, the same as men have done for centuries. If you had asked them why they were fighting, they would have told you it was to protect their land. We know this because of diaries and letters that memorialize how people felt about seceding from the Union.
So if you see your neighbor flying a Confederate flag on May 10th, please consider that just because you have been taught that the Confederacy was formed to maintain slavery, it doesn't mean that is the whole story (it surely is not the whole story). We all have the right to honor our fallen dead who were asked to serve their state and indeed, their country, regardless of how we may today feel about why the state pressed them into duty. We all agree slavery is an inhuman, disgraceful, ungodly institution.
I do not own a Stars and Bars because it has been mis-used and to many represents racism and hate. I fly the Confederate First National, along with my American flag. My Southern history is important to me, because I lost family members in that awful war, but we are all Americans first. Those same family members who died in the Civil War were descendants of Revolutionary War Patriots, who also fought here in NC to help create this nation.
Meh. I'm all for honoring AMERICAN veterans and AMERICAN war-dead, but the confederate flag stands for too much negativity for me to endorse in any fashion.
Platforms like this give legitimacy to bigots and racists... We have Memorial Day and Veterans Day to show our gratitude. And besides... any flag only worth flying on one day ain't worth flying on ANY day.
And before any of my fellow southerners get uptight, I have family who died in the service of the Confederate Army. My roots run deep in the south, and excusively in the south.
But I'm an AMERICAN first, and a southerner second.
Ani, as usual you are a wealth of information Great post!
Thanks, Loves! I just realized my Confederate First National flag is not at this house. I flew it last at the mountain house. So even tho I had intended to fly it on May 10th, I guess son will have to hoist it in Boone, LOL.
Meh. I'm all for honoring AMERICAN veterans and AMERICAN war-dead, but the confederate flag stands for too much negativity for me to endorse in any fashion.
Platforms like this give legitimacy to bigots and racists... We have Memorial Day and Veterans Day to show our gratitude. And besides... any flag only worth flying on one day ain't worth flying on ANY day.
And before any of my fellow southerners get uptight, I have family who died in the service of the Confederate Army. My roots run deep in the south, and excusively in the south.
I'm an AMERICAN first, and a southerner second.
I believe I said that myself, if you actually read what I wrote. That doesn't mean my relatives who were drafted into service to the Confederacy should not be remembered and honored. They fought under that flag and they deserve to be honored under it, as well. I didn't approve of the Viet Nam war, either, but my friends who died are honored by me and millions of others when they visit the Viet Nam memorial.
May I ask why you feel honoring one's relatives gives a platform to bigots and racists? If you truly know your Southern history - and especially the history of this state - you would know that the likelihood is - your relatives did not even own slaves and they believed they were fighting to protect their land and homes. Maybe your relatives had something to do with seceding from the United States. Mine didn't. They were just caught up in a war b/c they lived in NC.
@ani
Where do you get the info that most people in NC did not own slaves? I thought the #'s based on the census(1850 or 60) listed NC as third or fourth??
Actually, prehaps, I misunderstood you. I don't know what the percentage was compared to the population of the state, but that is a different issue compared to where the state ranked.
The Confederate flag was the flag of an insurrection. Many didn't have much choice to serve, especially in N.C., which was not as stridently anti-U.S. but was surrounded by Virginia and South Carolina. It's OK to honor your family's history with it, I suppose, but the U.S. or state governments should in no way should support the flying of a flag whose users originally intended to overthrown the U.S.
As far as people's reactions to the flag, especially the battle flag go, the illegitimate state of the Confederacy did stand for the staunch defense of the enslavement of black people, so the negative reaction is only natural, and not going anywhere.
To be fair, though, there was slavery in the North until the 1820s (and New Jersey until 1865), and racism definitely does not end at the Mason/Dixon line.
May I ask why you feel honoring one's relatives gives a platform to bigots and racists?
It's not the honoring, it's the symbology. Symbology which has been hijacked, abetted by our ancestors whether by active participation or silent tolerance, by groups and individuals with evil agendas.
Fly the flag if you wish to honor whomever you like. That's the beauty of being an American.
@ani
Where do you get the info that most people in NC did not own slaves? I thought the #'s based on the census(1850 or 60) listed NC as third or fourth??
Most white people in the South did not own slaves. They were simply too poor.
Most slaves lived on plantations with several other slaves, which were owned by one wealthy person. The wealthy planting classes are always outnumbered by the poor. Poorer whites simply could not afford slaves. Also, livestock tending dominated the mountainous regions of N.C., which required less manpower, thus fewer slaves. With more poor whites there, they fought to keep slavery out of the mountains so there would be jobs for them. This is how West Virginia was created
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Great post!
