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And I'd like to point out that the vast majority of people who display that flag do NOT associate it with slavery or consider it a symbol of slavery.
I had about six ancestors who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Not ONE of them ever owned a slave. They were not fighting to "keep their slaves." They were fighting to defend their country and their homes. I refuse to dishonor their service and sacrifice.
That being said, I do not fly the Confederate flag or plaster it around on things - not because I'm ashamed of it, but because in spite of my family's legacy, I realize that though it doesn't represent slavery to me or mine, it does to other people. Other people's family histories aren't the same as mine. Sure, my Confederate ancestors suffered - but so did my African American friends' ancestors - under the same flag. I am sensitive enough to the justified feelings of others to understand and respect why they might have a different reaction to that flag. So I don't flaunt it.
But to me, the Confederate flag represents my family's history, my ancestors' bravery, and in a more general sense, our right as Americans to "stand up to da man." That's why instead of a Confederate flag, I sometimes fly a "Don't Tread On Me" flag. To many southerners, the two flags mean just about the same thing.
Very few people in Germany raise a swastika to celebrate their heritage.
Quite a few Germans do, however, display the Confederate flag!
The swastika was used by a dictator with a despicable agenda of genocide and world domination and aggression. Not nearly the same thing as what the Confederate flag historically symbolized for the majority of people living in the south and fighting under that flag.
I don't have any particular problem with the flag. Seems like a strange thing to be proud of, through. Its not as if the Confederacy was some uprising of the people, for the people- rather, the flag is the symbol of an Oligarchy established by a relatively small group of slave-owning aristocrats for which hundreds of thousands of people died.
And I'd like to point out that the vast majority of people who display that flag do NOT associate it with slavery or consider it a symbol of slavery.
I had about six ancestors who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Not ONE of them ever owned a slave. They were not fighting to "keep their slaves." They were fighting to defend their country and their homes. I refuse to dishonor their service and sacrifice.
That being said, I do not fly the Confederate flag or plaster it around on things - not because I'm ashamed of it, but because in spite of my family's legacy, I realize that though it doesn't represent slavery to me or mine, it does to other people. Other people's family histories aren't the same as mine. Sure, my Confederate ancestors suffered - but so did my African American friends' ancestors - under the same flag. I am sensitive enough to the justified feelings of others to understand and respect why they might have a different reaction to that flag. So I don't flaunt it.
But to me, the Confederate flag represents my family's history, my ancestors' bravery, and in a more general sense, our right as Americans to "stand up to da man." That's why instead of a Confederate flag, I sometimes fly a "Don't Tread On Me" flag. To many southerners, the two flags mean just about the same thing.
Except that, you know, one flag represented opposition to a Hannoverian absolute monarchy ruling, taxing, and conscripting colonials as second-class citizens from the other side of the planet Earth, while the other flag represented war against the democratically elected government of the United States of America that wanted to outlaw the forced labor, breeding, and torture of human beings.
I understand Southern pride and don't have a problem with the flag. What I have an overwhelmingly massive problem with is people trying to portray the Confederacy as some sort of continuation of the American Revolution or the successor to its values. That is one stunningly perverted act of historical revisionist gymnastics.
And I'd like to point out that the vast majority of people who display that flag do NOT associate it with slavery or consider it a symbol of slavery.
I had about six ancestors who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Not ONE of them ever owned a slave. They were not fighting to "keep their slaves." They were fighting to defend their country and their homes. I refuse to dishonor their service and sacrifice.
Your ancestors didn't fight to protect slavery. But wealthy aristocrats used your ancestor's bodies to soak up bullets for a few years in the defense of slavery before they ran out of men and gave up. Most of them ended up staying quite rich anyway.
It was not a war in defense of the South, as it was not a defensive war. You'll remember that the South Carolina military launched an attack on the United States of America.
The thing about that mockumentary is this: What would ever make anyone assume that the if the Confederacy won that they would not have abolished slavery on their own terms? Seriously.
Do people know that there were African Americans that owned slave too? And that the Emancipation Proclamation only applied to freeing slaves in the south?
The only reason why there was much more slavery in the south is the simple fact that the north by that time had an economy that was based on early water mill powered industries, water-based trade and commerce due to a lot more harbors, lake, rivers, etc. and was too cold to grow the cash crops, where the south was simply geographically suited to a more cash crop economy because of different natural resources.
And this is all coming from a liberal living in and loving California. Go ahead check my posts.
The only reason why there was much more slavery in the south is the simple fact that the north by that time had an economy that was based on early water mill powered industries, water-based trade and commerce due to a lot more harbors, lake, rivers, etc. and was too cold to grow the cash crops, where the south was simply geographically suited to a more cash crop economy because of different natural resources.
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The "fall line" is in the south.
The difference between north and south was culture.
The thing about that mockumentary is this: What would ever make anyone assume that the if the Confederacy won that they would not have abolished slavery on their own terms? Seriously.
I think it's safe to assume that the South was in no hurry to abolish slavery. Even if the South had gone on to eventually abolish slavery, You could almost guarantee that racial segregation or something similar to the Jim Crow Laws would still exist today. If the South had won the Civil War, race relations would have probably been set back about 100 years from what we see today.
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