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How ironic given those quotes by Lincoln that your forebears had such a burr up their saddle to secede.
No irony at all, actually. A majority of Southerners didn't own slaves, and a majority of the other side didn't actually support the rights of the then slaves. Which only goes to show that issue was more about states rights, self determination and the preservation of the Union than about slavery.
Exactly. And a person's insecurity about me displaying a flag (should I choose to) is not my problem. Automatically assuming someone is racist because they display some variant of the Confederate flag like the Chapel Hill parents did is absurd.
The parents and students were upset about a comment on the picture that said "I just bought my first slave"...not so much the flag being displayed at Gettysburg itself.
There is definitely some scapegoating of the girls in the picture happening and there's a decent chance that CHCCS will overreact for the sake of their image. But parents and students being upset about the comments and sentiments expressed on the facebook post are pretty justified IMO.
The parents and students were upset about a comment on the picture that said "I just bought my first slave"...not so much the flag being displayed at Gettysburg itself.
There is definitely some scapegoating of the girls in the picture happening and there's a decent chance that CHCCS will overreact for the sake of their image. But parents and students being upset about the comments and sentiments expressed on the facebook post are pretty justified IMO.
Back to our original programming ...
There is definitely a fair bit of over-reacting and political-correctness at play here. But I think it has to be understood in the context of a an undercurrent in Chapel Hill of a perception of systemic racism. For those who live there, these topics pop up in discussions of things like Northside, Rogers Road, and high school class segregation (AP/honors = white; "regular" classes = black).
I don't want this to turn into a huge debate, I'm just curious. I've lived my whole life in Raleigh, but seeing Confederate flags is a rare sight. Whether flying on someone's lawn, bumper stickers, T-shirts, etc. I see them for sale at the Flea Market, but that's really about it. What do y'all say? I just read an article about a HUGE Confederate flag that has been placed along an Alabama highway, and realized that that would probably never pass in North Carolina around the Research Triangle.
1811 posts...you meant to do more than just ask...by now you KNOW City-Data.
Uh huh. That's why the various state acts of secession desribe their motivations in terms of slavery, such as:
South Carolina
The General Government, as the common agent, passed laws to carry into effect these stipulations of the States. For many years these laws were executed. But an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution. The States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, have enacted laws which either nullify the Acts of Congress or render useless any attempt to execute them. In many of these States the fugitive is discharged from service or labor claimed, and in none of them has the State Government complied with the stipulation made in the Constitution. The State of New Jersey, at an early day, passed a law in conformity with her constitutional obligation; but the current of anti-slavery feeling has led her more recently to enact laws which render inoperative the remedies provided by her own law and by the laws of Congress. In the State of New York even the right of transit for a slave has been denied by her tribunals; and the States of Ohio and Iowa have refused to surrender to justice fugitives charged with murder, and with inciting servile insurrection in the State of Virginia. Thus the constituted compact has been deliberately broken and disregarded by the non-slaveholding States, and the consequence follows that South Carolina is released from her obligation.
Mississippi
Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin.
Texas
We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.
Uh huh. That's why the various state acts of secession desribe their motivations in terms of slavery, such as:
I guess you either missed the word "one", or don't understand what it means.
And taking a small portion of the states resolutions like that destroys the context of the entire resolution. But nice try. At least we know you're not interested in the truth.
Automatically assuming someone is racist because they display some variant of the Confederate flag like the Chapel Hill parents did is absurd.
I was talking to my kids about the East Chapel Hill High incident this morning. I told them that some symbols are really charged. And that a Confederate flag (ANY Confederate flag) is one of them. The person displaying it may not have ill intent, but the fact is that now it is offensive to many people, whether the person displaying it intended that or not. If a person chooses to display a Confederate flag they should be aware that it may well cause offense.
The other thing I told my kids about the Chapel Hill incident was to be careful what you post on social media! This is a perfect example of something that is a much bigger deal because it's all over the internet.
I don't know the context and I would rather reserve judgment until I can find out the whole story. I think there must be more to it. The flags in the photo are rather large North Carolina regimental flags from the Civil War. I'm thinking the teacher had to have at least known that the girls had the flags. Were they acting as the Southern troops and a different part of the class had the Stars-n-Stripes and were acting as the Union troops? That's pure speculation on my part, though. I have not heard from anyone else who was there what was going on outside the frame and I would love to know. Hope someone, the teacher, or other classmates will comment.
As for the comments on the Instagram post, I absolutely see where people were offended by them, but the girl who posted the photo did not make the most offensive comments. I can also see where teenagers could have been trying to be snarky and sarcastic (more like "The South will rise again", "yeah, right, let's bring back slavery") but completely missed the mark. Or maybe they did really mean it in a racist way. I don't know, but I can see where it COULD have been intended innocently, BUT because the flag and all that it stands for is such a charged topic you can't display it on your front porch or in your instagram feed without potentially offending people and you can't make comments like like "already bought my first slave" (I cringe even typing that and it was immediately called out in the comment thread with a "^no no") even if the intent was a sarcastic skewering of the idea of the Confederacy rising again.
So I used this incident as a cautionary tale and gave my kids a little lesson about the power of symbols and social media this morning. I really HOPE that it was all unintentional, but I think it absolutely very clearly shows white privilege (there weren't any kids of color holding the flags!) and in that context I think that the other kids and parents who were upset at the school board meeting last night were completely justified.
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1811 posts...you meant to do more than just ask...by now you KNOW City-Data. 
