Seen in Conifer while waiting for Dan to arrive.



It sparked a discussion between Mark and I about why I found it offensive.

Some have said that the Confederate flag is an affront to black community because it represents slavery. Others have said the flag has nothing to do with slavery, but honors the history, heritage and war dead of the Confederacy. Proponents shout that this is the flag of the Confederacy and should be displayed whenever and wherever for it's historical value. In truth, it was never the official flag of the Confederacy. The original flag of the Confederate States of America, commonly known as the "stars and bars", was approved by the Congress of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States, and ( I had to look this up, but knew it to be true, even without the date) first hoisted over the capitol building in Montgomery, Alabama, on the afternoon of the 4th day of March, 1861. It wasn't this flag.

Recently a school in Alabama deflected a proposed ban on any Rebel flag wear or paraphernalia. A pair of lawyers made the absurd proposal of offering classes about the Confederacy to "educate" blacks and other students, who find the battle flag offensive, presumably to convert them into acolytes of "The Lost Cause."

It's an insane proposition, of course, because the people who object to the rebel flag do so precisely because they are educated.

It's easy to imagine the perverse history lessons that would be used to argue that the Confederate battle flag is not a racist symbol. The arguments are old and invalid.
The first is that the Civil War wasn't about slavery -- it was about states' rights -- a premise that conveniently ignores the fact that the Southern states seceded to defend only one right, the one allowing white people to enslave black people.

Then comes the argument that the Confederate battle flag isn't a symbol of disunity because it came along after the initial Southern act of treason -- secession. Instead, it's a symbol of the brave soldiers of the Confederacy, who fought and died for what they believed in (whatever that was). The trouble is, the battle flag's history didn't end with the Civil War. Since then, it's been adopted by hate mongers ranging from the Ku Klux Klan to segregationists who hoisted it over their statehouses (or incorporated it in their state flags - Hello Mississippi) to show their opposition to the civil rights movement.

Aye, there's the rub.

The flag has stopped being a symbol of pride and history. When I see this huge flag flying valiantly off of a pickup truck in Conifer, Colorado..I know damn well what the teenaged driver is saying. And it ain't historical.
It's racist.

[/rant mode]