I was born and raised in the North. I am a Seattleite and
Washingtonian through and through. I have only been to Orlando, Florida when it
comes to the South.
With that being said, I was raised in an area that never had
a confederate flag and was only seen in History books. With it being in history
books, I knew what it meant. It was the flag adopted by the confederacy in the
civil war. The Civil War was fought when the Southern States committed a mass
act of treason by seceding from the union when Abraham Lincoln was elected,
many due to the fact that they were afraid Lincoln was going to abolish
slavery. The War was fought to bring the union back together.
The confederate flag has nothing to do with rebellion unless
you want to consider the treasonous act of succession rebellion and in that
way, being proud of that heritage is nothing to be proud of.
According to civilwar.org, when it comes to the states of
Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, and Mississippi, slavery was definitely a
reason to succeed. For all states but South Carolina, it is listed
overwhelmingly as the reason to succeed. Lincoln’s election is also listed but
not as much and state’s rights is only decent percentage in South Carolina. Reasons
stated are that the North was reluctant to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act of
1850, Texas expressed dissatisfaction with federal military protection and
Georgia accused the Northern manufacturing interests of exploiting the south
and dominating the federal government.
It is time to end the myth that this war was started and
fought for state’s rights when in reality, it was because people didn’t want
slavery to end. They didn’t want to stop owning people and treating them worse than
the dirt under their shoes. There is nothing to be proud of when it comes to
the confederacy. They committed and act of treason and fought to keep human
beings enslaved. There is no pride in that. If you are proud of that being your
heritage, then you have issues. I have a lot of German heritage when I dig back
enough. There is no doubt in my mind that I have relatives that were Nazi’s. That
would be my heritage. You don’t me going around with a fucking swastika saying “it’s
my heritage, not hate!” when the only thing the swastika represents in the west
is Nazi Germany and all the Jews, gypsy’s, handicapped and gays that were
murdered by Hitler’s regime. If I want to be proud of my German heritage, then I
shouldn’t be proud of one of the most heinous acts in modern history. I should
be proud of great things that came from Germany like gummy bears, great beer,
or pretzels. Not the genocide of innocent human beings and everything that
happened because of Hitler.
If you want to be proud of being from the South, then that’s
great. It’s where you are from. I sure am proud and love the region I call
home. Since Starbucks, Nirvana and Chris Pratt are from Seattle (Chris Pratt is
actually from the same suburb North of Seattle that I am from) I usually use
those as symbols of my love for the Puget Sound. Be proud of the good things
that have happened in your area. Why use a flag that stands for treason and the
enslavement of innocent people when you could be proud of corn bread, all the
food that apparently can be fried and your sweet tea. Literally anything that
does not have to do with slavery, even if it is country music that you are
proud of. You guys gave us Aziz Ansari, Jennifer Lawrence, Ellen DeGeneres and
the flawless Stephen Colbert. Be proud of that, not the enslavement of a race.
Germany does not glorify the Nazi era. Swastika’s along with
other Nazi era stuff is illegal in Germany. I am not saying outlaw the
Confederate flag even with as much as I hate it. But know that Germany sees
Nazism and everything that happened as a dark time in history and are ashamed
of it. It lead to genocide. Slavery may not have been genocide, but it was
horrific enough to be known as a tragedy and one of the worst in the United
States history. Don’t be proud of an era where people owned human beings. Don’t
be proud of a flag that represents that. It’s awful.
And for those of you who claim that as history, it shouldn’t
be removed from the capital, you need to understand that it wasn’t always there
after the war. After the Confederacy surrendered, they folded up the flags and
they were put away. It made its comeback
when the civil rights movement started and when people were rebelling against
the president in 1948. 1958, the year my father was born, it was made a crime
in South Carolina to desecrate the confederate flag. In 1961 on the 100 year
anniversary of For Sumter it was hoisted above the capitol. Not only this, but
it made its comeback during the civil rights movement to protest integration
and black Americans gaining the exact same rights as white Americans.
Did you know that in Europe in places where the swastika is
illegal, the confederate flag is flown instead? That is because it has this
evil history to it. A history of slavery and treason. There is nothing to be
proud of when it comes to that.
I am not saying it should be outlawed like the Swastika. I
do believe in free speech, but that flag should not be on government property.
It’s great they took it down in South Carolina. I personally don’t think anyone
should have it at all but free speech exists. Just understand that when you are
flying that flag, it doesn’t represent “southern pride,” or “heritage not hate”
it is representing treason and the enslavement of an entire race, and if you are
proud of that, then fuck you, you are what’s wrong with this country and why I am
moving to Iceland.
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/secession/?referrer=https://www.google.com/?referrer=http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/secession/
