Can we talk about the Confederate flag for a minute? Not that “but my Southern heritage!” nonsense because you see this damn thing flying from sea to shining sea. I’d like to take just a moment to consider the idiocy that is Flying The Confederate Flag High. I’ll drop this tweet here for the visual.
Back before the Civil War eleven southern states seceded – yep, that’s right, effing SECEDED – from the United States to protect the institution of slavery. What we call the Confederate flag now is what was flown as the so called “battle flag.” So, in sum: that red fabric flew over southern military forces battling to protect a system of white supremacy in this nation. Blood spilled under that flag was in pursuit of protecting white families owning Black ones. White masters raping Black women, white slaveowners splitting up Black families on the auction block. That flag drips with racism and white supremacy that stains the ground we walk on.
When I see it flying outside homes in the county I know that’s not a safe place to stop. When I see it on window decals and bumper stickers or flying from truck beds driving by I know to leave a wide berth, that there’s no guarantee that driver is reasonable. It sounds fear based but I think it’s more a survival instinct, that little voice inside my head saying uh uh, not them.
I’ve been in the car with my kids more times than I can count when we’ve come across this thing and I’ll tell you this. One look at their faces and I have no doubt they know exactly what it stands for.
Linda hosts Stream of Consciousness Saturday. This week’s prompt is “flag.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
Riddle from the Middle 
Thank you for telling it like it is, and was. Sometimes I’ve wondered why I still live in NC. Other times, I think it’s good to help bring balance – evidence that other beliefs and values are present here. At the very least, we are helping to keep the darkness at bay with our pockets of light. My hope is that we can plant seeds that will open hearts and minds.
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I like this perspective. I keep reminding myself that there might be other states more aligned with my philosophy in general but no place is perfect. These problems are so deeply ingrained in the fabric of society that it’s folly to think a move would erase them all. So maybe we’re here to do our part in opening minds…or at least trying to.
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I can also understand your children wanting to spread their wings one day.
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It’s absolutely horrible isn’t it. I am astonished that there are still so many people who can fly that flag with its bloody connotations… “The home of the brave and the land of the free”? life is strange, we are , worldwide supposed to of moved on and to he enlightened… But salvery still exists…..sorry I am ranting. 💜
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It’s hard not to when it comes to this level of evil. I can’t make sense of their logic or their priorities.
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No it is very unsettling to know that theses people still are so biggoted!
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Oppression, violence, hate. Let’s not forget ignorance. Some flags need to be put away for good.
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This is most assuredly one of those. Maybe we’ll get there someday.
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I’ve seen fewer of those flags around here lately, but still see some. I used to make my late husband laugh because every time I’d see one I’d say, “Effin loser!” Only I didn’t say, “Effin”.
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Sounds about right to me. Quite literally, now that I think about it. Wonder why they’d want to advertise supporting the losing team?
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I know, right?
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Our daughter and I were at a country fair in “enlightened” Connecticut where a vendor had an entire booth full of those flags and every imaginable item made from or with them, and he had lots of customers. We talked about that, but we couldn’t really imagine the mindset that thinks owning and displaying that flag or that merchandise makes sense.
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I talk about that with my kids a lot. Neither one can imagine living in NC when they’re grown – I don’t blame them, I never thought I’d live here either. But I point out that racism is EVERYWHERE so if they’re looking for a magic town they’ll be disappointed.
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Sadly, that’s true. But there are people who get it.
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It’s staggering that people are still doing this.
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Oh yes, and they do it with pride. All those protests I went to last year had a large contingent of neoconfederates standing on the corner waving this thing. And if your opposition to a Black Lives Matter rally is a confederate flag then I guess we know whose lives don’t matter to you. 😡
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Laura, driving the roads in NC as resident, I welcome this change. But, there are two places in our state off the interstates, where the landowner flies a huge Confederate flag. I tell my wife or children, I wonder if they realize that the statement is one of rebellion against our country, one of hatred and fear when accompanying the KKK riders. Keith
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I wonder too. It’s so interwoven with hate and brutality it’s all I see but they drum that “southern pride” into kids so hard. Sometimes I wonder if our only hope is to get them once they’re out of their parents’ homes and are capable of nuance.
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Laura, there is so much disinformation that dates back to the Civil War. The slaveowners sold the war on states rights’, because they would have been unable to sell fighting to poor whites for a cause to let richer people own slaves. The other piece is battle flag was used more by the KKK after reconstruction was ended in the 1870s for political reasons. So, it stands for white supremacisn more than the war. Keith
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it is a horrific symbol and should only remain in a museum as a part of the telling of a horrible history and a lesson in what not to do or be.
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Definitely. Shoot, let them build a museum for the freaking daughters & sons of the confederacy and they can ooh and aah to their hearts content. I’m offended by the sight but my kids? For them seeing this flag drive by is an assault.
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Absolutely
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Yes. Yes. And yes.
Unfortunately, I feel this way when I see a Trump banner. Is a Trump ‘flag’ the new Confederate flag? As a Black Social Worker whose job requires me to make home visits during what is sometimes an already unsafe situation (hence why I’m there in the first place), I am extra cautious going to homes and neighborhoods in the evening where the lawns are decorated in Confederate and Trump flags. Not a big deal to some. A matter of safety for me.
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Absolutely. And yes, we have lots of Trump signs nailed to trees out in the county & I 100% treat them like confederate flags. We have some Trump lawn signs in our neighborhood – a mile from a liberal University & where I doubt a confederate flag would be tolerated – and I don’t consider those houses safe either. All I can say is God bless you for doing that work. 💛
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