U.S. Representative Steve Palazzo (R-MS) has a vowel at the end of his name that probably indicates a religious heritage unwelcome in the Ku Klux Klan. But he’s too stupid to care.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Some people like to say taking down a flag won’t end racism in America and of course it won’t, but symbolism and simple things like taking down a symbol of hate can cause ripples…to quote Mother Theresa..”I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
JUST IN: Governor’s spokesman: #Confederate flag at South Carolina Capitol to be removed Friday morning. http://t.co/VQLLKpGT30
Frankly, this argument boils down to “the flag doesn’t matter.” Which is obviously not true. Because then taking it down shouldn’t be a big deal.
Either it matters or it doesn’t. The fact that taking it down won’t, in one fell swoop, end racism is not an argument for leaving it up.
It won’t end racism. But it will stop letting people think that their federal government thinks that racism is either OK or not a big deal. State and local governments as well. Of course, we know where Ocala and Marion County FL stand.
And Memphis is evicting Nathan Bedford Forrest from his comfy rest in a city park.
Now the next struggle in South Carolina is to demythologize the cult surrounding the Confederate Relic Room and Military History Museum, which is across Gervais Street from the Statehouse. (It used to be in the Statehouse itself, a musty room with glass cabinets full of flags and gray uniforms.)
Except that BoehnerLeadership has stalemated the Interior appropriation bill because the GOP House caucus is split on this.
Because we are talking about cemeteries and historical sites as cover to sneaking the Confederate flag back in to US culture, let me offer a compromise to the nitwits.
At US cemeteries in which Confederate casualties like my ancestor are buried (his grave is in Elmira NY), place one flag equivalent in size to the official grave flags of US Army burials but of the First National Flag of the CSA (the 1861 “Stars and Bars”) on each Confderate soldier’s grave. (It would be interesting to know how WWII German soldiers’ graves are marked in Allied miltary cemeteries in Europe. I doubt that it is with the Swastika flag.)
At historic sites connected with the Civil War, Place realistically sized (for the period) Confederate flags only where they are necessary for interpretation. All of the unit memorials become an issue that could be solved by removing all flags from memorials.
Remove the Confederate flag merchandise as a souvenir from all Department of Interior gift shops and insist that contracted gift shops do the same.
See. That’s not so hard. And you put the heritage where it is associated with the soldier, who for whatever reasons wound up enlisted in the war that killed him. And take away the notion of the US government legitimizing the Lost Cause.
But Boehner and his caucus are too dumb to figure this out (hell, they still have Trey Gowdy tilting at windmills and Paul Ryan off in a corner wasting his time on a budget that will never happen). Besides, they want the red meat issue more than they want to govern.
Very reasonable. I’m not sure what you mean by this part:
I would add that battle flags be allowed at historic re-enactments such as the annual re-enactment at Gettysburg, solely for historical accuracy.
That is an interesting question.
OMG. Starting googling and found this. Can’t imagine paying $2,800 for it, except maybe to break it up with a sledgehammer.
Foothills Valley, CA — figures
Graves at Fort Riley, Kansas
But in Normandy
By that logic we would put the US flag on all of them. I sorta thought that was the solution.
So, I guess the flag should be the current state flag, which is only a Confederate flag in the case of Mississippi. For my ancestor, it would be the current NC flag. Since his unit was called 12th NC Troops, that’s pretty historically accurate.
Only Texas had a state flag at the time of the Civil War. Even the South Carolina crescent and palmetto flag was not the official state flag until the time of the Civil War. But is was quickly replaced for a red flag; so it lacks a lot of Civil War associations.
So the logic for Mr. Boehner would be state flags for the Confederacy (weren’t they about states’ rights anyway) and US flags for the Union soldiers — both the modern versions of the flags. No Confederate flags in gift shops.
Problem solved.
At Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Antietam, and other major battlefields, during the postwar period and up to the 1920s, state veterans organizations place monuments as memorials to Ohio troops, Mississipi troops, and so on. Some of these memorials either included flags or have had flags added. Those flags both Confederate and US (for that matter) could come down. They are a redundant doubling down of sentiment.
I like the state flag logic for this. As in the case of the Germans buried at Normandy ” isn’t meant to glorify what the
GermanConfederate army represented inWorld War IICivil war. Instead, the commission tries to honor the men whose lives were cut short by the war.” Including your ancestor, who I hope died fighting for something he believed in (hopefully his home and neighbors) and wasn’t conscripted to die in a rice paddy like my childhood playmates.I agree with you, TDem. Your suggestions make perfect sense, which is why the Civil War battle flag defenders won’t accept them.
This would represent compromise, which Republicans view as capitulation, and they want it their way, period. Never mind that it’s wrong and hateful. It’s Their Way.
After Voice in the Wilderness’s comments, I’m now for the current state flag marking the graves of Confederate soldiers.
The good folks of Mississippi will have to deal with their flag at some point. But other than that the NoVa battle flag will be gone.
And the historical reality that all soldiers were identified with state units (there was no separate Confederate Army, Lee being the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia).
yes, and units were state units a key point.
Cross-posted from my June 20th diary – Confederate Battle Flag Remains at Full Staff.