Hawkeye's Blog

There is a news story going on ALL morning over here in Tampa..It concerns a plan for the " Sons of Confederate Veterans" to FLY a massive "Confederate Flag" ,, ON PRIVATE PROPERTY,, at the intersection of I-4 and I-75…EVEN the NEWS personel seem to be upset over this with ONE actually posting a BLOG calling for LAWS and REGULATIONS to put a stop to it.. I FIND it facinating that this SELF-proclaimed "EXPERT" on ALL things having to do with the civil war doesn’t SEEM even to KNOW that the Flag in Question ISN’T the "Flag of the Confederacy" at ALL…It IS,, instead,, the Confederate NAVAL Jack..IF it were a SQUARE Flag instead of being rectangular,, it would be ONE of over 100 Confederate BATTLE Flags..The Flags of the Confederacy,, of which there were 3,, look very little like the common conception of the flag in question..

I’ve heard this SAME mistatement of fact on the TELEVISED broadcasts going on ALL morning ..

Now I KNOW that THIS seems to be splitting hairs but ONE would think that those who are entrusted to report on the facts would FIRST take the time to GET THEM RIGHT…

Now..NEAR as I can tell,, the question here is about WHAT the Flag actually represents.. it SEEMS that THAT depends on WHO you Talk to..So far,,I have seen and heard the SOCV members claim that it is ONLY a part of Southern History and is NOT about Slavery EXCLUSIVELY,, I saw a COUPLE of Blacks that said that it means absolutely NOTHING one way or the Other to them ( I suspect,,NOT the opinion of MANY Blacks) ,, the NAACP claiming it’s unfortunate but WHAT can you do and HERE’S where it gets REALLY INTERRESTING,, a couple of Guilt Ridden WHITE Liberals calling for LAWS against what a PRIVATE Property Owner can DO on his OWN Property..

Now look..I KNOW that this can BE a Hot Button for SOME people with passionate arguments being made on BOTH sides and BOTH sides have EVERY right to MAKE those arguments..PRO or CON,, a VERY understandable positon CAN be made either way..

Personally,, I don’t necessarilly agree that the Symbol of the Confederacy NECESSARILLY stands for Slavery and NOTHING else as I have come to LEARN of the richness of the Southern Heritage in it’s OWN right..

I HAVE to WONDER though,, at those who INSIST that the HERITAGE of UNTOLD numbers of Different FOREIGN Cultures MUST be Respected and "Tolerated" and EVEN Accomadated while ALL vestiges of the Confederacy and it’s CULTURE must be STAMPED out in the NAME of Political Correctness..It WASN’T enough for THEM to have these flags removed from Public Buildings EVEN though the TYPICAL Southern STATE Flag,, UNCHANGED since the Civil War,, could be said to be JUST as Racist and for the SAME reasons.. No,, THEY have to INSIST that ALL must FORGET the existance of a CONSIDERABLE piece of American History altogether..

Well,,,..IF you’re GOING to BE that way,, let’s at LEAST be consistant,, But NO,, it SEEMS to escape the Notice of these SAME White Liberals that there are PUBLIC schools in California Flying the MEXICAN Flag ( ANOTHER culture which at ONE time was at WAR with America ) on AMERICAN Flagpoles OVER an American Flag being displayed UPSIDE DOWN..SOMEHOW,, THAT’S OKAY..And if YOU should HAPPEN to complain about THAT,, these SAME Liberals will be QUICK to remind you that THAT is being Somehow Racist..

The THING of it is,,THIS is HISTORY..NOT just SOUTHERN History but PART of the History of America..EVEN the part dealing with Slavery..The PROBLEM is,,

It SEEMS not so much a matter of remembering that history that has SOME people so upset but WHO it IS that’s remembering it..Like the subject of racism in General..We’re constantly being TOLD that we don’t talk about it enough when the FACT of the matter IS that RACISM is ALL we EVER seem to talk about..

But again,, it ONLY counts when somebody like Wright brings it up and HIS brand of talk is the ONLY acceptable way to DISCUSS racism..It SEEMS that to SOMEpeople,, the ONLY acceptable and qualified authority on the subject of RACISM HAS to BE an African American..

The thing here is that we SHOULD ALL remember that we were ONCE a Nation,,AMONG MANY at the time,, that tolerated slavery JUST as we should ALL remember that we are ALSO a nation that abolished it..

To FORGET that is to risk losing an integral part of OUR History and deminishes us ALL..

But,

What REALLY bothers me here is the suggestion of SOME to PASS Laws against what THEY think is Offensive..I FIND it OFFENSIVE that THEY think that ALL must CATER to their whims but I would NEVER call for LAWS to PUNISH them for it..I am NOT here,,NOR is My Country and Government,, to dance to the whims of those who LOOK for reasons to be offended and the WORST possible scenario is to have MY Government TRAMPLE on the CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS of others MERELY to APPEASE them…

It is GOOD to discuss these things,, get them OUT in the open,, VOICE your opinions..YOU have THAT right but to THOSE who WISH to quash the Rights of OTHERS which are endowed by OUR Creator and Stipulated IN the Constitution I can ONLY say,,

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS,, GET A LIFE and LEAVE OUR LIVES,, and OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS,,,ALONE..