Rebel

Okay, so I'm about to get a tad controversial for a minute.  I'm hacked that there's all this furor about the Confederate Flag.  For many of us, born and bred Southerners, this is offensive to say the least.  I realize everyone won't agree with me, but down here, the issue of whether the Confederate Flag should be flown is old as the hills. I live in Tennessee. Give me a break.  Everyone's got an opinion.  And for corporations, such as W*lmart and eB*y, to have a knee-jerk reaction and remove all Confederate merchandise is, to me, asinine.  I know.  We won't all agree.

If the murderer in Charleston had been holding up a BigMac, would McDonalds take that food off of their menu?  Yeah, I know.  BigMacs aren't too contoversial, except in calories.  But you get my point.

The problem isn't the flag, but how folks perceive it.  To me it's my history.  And oddly enough, one of my great-great grandfathers, who lived in Tennessee, fought for the Union along with some of his brothers.  Think on how he was welcomed back home.  The neighbors might have not been too happy to see him, yes?  Still, I'm proud of the history of the South.  And me, married to a Yankee.  We do have some conversations regarding such.

And while I can admit to having several ancestors who owned slaves---surprisingly found through census records, it is part of who I am.  Erase the flag if you will, but it doesn't change anything. Take it down from Southern courthouses, remove it from state flags, but the pride (or arrogance and ignorance) will stay the same.  It'll never be enough.  Southerners won't ever be able to remove the stain of slavery, but let's rise above, can we?

I have a childhood friend who's a huge fan and protector of the Confederate Flag.  He's in groups that defend the rights of folks to fly it.  And he was even fired from a job, which went to court, because he had a Rebel flag sticker on the back of his car.  Seriously?

We can express ourselves using the flag if we want to.  It's not illegal, and it's just one in a tremendous pile of things that folks won't let alone.  The world can't be so disinfected as to protect everyone from offence.  If things tick a person off instantly, maybe it's time to look at the reason.  I'm thinking 'get over yourself' might be a place to start.

Not much grace in this post, but a necessary rant for me.