If a flag is the problem, let’s get rid of it now.
Listen To You Tell Me Texas Friday 6/26/15
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Let’s take down every Confederate flag. Let’s get Confederate merchandise off the shelves in stores. Let’s decide that having a Stars ‘n Bars bumper sticker on your car is as socially unacceptable as smoking in an elevator.
Let’s go on to purge ourselves of all visual reference to the Confederacy. Let’s rename any thoroughfare, park or public building that bears the name of a Confederate figure. Let’s take down any offending statues.
If the shadow of the Confederacy is so pervasive and so dark as to be keeping black Americans from achieving economic success, and if removing vestiges of the Confederacy will solve that problem, then let’s get on with it.
Apparently, icons of the Confederacy have such power that once they are gone, black Americans will at last be able to achieve the same kind of economic success that white Americans have achieved.
It is, after all, the “legacy of slavery,” of which images of the Confederacy are symbolic, that is keeping black Americans down while driving young white men to homicidal rage. Or so you might believe by listening to the self-righteous pronouncements of the Left.
To my knowledge, I own nothing bearing the likeness of the Confederate flag. Truth be told, I have come to associate those who sport Confederate flags with a certain red-necky, southern lowbrow-ness that is altogether clichè.
I wouldn’t have a Confederate flag on my property or on the bumper of my car and neither would any of my friends.
However, I’d happily support banning them altogether if I thought doing so would help more black Americans move into the middle class.
Alas, it doesn’t work that way. The growing cohort of black American families who have succeeded in joining the middle class have had to do so pretty much the same way as everyone. They have stayed in school, stayed out of trouble, stayed off drugs, worked hard and accepted personal responsibility for their own lives.
I concede that among blacks of every class, Confederate flags probably rankle. The image of Charleston shooter Dylan Roof holding a pistol and a Confederate flag is indeed hard to shake.
Nevertheless, black race hustlers and pasty-white self-righteous liberals going on about removing Confederate flags from the public square will accomplish exactly nothing.
The “legacy of slavery” – to whatever extent embodied in that flag – did not turn Dylan Roof into a delusional homicidal madman. The “legacy of slavery” comes nowhere close to being the biggest problem facing black Americans.
The breakdown of the black family, a staggeringly high dropout rate, unwed teen births, a much higher propensity to use drugs and a culture that associates education with “whiteness,” – and thus a betrayal of one’s race – all account for more of the disparity between white and black achievement than does some centuries-old “legacy.”
So, I’m fine with taking the Stars ‘n Bars down. But only if we then resolve to finally, and honestly, begin addressing what’s really holding black people back.
The Confederate Flag is just an excuse for what really is ailing the black people. Something to lay blame on besides themselves and people like this Dylan Roof just gave them more of an excuse…”you see what that flag did? It made that boy kill nine people!” The flag didn’t kill anyone. It is people like obama, jackson and sharp that keep salt in the wound by keeping the pot stirred. For me the flag represents not hate but the courage of the South to stand up for what they believed in. Something that the current US flag should inspire us to do. But sadly we have lost that patriotic zeal of our forefathers! We, as a nation, have lost our courage that our Southern brethren displayed in the War of Northern Agression. No, the Flag or any Flag of any nation is only how we see it in our minds. And that comes from either ignorance or truth.
Thank you. You couldn’t have said it any better.
Appreciate your comments and KTBB. You’ve expressed my thoughts on this subject perfectly. The flag is not the issue.
What all this comes down to is that it is easier to attack a symbol than it is to remedy a problem. The stars and bars will fade from view, but not the problem it supposedly has a role in perpetuating.
Yay, we Finally have found the answer.
All this time we have spent, millions, bussed kids, taught our kids how to speak, used quotas, rewrote maps, guarded voting sites, etc.
Here all it took was the elimination of a small flag!!!
We could have saved a lot of money & time if we had only recognized it sooner.
Everyone would be at peace with wonderful results, drug sales gone, crime would be down & the issue would be settled.
All it took was getting rid of that darn flag.
‘Who woulda thunk it?’
Now that the “White guilt” & superiority is assuaged maybe the
Black mom’s will say to their kids” copy the Whites who are getting A’s . It’s OK now.”
Yay.
Look at all the money we spent. Look at all the books written, the bussing kids, the quota at work, the minority rights, the teaching PC correctness, the rebuilding our Country & all that it took was a small FLAG!!!
Now that the “White power structure” has folded maybe the Black mom’s can fold & teach their kids that its “OK to copy getting A’s like Whites.”
The there will be peace, truancy will leave, drug employed youths will get real jobs, Blacks will be Honor Students,
All it took was a FLAG!!!
How stupid of us not to recognize it.
I really cannot add much to the comments that have been made. It just amazes me how there is always another excuse for the lack of achievement by Blacks, not only in the U.S., but in every country in the world. I extend my sincere apologies to the 5% who have actually refused to be “victims”, and have made real contributions to our society. It seems apparent that the race merchants and their constituents do not feel that they can compete on a level field, and therefore must continue to demand more and more advantages to create equal outcomes. It is also very obvious that no amount of programs, tax dollars, or electing an unqualified president will satisfy their demands; it may be necessary to finally admit our failure and run up the white flag on the “War on Poverty”. However, as long as the politicians care more about pandering for votes, rather than what is best for both our country and these fellow citizens, nothing will change. If Greece can only figure out a way to be able to vote in our next election, I have every confidence that our politicians will figure out a way to bail them out.
You are all in denial! The institution of slavery is the direct cause of societal discrimination that reverberates through time. Not only have these societal sins hurt an entire class of people, the stolen economic benefits of racism benefited the majority over time which consisted primarily of Whites. When you make a statement like “[Blacks have] a much higher propensity to use drugs and a culture that associates education with “whiteness” …”–let’s call that statement what it really is: racist. Drug use is pervasive among all ethnic and economic groups, but certain minorities are incarcerated at higher rates due to profiling. Yes, that’s a thing. Also, White rich kids get a preference into prestigious universities based on family connections or donations, but you are against Educational access to universities for underrepresented groups? You’re ignorant. It’s also ignorant to celebrate relics of the past rooted in racism. You may be entitled to your sarcastic tone in an op-ed piece, but you undermine a better democracy that encompasses the concept of a great melting pot by stirring emotions and blaming ALL Blacks for having a victim mentality or mocking White liberals. You are as much of the problem as the small percentage of those who are taking advantage of the system. Please try to be a more responsible and thoughtful journalist before you make grand sweeping statements for the sole purpose of stirring drama and increasing your ratings. The 4th Estate deserves better.
Evidently some people do not want to acknowledge the reality of the last 50+ years, which has been to give Blacks, and yes, other minorities every possible advantage in admission exams, grades, loan guarantees, government assistance, and federal jobs. There is not one slave or slave owner that still lives in this country, but sadly slavery still exists in Africa and many OTHER countries. I guess what most taxpayers would like to know is: when are these payments for past sins enough? Do we need to continue until our country is flat broke and no longer able to afford any of these reparations? Will we experience the same outcry as we see in Greece? I can cite the revenue received and expenditures for each demographic of our country, but this would only be an act of racism in the eyes of those who do not want to see the facts. There needs to be some serious soul searching by both sides of this issue, so that we can restore our wonderful and free country to “one nation under God”!
Stan: You make some pretty sweeping statements yourself. Read your own post….you lose it and resort to name calling.
And the “try and be a more responsible and thoughtful” line….what a joke. LOL !!!!!!
I have never owned a Confederate Flag, but I do now. Why? I bought one just to irritate the mess out of all the liberals.
Stan…. move to Africa. In fact, move to ANY country that is ruled primarily by blacks. Go. Have fun. Then come back and tell us all about how much better it was there.
What rankles me is the idea that freedom to achieve is in any way associated with the stars & bars, banners, statues, and monuments, and if achieving freedom depends on doing away with them altogether, then let’s champion that thought and action. The Confederacy was dispatched 159 years ago. How long do you beat a dead horse? There are more naysayers against Jesus Christ than all things Confederate combined. Are you willing to put Him on the same chopping block and eliminate Him for peace’s sake? There are many worldwide who would join this same train of thought. You speak for you, I speak for me, and we don’t speak the same language. Thank you for the opportunity to speak.