a flag they never fought for in southcentral PA

A lot of people near the Mason-Dixon Line have/had cloudy allegiances. Over in the southwestern corner, where I'm from, the big thing was to tell the Union recruiters that they'd come too far south and were in Virginia, then tell the Southern recruiters that they were in Pennsylvania. Hard to track a border through the Appalachian woods.

I'm fairly relieved my MIL is no longer here, she would actually argue The War Between the States. She was dismayed that her son married a northerner. She was from the deep-Dixie state of West Virginia and actually grew up about 20 miles from where I was born (in abovestated Pennsylvania), so I don't know how she justified her proud Southern heritage.

A lot of people near the Mason-Dixon Line have/had cloudy allegiances.

I get that, but perhaps I wasn't clear. I am talking about the discussion regarding the flag today. We are now 150 years beyond the Civil War. No one currently talking about this fought in that war. People here like to pretend they are Southern "rednecks" because it gives them an excuse to be misogynistic, racist assholes and it's cool. In the meantime, they ignore their actual heritage.

I'm so tired of seeing the meme of "If you're alright with this, then you need to be alright with *this*." The first "this" is a picture of someone stomping/burning the American flag, and the second "this" is a picture of the Confederate flag. Free speech doesn't apply unless the government is a party, and even if it did, you're still responsible for the consequences of your speech/actions/choice. Let's not even get into the fact that one of those flags is on its face treasonous.

I can argue firmly against the Confederate battle flag, since it was revived from obscurity by the KKK, the Dixiecrats and others opposed to desegregation. I can't get behind Soviet-style deletions of Confederate figures. You can't wipe out history, and if you start eliminating images of supporters of slavery, most of the founding fathers would disappear. I think we need to do a better job of coming to terms with the U.S.'s original sin.

People here like to pretend they are Southern "rednecks" because it gives them an excuse to be misogynistic, racist assholes and it's cool.

Ding ding ding. This is why you will see the flag in random totally non-southern places like northern Ontario.

I imagine the jackass in my downtown who sells the pictures of national Democratic politicians with crosshairs on them has put Confederate flags on sale.

I think we need to do a better job of coming to terms with the U.S.'s original sin.

Agreed, all of them (sins that is). Because slavery was just one of them. And because such sins still occur worldwide, and even if we aren't necessarily the perpetrators we are so often the benefactors of evil. And it just needs to be faced.

Yeah, I can't even engage in this discussion here. Not meant to be quelling, just an aside as I bring up an entirely unrelated topic.

Namely: Powerpoint. Oh how I have not missed you being in my life.

Timelies all!

I'm glad I don't have to deal with Confederate flag defenders. Of course, I'm only on lj.

Was it Larry Wilmore who pointed out that European racists have taken on the Confederate flag because swastikas are outlawed?

Anyway. Anyone who loves America shouldn't support a symbol of treason.

I've seen a bunch of Confederate flag stuff around here in Central PA. I saw a truck a while ago that had a sticker with a rifle and a deer head superimposed over the flag.