The Confederate Flag and Consistency

I know, I know, everyone is sick of this topic already. I am not going to dive too deep into the issue of South Carolina removing the flag from the capital. Okay, I lied, I will dive into it a bit. However, the majority of this post will be about consistency.

First off, for the people saying that the flag does not stand for racism, but instead is a sign of how the South rose up against Northern tyranny to fight the economic injustices against the mighty, rich South, should probably punch themselves in the head. Anytime you hear someone say the flag was created as something other than racism, just pull out this quote from William Tappan Thompson, the creator* of the flag:

As a people, we are fighting to maintain the Heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race; a white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause… Such a flag…would soon take rank among the proudest ensigns of the nations, and be hailed by the civilized world as THE WHITE MAN’S FLAG… As a national emblem, it is significant of our higher cause, the cause of a superior race, and a higher civilization contending against ignorance, infidelity, and barbarism. Another merit in the new flag is, that it bears no resemblance to the now infamous banner of the Yankee vandals.

Umm, yeah, that guy was not saying that this was a flag representing states right to choose which laws are followed, but instead saying that white people are better than black people (and all others) and that this flag represents that belief.

The part of this whole argument that makes me laugh (and cry a little bit) is that the people arguing to keep the Confederate flag hanging high in South Carolina are also the same people who flip shit when someone desecrates the American flag. They think it should be against the law to stomp on the flag or anything else. Soooooo, how do those two things not go against each other? By keeping the Confederate flag flying and never bringing it to half-mast like the American flag, you are basically saying that it is held in higher regard.

Basically, do not mess with the American flag, unless it is to fly the flag of racism. Got it.

Another thing that cracks me up (or again, makes me cry) is that the fans of the Confederate flag say that it is part of their heritage and that you cannot erase history. And this is true. No one is saying that they cannot fly one at their home. It is just not appropriate to fly one over the state’s capitol building.

Imagine for a second that Germany’s National Democratic Party (NDP) were elected and one of the first things they did was change their flag back to the Nazi flag and then demanded that all embassies fly that flag. Do you think American’s would be pretty upset? The NDP could argue that the flag was a part of their history and heritage.

Alright, I think my little rant is over.

*I realize that Thompson created the second national flag,which is not the precise flag we have here. His flag did have the familiar Southern cross. Also, if the CSA put as much effort into building railroads and infrastructure during the war as they did to designing flags, they may have had a chance to win.