A conversation about the Confederate flag...

[Boom Sound 416]

122. Great posts and great points

I appreciate the manner of your tone as well. (Getting to be a rarity here)

On African Americans flying the flag, you're absolutely right. You don't see it and a blind man could tell you why. However, I think that speaks to something else happening across our culture; the growing division between black and white people on the grounds of Americanism. A division of culture into two Americas and the stars and bars are decidedly white.

On southern heritage, I guess I must admit that is the silly pride I feel, but I guess there are two (or more) types or philosophies. Frankly those who are segregationists and those who are not. For those of us who are not, the heritage is not too dissimilar from American heritage in that's it's born from rebellion and under dog and collective individualism (if you'll permit that oxymoron). And for a person of my age the stars and bars illustrate those concepts. And again, those concepts are reflected in the Stars and Stripes.

Growing up in the south in a mid-size city, I won't tell you I did not witness segregation myself. I public high school was completely segregated and this was the early 90's, but not officially segregated by rule of law, but by the students themselves and the rules of society. A division that as to deeply cut for just some simple statutes and a few years time to correct.

I can't imagine anything in the stars and bars to help erode that division, so maybe I need to rethink my attachment to a symbol.

Or maybe, whatever way you believe, right or wrong to fly it that, as George Carlin said, "symbols are for the symbol minded." So maybe both sides are just a knee to deep in the thinking about symbols and not what's really adding to the division.