Can somebody please explain this bumper sticker to me?

[NightTrain]

It had the confederate flag and the caption, I'D RATHER BE HISTORICALLY ACCURATE THAN POLITICALLY CORRECT. :wtf::shrug:

[still_one]

1. I am fairly sure it has to do with having the confederate flag displayed

on a government building...

[antigone382]

9. Man, I am SOO glad I moved to Tennessee from Georgia

It's so nice living in a state where they don't devote 50% of all political discussion to what the flag should look like (or replace decent governors like Roy Barnes with racist sh!tbags like Sonny Purdue because of it).

Three stars in a circle. So nice and simple.

[Longhorn79]

13. I was born in South Carolina, but I truly don't understand

the obsession with the confederate flag. I know what it stands for, and why (some people) claim to embrace it without racism, but it is still the flag of the LOSER, for crying out loud.

[James T. Kirk]

2. I dunno. A Civil War re-enactor maybe.

[opiate69]

3. I think...

it refers to the idea that the southern states seceded for reasons other than slavery, and therefore the flag should not be considered racist....

[the Kelly Gang]

4. these dweebs don't even know what 'politically correct' means..sounds like

another lame attack on libruls

[Liberal Veteran]

5. The thing that gets me is the confederate flag is a flag of treason...

...against the United States of America.

Literally.

[Carolinian]

6. It means that the Confederate flag is part of the history of the South

thus it is HISTORICALLY ACCURATE. If the flag were removed, it would be considered POLITICALLY CORRECT.

[klook]

10. So?

A lynch mob's noose is "historically accurate" and a part of the history of the South also.

[Liberal Veteran]

11. Lawn jockeys are "history accurate" as well...but highly offensive.

[opiate69]

12. Lawn Jockeys aren't offensive to those

who know the history behind them.

[Liberal Veteran]

16. I don't think many people are using it to glorify the underground railroad

....unfortunately.

[opiate69]

18. True.. but..

instead of taking offense, why not use the oppurunity to educate someone on a truly remarkable piece of history? Truth be told, I'm 35, and I didn't know the story of Jocko Graves until a couple months ago...most of the people I've known who had them simply thought they were a cute addition to their lawn.. although I can imagine how some people could intend it in an offensive way...

[RevCheesehead]

17. explanation? n/t

[opiate69]

20. Here's a brief history...

What is the history behind "Jocko"?

Jocko or the Lawn Jockey is seen in the South and in the Appalachian's of the United States.
Many have been destroyed because of the thinking that they are a racial slur to African-Americans. But is this true?

The River Road African American Museum in Louisiana tells us that lawn jockeys represent nothing of the sort, rather they show us a proud moment in U.S. history.


The story begins the icy night in December 1776 when General George Washington decided to cross the Delaware River to launch a surprise attack on the British forces at Trenton.
Jocko Graves, a twelve-year-old African-American, sought to fight the Redcoats, but Washington deemed him too young and ordered him to look after the horses, asking Jocko to keep a lantern blazing along the Delaware so the company would know where to return after battle. Many hours later, Washington and his men returned to their horses who were tied up to Graves, he had frozen to death with the lantern still clenched in his fist. Washington was so moved by the young boy's devotion to the revolutionary cause he commissioned a statue of the "Faithful Groomsman" to stand in Graves's honor at the general's estate in Mount Vernon.

By the time of the Civil War, these "Jocko" statues could be found on plantations throughout the South: like the North Star that pointed fleeing slaves to their freedom, the Jocko statues pointed to the safe houses of the Underground Railroad. Along the Mississippi River, a green ribbon tied to a statue's arm — whether clandestinely or with the owner's knowledge — indicated safety; a red ribbon meant danger. Thus these original lawn jockey statues today fetch thousands of dollars as true artifacts of the Underground Railroad that conducted so many African-American slaves to freedom.

Similar cast-iron statues began appearing in the decades after Washington's crossing of the Delaware in jockey silks, whether for aesthetic reasons or confusion born of Graves's first name. The clothing worn by the lawn jockeys resembled the clothing worn by black riding jockeys, who have a glorious history. In 1875, the first 13 winners of the Kentucky Derby were black, the first being Jockey Oliver Lewis.
Lewis was the first to win three Derbies.

So contrary to some folk's thinking that these statues are a racial slur they are a memorial to Jocko, a beacon for Freedom and a tribute to some of the greatest Jockey's racing has ever known!

http://www.mountainhomeplace.com/jocko.htm

[RevCheesehead]

26. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! n/t

[Liberal Veteran]

21. The legend is that lawn jockeys were also used...

...to mark safe houses for the underground railroad. If they had a green ribbon it meant one thing, red another. It certainly wasn't true of ALL lawn jockeys.

[bvar22]

32. Not true!

The World Record for most lynchings of Black Men in a single day belongs to New York City!
See Draft Riots--1863

[stavka]

15. It was the flag of the CSA army - that lost the Civil War

I still don't get the bumper sticker....

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

19. The Nazi Swastika is a "historically accurate" part of German history,

too. I don't think there are many people anxious to see it on government buildings or official flags there.

[antigone382]

23. Here's my humble take on the Confederate flag situation

Having been born and raised in the south (albiet by a Yankee Ma), I can understand the concerns of those whose ancestors fought on the side of the Confederacy during the Civil War. For their part, those men, most of whom were relatively poor and did not own slaves themselves, fought with a great deal of courage and honor, and I can understand why their descendants want their sacrifices to be remembered.

However, I can also understand the concerns of the descendants of slaves, who view that flag as a symbol of the fight to deny their ancestors' freedom (granted, there were other catalyzing factors leading up to the Civil War, but I don't accept the denial that the preservation of slavery, even under the banner of states' rights, was the principal cause). I also know that in most, if not all states whose flags currently include the Confederate standard, it was not returned to their state flags until the heat of the struggle for civil rights, in a statement intended to support segregation and Jim Crow laws.

So the question we now face is how to balance the rights and concerns of these two groups of people, with two very different and conflicting interpretations of one symbol.

My take on it is this: the soldiers who fought and died for the Confederacy during the Civil War are remembered in many ways, not limited to museums, reenactments, and memorials all over the south, which are committed to their memory. In light of that, I simply don't think that the Confederate flag needs to be retained in Southern state flags, especially when you consider the darker memories it dredges up for the ancestors of slaves, and the divisiveness it tends to cause between citizens who might otherwise be able to successfully build bridges across race and history.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

24. Regardless of the "merits" of the Confederate cause, or Southern society,

the historical and political fact is that that nation was annihilated in the Civil War and folded back into the Union. As a result, the flag of that nation is of historical interest only and has no place in the official governments, state or otherwise, anywhere in this country. That is my opinion.

[bunk76]

7. I don't get it......

they want to fly a symbol of treason against the U.S,and they call themselves "true patriots"?You lost,get over it.

[AnnInLa]

8. I see those all the time down here

in the great and modern state of Louisiana. I think it means that the driver still thinks the Confed flag is HIS true flag, so he dispays it in defiance of anyone thinking it is politically incorrect to display it. (Well, hell, that was a confusing statement, but you know what I mean.)

[wuushew]

14. The sticker is neither accurate nor pc

A true confederate would fly this




not

this

[Comadreja]

22. thought it might be more like this

[Lancer]

25. Relax guys,

it's a re-enactor thing. That's all. I see a lot of them here in NC.

[NightTrain]

27. I once dated a woman who was into Civil War re-enactment.

Frankly, the whole struck me as kinda creepy, even after she spent a lot of time explaining it to me. That was part of the reason we only dated for a short time.

[Liberal Veteran]

29. I grew up in Georgia and I didn't know any "re-enactors"........

...they just glorified the whole "Southern pride/Redneck ethic" thing.

[mitchum]

28. Why would anyone fetishize a loser's rag?

I'm from the south, but I don't understand it

[Lost147]

30. my favorite civil war bumper sticker is

Its a confederate flag with a red X through it saying "You lost! Get over it!"

[HarveyBriggs]

31. Revisionist, Racist garbage.

Translation: I got a white robe, a pointy hat, rope and a can of gas in the trunk. And I vote for Bush!

More proof the nation would have been better off if Sherman had nuclear weapons.

Harvey Briggs