Reply #77: yes

[m berst]

I have spent a lot of time in the South, and as the Civil War is an interest of mine, I spend a lot of time visiting the battlefields. It always surprises me how little interest there is in the South in the history of the war. It seems ironic to me that people display the battle flag and defend that by saying it is historical, but then have no interest in the actual history. Visit any battlefield in the South and you will see 99 out of a hundred license plates are from the North. Ask people in any town near a battle field for directions and see how many people drive by a battlefield everyday and have no clue what it is about. Yet there are battle flags and decals all over town.

The battle flag became popular during the civil rights struggle and has been used as a symbol of resistance to integration and voting rights. We can debate this or you can ask me for "proof" but that is a bunch of nonsense. All one needs to do is to ask people who display the flag what their reasons are for displaying it. They will tell you, providing they think it is safe to do so. So why play games and pretend? No white person can claim to be unaware of this. Ask people when they are alone, and in a non-threatening or judgmental way why they fly the battle flag. They will tell you. Of course. And it ain't an interest in history. So whom are we kidding?

That being said, I don't agree with people who lump all things Southern together and then ridicule and demonize all people from the South by implication.