Wednesday, October 20, 2010
October Underdogs
The MLB playoffs have been great this year, even though my Rays and Braves got bounced early. My enjoyment begins with the dominant ptching performances so far. Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, CJ WIlson, and Brian Lincecum have pitched marvelous games already. Cliff Lee has pitched three masterpieces against the Rays and Yankees and Halladay has a postseason no-hitter. Lee has been as close to unhittable as a pitcher can be. His curvball is just nasty. The Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants have surprised me the most. Maybe I wasn't paying attention, but I expected both to be ousted in the first round. I was wrong. Along with the pitching, they both have had clutch hitting. The Giants polished the Braves in short order and led the Phillies 2 games to 1. Ther's a long way to go, but they are at home for two more games and a chance to close the series out. The Rangers have been even more surprising to me. Right now, they look like the team to beat in the World Series. In addition to great pitching, they have a solid line-up featuring Josh Hamilton. They should not have been underdogs to the Rays and they are proving that they are just plain better than the venerated/hated New York Yankees. They lead the ALCS 3 games to 1, with another game at home with a solid pitcher to win it. If not, they have Lee available for a Game 7. I would love a Giants/Rangers World Series. Why so, especially since the two teams I favor were rudely ejected by them? At this moment, they are the two best teams in MLB.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Stoopid Season
I used to look forward to election season the same way I looked forward to the World Series. It was always fun to watch democracy in action as candidates competed for votes. They have pretty much spoiled that for me. We are beset with bigots and idiots running for office to do the work of the people. Case in point - what am I to do in the South Carolina race for the US Senate? On the one hand you have Jim Demint, or as I like to call him, Jim Deminted. I believe may be a bigot and I know he is a demagogue. His remarks last week and gays being allowed to teach indicate that he is the former. His claims that those are his personal feelings do not change the fact that he is a public figure, a US Senator, and his words and attitudes have public repercussions.
As to the latter, he publicly states that he will work for the failure of the elected president so that his party can regain power. Personally, I still pull for all presidents to succeed, because if they do, the country succeeds. That tells me that he is more interested in campaigning effectively than in governing effectively. Their recent track record includes running local, state, and federal governments into the ground in some kind of ideological race to incompetence.
In contrast, his opponent is apparently interested in neither strategy. Alvin Greene is an idiot. He wins the nomination of his party, as telling about the party as about himself. His opponent in the primary was a legitimate candidate and a member of the General Assembly. To be sure, he would have lost to Demint too, had he been nominated. Greene does not campaign and does not like to answer questions from the media. He suggested making bobble-heads of himself as a fiscal strategy. The real deal is bobble-headed enough. He was recently indicted for showing pornography to an underage student. He was asked to leave a meeting of the party here in Seneca, but the police had to be called to make it happen. At a recent event elsewhere, he sat by himself and did not speak to the gathering. He is as poor a candidate as anyone can be. There is no doubt in my mind that he would be just as poor a US Senator. What to do?
It's clear to me that I must hold my nose and vote for Demint. I considered not voting for either, but that is not a real option. I can't, in good conscience vote for Alvin Greene. I do not believe him to be competent enough to do the job. So there you have it. My left-handed, back-handed, and upside down endorsement of Jim Demint. Lord have mercy on us all.
As to the latter, he publicly states that he will work for the failure of the elected president so that his party can regain power. Personally, I still pull for all presidents to succeed, because if they do, the country succeeds. That tells me that he is more interested in campaigning effectively than in governing effectively. Their recent track record includes running local, state, and federal governments into the ground in some kind of ideological race to incompetence.
In contrast, his opponent is apparently interested in neither strategy. Alvin Greene is an idiot. He wins the nomination of his party, as telling about the party as about himself. His opponent in the primary was a legitimate candidate and a member of the General Assembly. To be sure, he would have lost to Demint too, had he been nominated. Greene does not campaign and does not like to answer questions from the media. He suggested making bobble-heads of himself as a fiscal strategy. The real deal is bobble-headed enough. He was recently indicted for showing pornography to an underage student. He was asked to leave a meeting of the party here in Seneca, but the police had to be called to make it happen. At a recent event elsewhere, he sat by himself and did not speak to the gathering. He is as poor a candidate as anyone can be. There is no doubt in my mind that he would be just as poor a US Senator. What to do?
It's clear to me that I must hold my nose and vote for Demint. I considered not voting for either, but that is not a real option. I can't, in good conscience vote for Alvin Greene. I do not believe him to be competent enough to do the job. So there you have it. My left-handed, back-handed, and upside down endorsement of Jim Demint. Lord have mercy on us all.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
End of an Era
Yesterday, Carolyn and I helped Dad and Mom begin to clean out their trailer at Flat Shoals. They closed on it yesterday, selling it to the next door neighbor, putting it in different hands for the first time in 40 years. It is a beautiful piece of property in Salem between Highway 11 and Flat Shoals on Little River. You can see the Blue Ridge Mountains to the north, east and west. The southern view looks down on a valley toward Flat Shoals. Dad bought it in the late 1960's and had a trailer on it for many years. He loved that property and I can remember dropping blood and sweat there myself, clearing the land. I was too young and stupid to understand the significnace of the land then. It is on the highest point in the vicinity. Lately, it had become increasingly difficult to maintain the property since they are both in their 80's. Mom had just about quit going there, and Dad had joked that Mom would sell it before he was buried if he died before she did.
Watching them go through their thngs and deciding what to keep and what to discard was painful. They had 4 decades years of their lives invested in the place, and they were having trouble deciding what to keep and what to discard. Mom told Carolyn that she was having trouble seperating herself from some of the objects and dad was very subdued as he began to make those hard choices. My brother Tom had already hauled some things off, so their final days at their retreat in Salem were beginning.
It hit me that they were ending a part of their lives that had been part and parcel of their happiness as a couple and that things would never be the same again. Part of their independence was gone and would never return. Still, these remarable people, my parents, did as they has always done. They worked through the process and were able to make hard choices together. More and more, I am grateful that I am their son. I can only hope that, when the time comes, I can be as at peace as they are in the face of such a loss.
Watching them go through their thngs and deciding what to keep and what to discard was painful. They had 4 decades years of their lives invested in the place, and they were having trouble deciding what to keep and what to discard. Mom told Carolyn that she was having trouble seperating herself from some of the objects and dad was very subdued as he began to make those hard choices. My brother Tom had already hauled some things off, so their final days at their retreat in Salem were beginning.
It hit me that they were ending a part of their lives that had been part and parcel of their happiness as a couple and that things would never be the same again. Part of their independence was gone and would never return. Still, these remarable people, my parents, did as they has always done. They worked through the process and were able to make hard choices together. More and more, I am grateful that I am their son. I can only hope that, when the time comes, I can be as at peace as they are in the face of such a loss.
Monday, May 24, 2010
What Does the Confederate Flag Really Symbolize?
In 1957, Congress created the national CWCC to oversee the planning of the 1965 Civil War Centennial. The idea was to promote reconciliation. This was a nationwide effort. President Dwight Eisenhower had commissioned a national Civil War Centennial, and the state centennial commissions were to coordinate activities. The Centennial was to honor those who died in creating the great union without regard to the cause. In 1959, Gov. Fritz Hollings appointed a Commission to plan the state's observance of the 100th anniversary of the War Between the States. Unfortunately, the Centennial became a time of reopening old wounds, and coincided with the emergence of civil rights, so the intended purpose of the Centennial became totally lost, and then transformed into an ugly outpouring of racial hatred. This occurred in South Carolina, as well as other southern states. In South Carolina, politicians used the Centennial observations as a springboard for defiance to the federal government’s beginning imposed desegregation movements, and the actions of our elected officials regarding the Centennial mirrored the actions of our landed gentry in promoting the Civil War.
South Carolina’s Centennial observations of the Fort Sumter firing began on April 10th, 1961 and continued through the 12th, with much attention paid to the April 11th Charleston ceremonies and the re-enactment of the Fort Sumter cannonade. Why? Just 14days earlier, South Carolina made national headlines after it seceded from the national Civil War Centennial Commission (CWCC) ceremonies, due to a dispute over the segregated Francis Marion hotel in Charleston that was to host a national event of the national CWCC, which had African American members. The Francis Marion Hotel incident actually began earlier in March, when news leaked of the Hotel’s segregation policy: no blacks allowed. In response, the NAACP and Northern chapters of the CWCC threatened boycotts of the ceremony. President Kennedy, in an effort to put the controversy to rest, ordered a change of venue and moved the national centennial meeting from the segregated Francis Marion Hotel to the desegregated Charleston Naval Station. Gov. Fritz Hollings questioned the president’s authority to “dictate” racial integration in Charleston, and accused northern politicians of trying to make “political capital” out of the issue. In late March, just two weeks before the ceremonies, the debate was escalated a few notches by S.C. state Rep. Nat Cabell, who flatly uninvited the integrated New Jersey commission, because it had a black member.
And so on March 28, 1961 South Carolina announced its de facto secession from the national CWCC events in Charleston because of the federal pressure to have integrated meetings. The South Carolina CWCC said that they would hold their centennial banquet at the segregated Francis Marion Hotel, as planned, and that the national and state CWCC commissions — along with all the other invited guests from around the country — were free, “if they so chose,” to attend the banquet at the desegregated Charleston Naval Base. The announcement of this secession came from no less a personage than state CWCC chairman, Rep. John A. May of Aiken, who is central to the flying of the battle flag. The announcement of this secession came from state CWCC chairman, Rep. John A. May of Aiken, who said that the segregation dispute, “if anything, helped give us more publicity.” Publicity about what?
The dispute did not die down and South Carolina indeed held its own meeting at the Francis Marion as planned. Contemporaneous reports by attendees had the dais in the ballroom of the Francis Marion festooned with Confederate battle flags when Sen. John D. Long, who had sponsored resolutions that placed the flag over the House and Senate rostrums, warmed up the crowd by invoking the KKK and Red Shirts of South Carolina. Perhaps it was just as well the Francis Marion events were segregated, given the tenor of the speeches that day:
“Out of the dust and ashes of War with its attendant destruction and woe, came Reconstruction more insidious than war and equally evil in consequences, until the prostrate South staggered to her knees assisted by the original Ku Klux Klan and the Red Shirts who redeemed the South and restored her to her own”. — John D. Long, state senator and co-sponsor of the later 1962 Confederate flag resolution, speaking at the Francis Marion Hotel on April 11, 1961, on the occasion of the Civil War centennial. Senator Long, it should be noted, is the same politician who – at the height of the Little Rock desegregation effort –ordered a dozen sub-machine guns for the Union County, S.C. sheriff’s deputies so that they could “repel any invaders.” (Augusta Chronicle, 4/23/61)
Senator Strom Thurmond, whose Dixiecrat presidential candidacy had made him a folk hero among white southerners and especially South Carolinians and recently revealed as the state’s most well known and longest running racial hypocrite, also spoke for the occasion. He prefaced his speech by resurrecting a century-old argument against Abraham Lincoln and the Declaration of Independence, advising the crowd that there is not even a “hint” of purpose in the U.S. Constitution to “ensure equality of man or things.” Continuing, he warned the crowd about the relationship between racial equality and communism:
“It has been revealed time and time again that advocacy by Communists of social equality among diverse races… is the surest method for the destruction of free governments. I am proud of the job that South Carolina is doing [in regard to segregation], and I urge that we continue in this great tradition no matter how much outside agitation may be brought to bear on our people and our state.”
The raising of the Confederate flag at the State House on April 11, 1961, albeit accomplished with no fanfare or ceremony, much like the April 11th Charleston ceremonies and the re-enactment of the Fort Sumter cannonade, was a fairly accurate historical re-enactment of the defiant and secessionist events that had transpired some 100 years earlier, when South Carolina seceded from the Union in order to keep its slavery economy. Only this time, we defiantly wanted to keep segregation. From the standpoint of historical authenticity, the only thing missing from the festivities was people being killed and the Palmetto Guard flag, which was the first Confederate flag flown over Fort Sumter in April 1861, not some naval jack used in Virginia.
So we got what we wanted: publicity. Amid this nationally reported and well documented racial hatred rhetoric and drama in our fair state led by our Governor, ex-Governor and every senator and house member, the Confederate flag was raised at the State House and in the Senate rostrums. We’ll show ‘em” could be our state motto, or “Don’t make me start another war”. “The flag is being flown this week at the request of Aiken Rep. John A. May," reported The State on April 12, 1961. However, as a point of fact, Rep. May didn't introduce his resolution until the next legislative session. By the time the resolution passed on March 16, 1962, the flag had been flying for nearly a year. All of these facts are verifiable through news accounts of the day. Is there any doubt about what this flag symbolized to those who raised it then? Just what is the symbolism of the flag?
While it was in use in war, the flag itself never symbolized or represented the Confederacy. The overriding independence of the Confederate states resulted in a kind of balkanization of the armies of the states, and even within state armies from different sections of the state. Literally, there were hundreds of flags in use for units, divisions, brigades, cavalries, artilleries, etc, all different, some handmade, some manufactured. No actual agreement was never reached, but over time, the “Southern Cross” battle flag — which was the Naval Jack and official flag of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, which was the largest and most organized force, and the force that accepted stragglers from all states armies — came to be most used as the battle flag and was mostly flown throughout the rest of the war beneath one of the 3 national CSA flags. While the battle flag was never officially adopted by the CSA, it is arguable that it became the de facto symbol of the Southern war because of the overwhelming use by the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil war. There is no evidence that that South Carolina in particular adopted or exclusively used the battle flag of Northern Virginia distinct from it generalized and unofficial use. I challenge anyone to produce verifiable facts that any person from South Carolina that fought in the Civil war recognized the battle flag of Northern Virginia as their flag.
When South Carolinians protest that the flag represents their heritage, they factually cannot be referring to the flag that flew in the initiation of the war at Fort Sumter. The actual flag flown was the Palmetto Guard, and the original is currently on display at the Fort. While there are some reports that the Bonnie Blue from Texas flew too, they are not verifiable by any eye witness accounts. When South Carolinians protest that the flag represents their heritage, they factually cannot be to any battlefield banner carried by Southern troops in the battles of Bull Run and Pickett’s Mill. That was 1st national flag of the CSA, the Stars and Bars, which was adopted just weeks before the start of the Civil War in March of 1861. It lasted approximately 2 years as the standard. Then the Stainless Banner became the 2nd national flag of the CSA. It was adopted in 1863 and designed to eliminate the battlefield confusion of the 1st flag, which was often confused as a flag of surrender because of its predominant white color. Two years later in March of 1965, the 3rd and final national flag of the Confederate States of America adopted was the Blood Stained Banner. The Blood Stained Banner was nearly identical to the Stainless Banner, except for the broad red stripe on the right border, placed there to remove any appearance of truce or surrender. Ironically, the bloodied and decimated Confederacy surrendered just a few weeks after the Blood Stained Banner was adopted.
Some say that the flag is their southern heritage, and that it is not about hate. A heritage is first property that can be inherited, an inheritance if you will. They cannot be talking about that since the flag is a symbol. Secondly, it is a station or status acquired by a person through birth, a birthright. They cannot be talking about that as a result of being born in the South, since the confederate battle flag is the defiance flag of choice for Neo-Nazi in present day Germany and the Montana Freemen and the KKK of every state in the Union, all of whom are not sons of the South. Thirdly, a heritage is something passed down from generation to generation, generally understood as a tradition. That is the one closest to what they mean, I think. What the flag symbolizes is their heritage. Again, what does the flag symbolize?
Sadly, when anyone refers to heritage as a tradition handed down from generation to generation in the battle flag, they are also, perhaps without conscious knowledge, referring to the ubiquitous symbolic banner flown by groups during the Jim Crow era of 1867 through 1965, when, under the ever present battle flag, legal process was used to segregate and deny equal protection under the law, on the theory that an entire race of people was inferior, and less than human. Is there any doubt what this flag symbolized to those Jim Crow supporters?
This is also the time of Ku Klux Klan begun in 1865 and the infamous White League begun in 1874-1875 and the even more infamous Red Shirts of South Carolina that used rape and assassination against blacks and their white sympathizers, with the well known and admitted financial and political support of Wade Hampton. The confederate battle flag was their flag and symbol, ever present in every endeavor of mayhem, murder and intimidation, both public and private. Is there any doubt what this flag symbolized to those KKK and Red Shirt supporters after during and after Reconstruction up through the 1930s?
When anyone refers to the heritage in the battle flag, they are referring to the officially chosen and ever present flag of the 1940s Dixiecrat Party that built on the prejudice of the Reconstruction and Jim Crow era, and made clear “Segregation Now, Segregation Forever” whose leader Strom Thurmond, who incidentally later in his enlightened life, supported removing the flag. George Wallace segregationists and mobs raised this flag over their violent campaigns against blacks in Selma, Alabama during the 60s. They are claiming as their heritage the symbolism of the flag actually worn by policemen and state troopers in Alabama and Mississippi, who unleashed their fire hoses, bullets and dogs onto civil rights activists, and actually wore the battle flag sewn onto their uniforms. They are claiming their heritage the flag raised by governors of southern states as a show of defiance against federal law simply commanding equal treatment under the law. Is there any doubt what this flag symbolized to those segregationist supporters from the 1940s, 50s and 60s?
They are claiming as their heritage a flag currently carried by Nazis, white supremacists, Montana Freemen, various far right minute men, and all unrepentant racists who have yet to concede the inhumanity of an economy built on slavery, or the racist cause of white supremacy based on the debasement of other races, the meaning, cause and outcome of the Civil War, much less the rightness of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. In an unbroken line from the 1865 KKK and Redshirts until the present day of KKK and white supremacists from Berlin to Boise, the flag is symbolic of white suppression and supremacy, racial hatred and segregation. Whatever honor or duty or sacrifice made on the battlefield under that flag has long been dishonored by those who have subsequently hated and continue to hate under its symbolism.
I am as much a son of the South as anyone can be. My bona fides are a matter of provable fact. Both sides of my family were here in South Carolina before it was named, before the United States was a country, and we have never left. Both sides of my family have many names inscribed as veterans of the Civil War. I honor their memory as my blood relatives, and have often reflected on the loss and longing expressed in letters home, along with their simple nobility of purpose, however misguided and misinformed they may have been. I do not judge them, or anyone else for actions taken during the Civil War. They were all products of their times, and most did what they thought was right.
While the Confederate Battle Flag likely may have been one of the flags under which my ancestors fought and died, it was never their flag then and it is not my flag now. While the flag may be my part of my blood past, it is not, in all of its inescapable legacy as a symbol of racial hatred and violence, something passed down to me as an inheritance. It is not my birthright. It is not my family tradition. It is not my heritage, and I will not pass the idea that it symbolizes some idealized honor on to my children or grandchildren. In an unbroken chain of hateful use almost immediately after hostilities ended, what it symbolizes cannot be reconciled with my social, political, or Christian beliefs. It is as simple as this - It offends my neighbor. Take it down. At long last, begin the reconciliation so desperately needed in our state and nation.
South Carolina’s Centennial observations of the Fort Sumter firing began on April 10th, 1961 and continued through the 12th, with much attention paid to the April 11th Charleston ceremonies and the re-enactment of the Fort Sumter cannonade. Why? Just 14days earlier, South Carolina made national headlines after it seceded from the national Civil War Centennial Commission (CWCC) ceremonies, due to a dispute over the segregated Francis Marion hotel in Charleston that was to host a national event of the national CWCC, which had African American members. The Francis Marion Hotel incident actually began earlier in March, when news leaked of the Hotel’s segregation policy: no blacks allowed. In response, the NAACP and Northern chapters of the CWCC threatened boycotts of the ceremony. President Kennedy, in an effort to put the controversy to rest, ordered a change of venue and moved the national centennial meeting from the segregated Francis Marion Hotel to the desegregated Charleston Naval Station. Gov. Fritz Hollings questioned the president’s authority to “dictate” racial integration in Charleston, and accused northern politicians of trying to make “political capital” out of the issue. In late March, just two weeks before the ceremonies, the debate was escalated a few notches by S.C. state Rep. Nat Cabell, who flatly uninvited the integrated New Jersey commission, because it had a black member.
And so on March 28, 1961 South Carolina announced its de facto secession from the national CWCC events in Charleston because of the federal pressure to have integrated meetings. The South Carolina CWCC said that they would hold their centennial banquet at the segregated Francis Marion Hotel, as planned, and that the national and state CWCC commissions — along with all the other invited guests from around the country — were free, “if they so chose,” to attend the banquet at the desegregated Charleston Naval Base. The announcement of this secession came from no less a personage than state CWCC chairman, Rep. John A. May of Aiken, who is central to the flying of the battle flag. The announcement of this secession came from state CWCC chairman, Rep. John A. May of Aiken, who said that the segregation dispute, “if anything, helped give us more publicity.” Publicity about what?
The dispute did not die down and South Carolina indeed held its own meeting at the Francis Marion as planned. Contemporaneous reports by attendees had the dais in the ballroom of the Francis Marion festooned with Confederate battle flags when Sen. John D. Long, who had sponsored resolutions that placed the flag over the House and Senate rostrums, warmed up the crowd by invoking the KKK and Red Shirts of South Carolina. Perhaps it was just as well the Francis Marion events were segregated, given the tenor of the speeches that day:
“Out of the dust and ashes of War with its attendant destruction and woe, came Reconstruction more insidious than war and equally evil in consequences, until the prostrate South staggered to her knees assisted by the original Ku Klux Klan and the Red Shirts who redeemed the South and restored her to her own”. — John D. Long, state senator and co-sponsor of the later 1962 Confederate flag resolution, speaking at the Francis Marion Hotel on April 11, 1961, on the occasion of the Civil War centennial. Senator Long, it should be noted, is the same politician who – at the height of the Little Rock desegregation effort –ordered a dozen sub-machine guns for the Union County, S.C. sheriff’s deputies so that they could “repel any invaders.” (Augusta Chronicle, 4/23/61)
Senator Strom Thurmond, whose Dixiecrat presidential candidacy had made him a folk hero among white southerners and especially South Carolinians and recently revealed as the state’s most well known and longest running racial hypocrite, also spoke for the occasion. He prefaced his speech by resurrecting a century-old argument against Abraham Lincoln and the Declaration of Independence, advising the crowd that there is not even a “hint” of purpose in the U.S. Constitution to “ensure equality of man or things.” Continuing, he warned the crowd about the relationship between racial equality and communism:
“It has been revealed time and time again that advocacy by Communists of social equality among diverse races… is the surest method for the destruction of free governments. I am proud of the job that South Carolina is doing [in regard to segregation], and I urge that we continue in this great tradition no matter how much outside agitation may be brought to bear on our people and our state.”
The raising of the Confederate flag at the State House on April 11, 1961, albeit accomplished with no fanfare or ceremony, much like the April 11th Charleston ceremonies and the re-enactment of the Fort Sumter cannonade, was a fairly accurate historical re-enactment of the defiant and secessionist events that had transpired some 100 years earlier, when South Carolina seceded from the Union in order to keep its slavery economy. Only this time, we defiantly wanted to keep segregation. From the standpoint of historical authenticity, the only thing missing from the festivities was people being killed and the Palmetto Guard flag, which was the first Confederate flag flown over Fort Sumter in April 1861, not some naval jack used in Virginia.
So we got what we wanted: publicity. Amid this nationally reported and well documented racial hatred rhetoric and drama in our fair state led by our Governor, ex-Governor and every senator and house member, the Confederate flag was raised at the State House and in the Senate rostrums. We’ll show ‘em” could be our state motto, or “Don’t make me start another war”. “The flag is being flown this week at the request of Aiken Rep. John A. May," reported The State on April 12, 1961. However, as a point of fact, Rep. May didn't introduce his resolution until the next legislative session. By the time the resolution passed on March 16, 1962, the flag had been flying for nearly a year. All of these facts are verifiable through news accounts of the day. Is there any doubt about what this flag symbolized to those who raised it then? Just what is the symbolism of the flag?
While it was in use in war, the flag itself never symbolized or represented the Confederacy. The overriding independence of the Confederate states resulted in a kind of balkanization of the armies of the states, and even within state armies from different sections of the state. Literally, there were hundreds of flags in use for units, divisions, brigades, cavalries, artilleries, etc, all different, some handmade, some manufactured. No actual agreement was never reached, but over time, the “Southern Cross” battle flag — which was the Naval Jack and official flag of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, which was the largest and most organized force, and the force that accepted stragglers from all states armies — came to be most used as the battle flag and was mostly flown throughout the rest of the war beneath one of the 3 national CSA flags. While the battle flag was never officially adopted by the CSA, it is arguable that it became the de facto symbol of the Southern war because of the overwhelming use by the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil war. There is no evidence that that South Carolina in particular adopted or exclusively used the battle flag of Northern Virginia distinct from it generalized and unofficial use. I challenge anyone to produce verifiable facts that any person from South Carolina that fought in the Civil war recognized the battle flag of Northern Virginia as their flag.
When South Carolinians protest that the flag represents their heritage, they factually cannot be referring to the flag that flew in the initiation of the war at Fort Sumter. The actual flag flown was the Palmetto Guard, and the original is currently on display at the Fort. While there are some reports that the Bonnie Blue from Texas flew too, they are not verifiable by any eye witness accounts. When South Carolinians protest that the flag represents their heritage, they factually cannot be to any battlefield banner carried by Southern troops in the battles of Bull Run and Pickett’s Mill. That was 1st national flag of the CSA, the Stars and Bars, which was adopted just weeks before the start of the Civil War in March of 1861. It lasted approximately 2 years as the standard. Then the Stainless Banner became the 2nd national flag of the CSA. It was adopted in 1863 and designed to eliminate the battlefield confusion of the 1st flag, which was often confused as a flag of surrender because of its predominant white color. Two years later in March of 1965, the 3rd and final national flag of the Confederate States of America adopted was the Blood Stained Banner. The Blood Stained Banner was nearly identical to the Stainless Banner, except for the broad red stripe on the right border, placed there to remove any appearance of truce or surrender. Ironically, the bloodied and decimated Confederacy surrendered just a few weeks after the Blood Stained Banner was adopted.
Some say that the flag is their southern heritage, and that it is not about hate. A heritage is first property that can be inherited, an inheritance if you will. They cannot be talking about that since the flag is a symbol. Secondly, it is a station or status acquired by a person through birth, a birthright. They cannot be talking about that as a result of being born in the South, since the confederate battle flag is the defiance flag of choice for Neo-Nazi in present day Germany and the Montana Freemen and the KKK of every state in the Union, all of whom are not sons of the South. Thirdly, a heritage is something passed down from generation to generation, generally understood as a tradition. That is the one closest to what they mean, I think. What the flag symbolizes is their heritage. Again, what does the flag symbolize?
Sadly, when anyone refers to heritage as a tradition handed down from generation to generation in the battle flag, they are also, perhaps without conscious knowledge, referring to the ubiquitous symbolic banner flown by groups during the Jim Crow era of 1867 through 1965, when, under the ever present battle flag, legal process was used to segregate and deny equal protection under the law, on the theory that an entire race of people was inferior, and less than human. Is there any doubt what this flag symbolized to those Jim Crow supporters?
This is also the time of Ku Klux Klan begun in 1865 and the infamous White League begun in 1874-1875 and the even more infamous Red Shirts of South Carolina that used rape and assassination against blacks and their white sympathizers, with the well known and admitted financial and political support of Wade Hampton. The confederate battle flag was their flag and symbol, ever present in every endeavor of mayhem, murder and intimidation, both public and private. Is there any doubt what this flag symbolized to those KKK and Red Shirt supporters after during and after Reconstruction up through the 1930s?
When anyone refers to the heritage in the battle flag, they are referring to the officially chosen and ever present flag of the 1940s Dixiecrat Party that built on the prejudice of the Reconstruction and Jim Crow era, and made clear “Segregation Now, Segregation Forever” whose leader Strom Thurmond, who incidentally later in his enlightened life, supported removing the flag. George Wallace segregationists and mobs raised this flag over their violent campaigns against blacks in Selma, Alabama during the 60s. They are claiming as their heritage the symbolism of the flag actually worn by policemen and state troopers in Alabama and Mississippi, who unleashed their fire hoses, bullets and dogs onto civil rights activists, and actually wore the battle flag sewn onto their uniforms. They are claiming their heritage the flag raised by governors of southern states as a show of defiance against federal law simply commanding equal treatment under the law. Is there any doubt what this flag symbolized to those segregationist supporters from the 1940s, 50s and 60s?
They are claiming as their heritage a flag currently carried by Nazis, white supremacists, Montana Freemen, various far right minute men, and all unrepentant racists who have yet to concede the inhumanity of an economy built on slavery, or the racist cause of white supremacy based on the debasement of other races, the meaning, cause and outcome of the Civil War, much less the rightness of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. In an unbroken line from the 1865 KKK and Redshirts until the present day of KKK and white supremacists from Berlin to Boise, the flag is symbolic of white suppression and supremacy, racial hatred and segregation. Whatever honor or duty or sacrifice made on the battlefield under that flag has long been dishonored by those who have subsequently hated and continue to hate under its symbolism.
I am as much a son of the South as anyone can be. My bona fides are a matter of provable fact. Both sides of my family were here in South Carolina before it was named, before the United States was a country, and we have never left. Both sides of my family have many names inscribed as veterans of the Civil War. I honor their memory as my blood relatives, and have often reflected on the loss and longing expressed in letters home, along with their simple nobility of purpose, however misguided and misinformed they may have been. I do not judge them, or anyone else for actions taken during the Civil War. They were all products of their times, and most did what they thought was right.
While the Confederate Battle Flag likely may have been one of the flags under which my ancestors fought and died, it was never their flag then and it is not my flag now. While the flag may be my part of my blood past, it is not, in all of its inescapable legacy as a symbol of racial hatred and violence, something passed down to me as an inheritance. It is not my birthright. It is not my family tradition. It is not my heritage, and I will not pass the idea that it symbolizes some idealized honor on to my children or grandchildren. In an unbroken chain of hateful use almost immediately after hostilities ended, what it symbolizes cannot be reconciled with my social, political, or Christian beliefs. It is as simple as this - It offends my neighbor. Take it down. At long last, begin the reconciliation so desperately needed in our state and nation.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Confederate Memorial Day
Since today is Confederate Memorial Day I thought I'd tell you about my Great Great Grandfather on my mama's side, Benjamin Travis Hayes. He was born August 31, 1829 in Pickens, SC and died October 16, 1864 in Staunton, VA. He married Elizabeth Hood on January 12, 1850. They had six children, including Daniel Travis Hayes, my Great Grandfather. He was a sharecropper and preacher before the Civil War. He never owned a slave. To him the Civil War was about one thing only -the defense of his home and native state. He was first part of Company H, 4th SC Infantry under Capt. Garvin. Later he would serve in Regiment B, 37th VAVCB, Anderson District. He died of lockjaw from a musket wound and was buried in Staunton, VA. His units fought in engagements in Tennessee and Virginia. The wound that would eventually kill him was incurred at the Battle of Fisher's Hill near Strasburg. We have copies of several letters written to his wife while he was away. He loved his wife and children dearly and wanted to keep them safe from the ravages of war. He wrote longingly of home but was determined to do his duty as he saw it. In one letter he wrote, "for independence we will have shed the last drop of our blood." Benjamin Hayes left his home and family to defend liberty. He fought under often cruel conditions and ultimately gave his life at the age of 35. Today we honor those brave souls like my ancestor Benjamin Travis Hayes who endured loneliness, deprivation, cold, and hunger to do what they thought was right. May we all follow their examples of devotion and sacrifice.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
It's Still Early
I know it's only May 6, but I want to point out that my Rays are 19-6 to start the season. I've already seen them once, and they lost that night. According to my team of correspondents in Tampa (ok, my brother-in-law Gordon and his wife Jimmye) the Rays are tearing it up with great pitching and timely hitting. Will they challenge the mighty Yankees and Red Sox this season? Only time will tell. It looks pretty promising this season, but the season is an endurance test, so injuries, slumps, bad karma, and other things may play a role. Or the big spenders may have better players. At any rate, I will keep you posted, although I know most of you could care less. When I started blogging I promised to write about what interests me. That still holds true today. I plan to resume my blog, BubbaSpeaks now when interest and opportunity meet.
Monday, November 2, 2009
The Old Man
The Old Man...
As I came out of the supermarket that sunny day, pushing my cart of groceries towards my car, I saw an old man with the hood of his car up and a lady sitting inside the car, with the door open.
The The old man was looking at the engine. I put my groceries away in my car and continued to watch the old gentleman from about 25 feet away.
I saw a young man in his early twenties with a grocery bag in his arm, walking towards the old man. The old gentleman saw him coming too, and took a few steps towards him. I saw the old gentleman point to his open hood and say something.
The young man put his grocery bag into what looked like a brand new Cadillac Escalade and then turn back to the old man and I heard him yell at the old gentleman saying, 'You shouldn't even be allowed to drive a car at your age..' And then with a wave of his hand, he got in his car and peeled rubber out of the parking lot.
I saw the old gentleman pull out his handkerchief and mop his brow as he went back to his car and again looked at the engine. He then went to his wife and spoke with her and appeared to tell her it would be okay. I had seen enough and I approached the old man..... He saw me coming and stood straight and as I got near him I said, 'Looks like you're having a problem.'
He smiled sheepishly and quietly nodded his head. I looked under the hood myself and knew that whatever the problem was, it was beyond me.. Looking around I saw a gas station up the road and told the old man that I would be right back. I drove to the station and went inside and saw three attendants working on cars. I approached one of them and related the problem the old man had with his car and offered to pay them if they could follow me back down and help him.
The old man had pushed the heavy car under the shade of a tree and appeared to be comforting his wife. When he saw us, he straightened up and thanked me for my help. As the mechanics diagnosed the problem (overheated engine) I spoke with the old gentleman.
When I shook hands with him earlier, he had noticed my Marine Corps ring and had commented about it, telling me that he had been a Marine too. I nodded and asked the usual question, 'What outfit did you serve with?'
He had mentioned that he served with the first Marine Division at Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal. He had hit all the big ones and retired from the Corps after the war was over. As we talked we heard the car engine come on and saw the mechanics lower the hood.. They came over to us as the old man reached for his wallet, but was stopped by me and I told him I would just put the bill on my AAA card.
He still reached for the wallet and handed me a card that I assumed had his name and address on it and I stuck it in my pocket. We all shook hands all around again and I said my goodbye's to his wife. I then told the two mechanics that I would follow them back up to the station. Once at the station I told them that they had interrupted their own jobs to come along with me and help the old man. I said I wanted to pay for the help, but they refused to charge me.
One of them pulled out a card from his pocket looking exactly like the card the old man had given to me. Both of the men told me then, that they were Marine Corps Reserves. Once again we shook hands all around and as I was leaving, one of them told me I should look at the card the old man had given to me. I said I would and drove off.
For some reason I had gone about two blocks when I pulled over and took the card out of my pocket and looked at it for a long, long time. The name of the old gentleman was on the card in golden leaf and under his name....... 'Congressional Medal of Honor Society..'
I sat there motionless looking at the card and reading it over and over.
I looked up from the card and smiled to no one but myself and marveled that on this day, four Marines had all come together, because one of us needed help. He was an old man all right, but it felt good to have stood next to greatness and courage and an honor to have been in his presence.
Remember, OLD men like him gave you FREEDOM for America . Thanks to those who served....& those who supported them.
America is not at war.
The U.S. Military is at war.
America is at the Mall.
Remember, Freedom isn't "Free" -- thousands have paid the price so you can enjoy what you have today!
LET'S DO THIS -- JUST 19 WORDS
GOD OUR FATHER,
WALK THROUGH MY HOUSE
AND TAKE AWAY ALL MY WORRIES AND ILLNESSES;
AND PLEASE WATCH OVER AND HEAL MY FAMILY AND OUR FRIENDS AND THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE FOUGHT AND ARE FIGHTING FOR OUR FREEDOM
IN JESUS ' NAME. AMEN
This prayer is so powerful. It was shared with me by the family of a local serviceman who has done tours in both Iraq and Afganistan. Pass this prayer to people you know.
As I came out of the supermarket that sunny day, pushing my cart of groceries towards my car, I saw an old man with the hood of his car up and a lady sitting inside the car, with the door open.
The The old man was looking at the engine. I put my groceries away in my car and continued to watch the old gentleman from about 25 feet away.
I saw a young man in his early twenties with a grocery bag in his arm, walking towards the old man. The old gentleman saw him coming too, and took a few steps towards him. I saw the old gentleman point to his open hood and say something.
The young man put his grocery bag into what looked like a brand new Cadillac Escalade and then turn back to the old man and I heard him yell at the old gentleman saying, 'You shouldn't even be allowed to drive a car at your age..' And then with a wave of his hand, he got in his car and peeled rubber out of the parking lot.
I saw the old gentleman pull out his handkerchief and mop his brow as he went back to his car and again looked at the engine. He then went to his wife and spoke with her and appeared to tell her it would be okay. I had seen enough and I approached the old man..... He saw me coming and stood straight and as I got near him I said, 'Looks like you're having a problem.'
He smiled sheepishly and quietly nodded his head. I looked under the hood myself and knew that whatever the problem was, it was beyond me.. Looking around I saw a gas station up the road and told the old man that I would be right back. I drove to the station and went inside and saw three attendants working on cars. I approached one of them and related the problem the old man had with his car and offered to pay them if they could follow me back down and help him.
The old man had pushed the heavy car under the shade of a tree and appeared to be comforting his wife. When he saw us, he straightened up and thanked me for my help. As the mechanics diagnosed the problem (overheated engine) I spoke with the old gentleman.
When I shook hands with him earlier, he had noticed my Marine Corps ring and had commented about it, telling me that he had been a Marine too. I nodded and asked the usual question, 'What outfit did you serve with?'
He had mentioned that he served with the first Marine Division at Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal. He had hit all the big ones and retired from the Corps after the war was over. As we talked we heard the car engine come on and saw the mechanics lower the hood.. They came over to us as the old man reached for his wallet, but was stopped by me and I told him I would just put the bill on my AAA card.
He still reached for the wallet and handed me a card that I assumed had his name and address on it and I stuck it in my pocket. We all shook hands all around again and I said my goodbye's to his wife. I then told the two mechanics that I would follow them back up to the station. Once at the station I told them that they had interrupted their own jobs to come along with me and help the old man. I said I wanted to pay for the help, but they refused to charge me.
One of them pulled out a card from his pocket looking exactly like the card the old man had given to me. Both of the men told me then, that they were Marine Corps Reserves. Once again we shook hands all around and as I was leaving, one of them told me I should look at the card the old man had given to me. I said I would and drove off.
For some reason I had gone about two blocks when I pulled over and took the card out of my pocket and looked at it for a long, long time. The name of the old gentleman was on the card in golden leaf and under his name....... 'Congressional Medal of Honor Society..'
I sat there motionless looking at the card and reading it over and over.
I looked up from the card and smiled to no one but myself and marveled that on this day, four Marines had all come together, because one of us needed help. He was an old man all right, but it felt good to have stood next to greatness and courage and an honor to have been in his presence.
Remember, OLD men like him gave you FREEDOM for America . Thanks to those who served....& those who supported them.
America is not at war.
The U.S. Military is at war.
America is at the Mall.
Remember, Freedom isn't "Free" -- thousands have paid the price so you can enjoy what you have today!
LET'S DO THIS -- JUST 19 WORDS
GOD OUR FATHER,
WALK THROUGH MY HOUSE
AND TAKE AWAY ALL MY WORRIES AND ILLNESSES;
AND PLEASE WATCH OVER AND HEAL MY FAMILY AND OUR FRIENDS AND THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE FOUGHT AND ARE FIGHTING FOR OUR FREEDOM
IN JESUS ' NAME. AMEN
This prayer is so powerful. It was shared with me by the family of a local serviceman who has done tours in both Iraq and Afganistan. Pass this prayer to people you know.
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