Greeting my friends and fellow travelers!
On Sunday, April 23rd, a somewhat preachy and pretentious article appeared in The (Durham County, NC) Herald Sun written by Elon University Professor of Anthropology Tom Mould.
The article, ironically titled: "In debating the Confederate flag, we're asking the wrong questions" Professor Mould continues to not only ask the wrong questions himself, but fills his arguments with factual errors as well as the usual logical fallacies that social "just us" regressives continue to use over and over ad nauseum. Clearly the subject over the so-called debate about the Confederate flag is not among his areas of expertise, as you will see.
Luckily, this blogger is here to offer the proper corrections and the factual details that the dear professor either was ignorant of, or simply refused to add for fear of destroying his somewhat pretentious argument.
As always this blogger's point-by-point response to this article will appear in Confederate Red.
Enjoy.
On Sunday, April 23rd, a somewhat preachy and pretentious article appeared in The (Durham County, NC) Herald Sun written by Elon University Professor of Anthropology Tom Mould.
The article, ironically titled: "In debating the Confederate flag, we're asking the wrong questions" Professor Mould continues to not only ask the wrong questions himself, but fills his arguments with factual errors as well as the usual logical fallacies that social "just us" regressives continue to use over and over ad nauseum. Clearly the subject over the so-called debate about the Confederate flag is not among his areas of expertise, as you will see.
Luckily, this blogger is here to offer the proper corrections and the factual details that the dear professor either was ignorant of, or simply refused to add for fear of destroying his somewhat pretentious argument.
As always this blogger's point-by-point response to this article will appear in Confederate Red.
Enjoy.
In debating the Confederate flag, we're asking the wrong questions – Tom Mould
In responding to this debate, I will endeavor to set the record straight -- C.W. Roden: The Man Deniers Fear The Most
The tragedy in Charleston June 17,
2015, ripped open deep wounds, both new and old, not the least of which
was debate over the Confederate flag. Point of correction: it was the Establishment Media using said tragedy to fire up a debate that the Left was already losing well before this.
That’s good for a rally but not so good for understanding the issue, because it’s never been one or the other. It is both. Since I just pointed out that your simplistic view of "Defenders" is inaccurate, your point misses its mark. I do agree that in certain contexts the flag can be both however. I fear thought that will be were our mutual agreement ends.
That is the power – both terrible
and beautiful – of symbols. Their meanings shift. Different time
periods, different contexts, different people, different meanings.
“Heritage or hate?” is the wrong question. True, it is not even the proper question at all. The actual question is which view deserves to endure: Heritage or hatred? Better yet, which one ultimately benefits Southern culture and all Southern people in the long run?
Examining the ideology espoused by
the flag’s designer is unproductive in understanding contemporary
symbolic meanings if that history is widely unknown. True we could have a huge debate about that particular origin, but let's save that for another blog post, okay? When it comes to
symbols, origins matter very little. I would disagree. I believe that knowing where you come from has considerable weight in where we are going, or choose to go moving forward. The Star of David was not
originally Jewish, nor was the Ichthus or “Jesus Fish” originally
Christian. The skull and crossbones were created by the Spanish to mark
their cemeteries long before they represented poison and piracy. Yet none of those details diminishes in any way the proper use of those symbols today by the groups you mentioned.
Symbols are often appropriated and,
over time, can take on new meanings that erase their initial intent, so
asking about original meanings is the wrong question, too. Again I would disagree for the reason stated before. Of course, I suspect that your reason for moving past this would be the damage those arguments does to your conclusions. Let's keep going and see if I am right, shall we?
It is hardly novel to point out that
the Confederate flag was not a widespread public symbol of Southern
culture and heritage extending unabated from the Civil War to the
present, but rather a re-discovered symbol used by Southern politicians
who opposed Civil Rights and desegregation. Actually, the flag itself was widely used by the United Confederate Veterans themselves at their conventions, during Confederate Memorial Day and US Memorial Day parades where former Confederate soldiers and Southern-born US soldiers marched between the Spanish-American War (1898) to well into the 1950s. There are literally hundreds of period photographs that prove this point. Your premise is factually in error. The Confederate flag
appeared on the South Carolina statehouse in 1962, not 1862 and on the
Georgia flag in 1956, not 1856. And on the current flag of the State of Mississippi in 1894....oops, you forgot that one huh buddy? Guess that detail wasn't included in your article because it just didn't fit your paradigm. Tisk tisk.
No American, black or white, who
lived during this time was unaware of the battle for Civil Rights being
waged. For many, their first glimpse of the Confederate flag was during
rallies and protests, coupled with posters espousing hatred for all
African-American men and women, and in political arenas where laws were
passed again and again that limited the rights of people of color. Obviously that was not the only reason that flag existed in the South, nor was it the only flag flown wrongly in defiance of the struggle for equality:
These very public displays, splashed across the mass media, were impossible to ignore.
 |
| Looks like Old Glory to me. |
These very public displays, splashed across the mass media, were impossible to ignore.
Recent polls suggest the negative
interpretation of the flag has increased rather than decreased in the
past few decades. Oh ho, this one I gotta see. A 1994 Louis Harris poll suggested that 68 percent of
African-Americans were not offended by the Confederate flag. In 2011, a
Pew Research Center Poll found the number had dropped to 55 percent. Polls of course are highly accurate, just ask President Hillary Clinton all about....OH! Riiiiiiight. LOL!
In the South, that number was likely
even lower, because just three years later, a Winthrop Poll reported
only 27 percent of African Americans in South Carolina felt the flag
should remain on top of the Statehouse. A poll asked in the wake of a tragedy and done in only ONE STATE rather than a national poll, and largely based on a false media narrative. Incidentally, you forgot this poll by CNN taken a week after the tragedy in Charleston:
 |
| Then again, maybe you failed to mention it on purpose. |
There is no question that accused Charleston gunman Dylann Roof’s
Nor is there any question that there
are well-meaning young people in this country today who grew up with a
Confederate flag in their homes or those of their grandparents, who see
no evidence of racial hatred in their family. Declaring their
interpretation of the flag invalid ignores how symbols operate. Truth! We do
not need to label these families racist any more than we need to
continue to allow the Confederate flag to fly in public spaces where its
meaning has been so clearly articulated again and again as a symbol of
racial hatred. Problem with that line of logic is that the US flag and many other historical American banners have also been wrongly misappropriated as symbols of things they were never intended to be. To make the argument that such misuse invalidated their public display invites politically correct regressive ciaos when it comes to who feels what way about which one, and which group needs to be pandered to.
The question we should be asking –
and that increasingly more and more of us are asking – is when does one
meaning of a symbol become so powerful it drowns out other
interpretations? The NAACP concluded that moment had arrived in 2000
when it began a boycott of South Carolina for flying the Confederate
flag over the statehouse. Actually the NAACP concluded that in 1991 at their national convention when they passed an obscene resolution calling the flag an "odious blight upon the universe" and declaring war against any and all public displays. If you were unaware of that, you clearly are not a very good researcher. Or that you simply failed to learn the relevant facts when you decided to weigh in on this argument.
The moment came much sooner for some
African-American state legislators in South Carolina who began calling
for its removal as early as the 1970s when I was growing up there.
According to recent polls, for most Americans, the moment is now. We've already established that your poll information is largely meaningless.
Yet while majority consensus is
comforting, which again you have NOT fully established that cannot be the only standard for change, particularly
when it comes to protecting minority populations. LOL sorry, but you can't play White Knight on this one, buddy. As far as "protecting" Black Southerners, you might wanna check out this link HERE. Your view that Black Southerners (or African-Americans as a whole) think as one mind on the subject is clearly defeated with photographic evidence to the contrary....and trust me, there is more where that came from on this blog.
We must also consider the power of
the symbol and the reactions it evokes. The sheer scope and depth of
hatred toward African Americans perpetrated under the waving of the
Confederate flag cannot be lined up against fond memorialization by a
racial majority. Now it is you who makes the wrong comparison. It is not lining hatred up against heritage, it is lining up the continued wrongful acceptance of a regressive, pro-white supremacist viewpoint; against an increasingly multicultural Southern identity and living Confederate heritage accepted increasingly by more and more people of all colors and creeds. Thankfully, there are many other ways to memorialize
and symbolize one’s region, one’s ancestors, and one’s history that have
not been co-opted by those spouting racial hatred. There are, but simply surrendering the flag to the racists to continue misusing it and accepting that outcome rather than fighting hard against that wrongful viewpoint is the act of a moral coward.
Symbols are constantly created anew
and imbued with new meaning. We Southerners need to imbue new symbols,
and ensure that our actions and beliefs truly reflect the values of
equality, courage, and unity for which we say we stand. Ironically, as I have shown on this blog many time over: HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE (and those are just a few examples mind you) more and more people of all colors and creeds are rejecting the regressive view of that flag and embracing it proudly as the living symbol of Southern identity for all.
That is kinda the point you made earlier isn't it? That despite the origins and past uses of some symbols, new generations bring new meaning to said symbols. By your own words, Mr. Mould, you have made the case FOR those of us who fight for the display of the Southland's banner.
That is kinda the point you made earlier isn't it? That despite the origins and past uses of some symbols, new generations bring new meaning to said symbols. By your own words, Mr. Mould, you have made the case FOR those of us who fight for the display of the Southland's banner.
Heritage or hate misses the point.
It’s not about how many ways we can interpret a symbol. When one of
those ways is so hurtful to so many people, it can no longer be
tolerated. Accepting that harm by accepting the continued misuse of that flag while rejecting those honorable Southerners that are taking the harder, but more rewarding route of fighting back; well sir, that is far more intolerable. Indeed, it is as much an act of hatred as waving that flag and calling someone a racial slur in the first place.
Indeed, perhaps it is even worse.
Indeed, perhaps it is even worse.
There you have it folks, another regressive stooge taken to town by yours truly. If you have any questions, comments, or would like to add anything to this response post; then please leave a comment below.
As always thank you for reading and I hope y'all learned something important. You don't need to take my word for the facts I have laid out above. Do your own research and learn the truth for yourselves. All I hope I have done -- aside from amusing myself at the expense of another regressive hater -- is help y'all begin to think objectively. Oh and I also hope y'all were amused by my little take-down of ignorance disguised as academia.
Have a wonderful day, and y'all come back now, ya hear?
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