Racism isn’t the only problem with the Confederate flag.
Slavery was an atrocity. The Civil War itself was an atrocity. Men engaged in the wholesale butchery of each other while their wives and children remained at home to defend against soldiers, raiders and outlaws. Some were killed. A lot of them starved. That brutality laid waste to the entire false narrative of Southern culture as a civilized place of family values.
The Confederate flag contains a subtextual threat against our government and civilized society. It says —- remember, if we can’t win by playing fair, we will do whatever it takes to get our way, even if it kills us all in the process. The Confederate flag is a celebration of two atrocities, slavery and the Civil War itself. It’s a dog whistle encouraging right wing insurrection.
They have had backlash over the name before–note thisLA Times article from 1994.On a positive note, this banning will surely lead to more exposure, song and merchandise sales, and new fans for the band than that concert ever would have. So congrats, guys! Enjoy those Yankee tears!
I’ve said before that if you really wanted to celebrate “Southern heritage”, you’d put a statue of a bowl of grits in front of the courthouse. The South really can be genuinely proud of their cuisine: All of the best food in North America comes from the South. Music is another thing they can be proud of: They don’t have the same monopoly on music that they have on food (plenty of good music came from Detroit and Chicago and Seattle, too), but there’s still some very good Southern music. Put a statue of a banjo and a fiddle up next to the statue of grits.
The Civil War, however, is not something to be proud of. And yet, it’s the only piece of “Southern heritage” that a lot of these folks seem to care about.
Three atrocities. The third one was the state governments’ fight against civil rights. And that’s when the damn thing was resurrected, during the civil rights era, as a big “fuck you” to minorities, especially Blacks.
But the Southern cultural trope of “hating the Yankees” also derives from the history of slavery and racism. The reason that Southerners started “hating the Yankees” in the first place was because of the threat posed by Northerners’ opposition to the Southern “way of life” based on slavery.
Pretty much everything that’s consciously antagonistic/xenophobic/defiant in Southern culture is a holdover from their fatal choice to double down on defending the enslavement of black people.
I’d like to thank Snowboarder Bo for starting this thread–because of it I’ve had an enjoyable time revisiting classic early 90s songs by Confederate Railroad (andonesbyShenandoah), some of which I haven’t thought about in years.
Which reminds me, is Joan Baez still performing “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”?
*
Like my father before me, I will work the land
Like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand
He was just eighteen, proud and brave, but a Yankee laid him in his grave…
The night they drove old Dixie down, and the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down, and all the people were singin’*
Glorification of the Confederacy, pure and simple.
Oh, for fuck’s sake. No one uses “headhunting” to literally mean hunting for heads anymore. No one would connect that word with them supporting murder.
People do, however, still support the Confederacy and the Confederate flag. The racism that flag has historically been used to represent still exists. The adoration of the Confederacy at the expense of the black people it harmed still exists.
It’s 2019, and we’re finally as a nation starting to stop with this bullshit and see the rebellious slave warriors for what they are: a shameful part of our nations history, not something to celebrate.
I mean, even Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede changed its name last year. A show that was explicitly about having the “North” and “South” compete and where the “South” always won. If they can update with the times, can’t everyone?
If these guys are as decent folk as they seemed to be in their reply, hopefully they’ll change their tune, too. I’d hate for them to become the KKK and alt-right’s darlings. It’s not good for them.
Fuck is she still alive? Has she performed anywhere in this century? Also, who gives a fuck? Just assume white baby boomer = racist and you won’t be far off.
