July 5, 2005

The giant Confederate battle flag flying next to I-65 in Alabama is causing quite a stir.

I must agree with State Rep. Alvin Holmes and radio talk show host Frank Matthews, that flags or symbols representing hate, slavery, racial and ethnic oppression, or any dark events in our history should forever be banished from our sight.

For example, a flag should not be displayed in public if it,

Flew for more than 70 years over a country that legally condoned slavery contains design elements that memorialize 13 original slave holding colonies flew over hundreds of commercial ships used to transport slaves into New England sea ports

Flew over ships that in 1858 (three years before the Civil War when slave importing was illegal in the U.S.) smuggled more than 15,000 African slaves into the Port of New York

Flew over the 85 vessels that sailed from the Port of New York in 1859 to pick up more slaves flew over a country where black-on-black slave ownership was permissible and widely practiced flew over the surprise attack and bloody massacre of Native Americans, in which many of the corpses were grotesquely mutilated by federal troops during the Battle of Sand Creek (Colorado) on November 29, 1864 flew over the unprovoked attack and bloody massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890 flew over the brutal slaughter of 600 Philippino men, women, and children during the battle of Bud Dajo or Moro Crater (Spanish-American War) on March 5, 1906

Flew over the virtual genocidal killing of more than 200,000 Philippinos (Spanish-American War) of which 180,000 were non-combatants was adopted as the emblem of choice by the revival Ku Klux Klan in 1915 was adopted as the secondary emblem of choice by the American Nazi Party flew side-by-side with the Nazi flag during the joint meeting of the American Nazi Party and the KKK at Camp Nordland, New Jersey in 1941.

So, yes, I agree with Messrs. Holmes and Matthews, a flag with this kind of record should not be displayed in front of all our schools and over our government buildings. Oh. Did I forget to mention the most important point? The flag described above is the flag of the United States of America, also called the Stars and Stripes, or Old Glory.

Sometimes in the passion of protest, perspective goes missing in action.

On The Web: http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_69049.asp