Outside of my regular job, I hate politics. I don't want to talk to you about your politics and I certainly don't want to hear about your religion. I am not going to change your opinion and you sure as shit aren't going to change mine. So either start talking about football or get the hell out of my face. Having said that, I hope you guys can understand how sad I am that I have to talk about politics. Granger just HAD to run an article about the whole Confederate flag thing. I'm sure that you have already read it, but in the unlikely event that you haven't he says:
"I don't believe that the Confederate flag is necessarily a symbol of racism. The Civil War was about a lot more than race and slavery. The division between the North and the South had begun at the founding of our country over issues of representation, taxation, and how the debt that was accumulated to fight the war with Great Britain would be apportioned between the states."
All of the statements made here are true and valid. (I would take issue that the debates over representation, taxation, and debt allocation ((I feel like Ringo Star in that tax commercial))were more about the square acreage and population of states rather than their geographical location, but I am too lazy to do the proper research) Unfortunately, they have little to do with the flag itself. The argument is that the Stars and Bars is about Southern Culture and Heritage rather than racism. Oookkkkaayyyy, so you're saying that the flag has been around since 1776 and it has always been a celebration of Southern culture and heritage? Oops, guess not - the confeddi flag was designed DURING the civil war when it was decided that the South's battle flag looked too much like the United States'flag. I am sorry Granger (and the 362,000,000 other people who make this argument) but the civil war WAS about slavery. Sure there were other issues - its kind of like the guy who is currently screwing your wife. Sure he's annoying - he cracks his knuckles and chews his fingernails, but you could probably get get along with him if he wasn't currently screwing your wife.
The Civil War began when the Confederates attacked Fort Sumter on April 12th 1861. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in all rebel states. If the war wasn't about slavery, why was Lincoln in such a hurry to free the slaves? Why didn't he sign into law the "Disproportionate Taxation of Southern Citizens" bill of 1861? The Confederate flag is about the Confederate army who were all about slavery, which is MORE than about racism. You can't convince me otherwise - And if I can't convince you otherwise, you shouldn't have read this far and its your own goddamned fault, don't e-mail me.
This is usually the part where I post a bunch of relevant web sites based on a Google search. I did the google search and there are some seriously kickass web sites that said the same stuff thatI have said in this column. There are also a bunch of fucking morons that say things like:
"The primary source of anti-slavery sentiment in the North grew from the fact that slavery was incompatible with free labor. If slavery was allowed to exist in the territories, working class white citizens would simply not be able to compete. What wage worker could compete with a slave? Northerners generally wanted the territories to be a place where white people could go to earn an honest living, without the menacing negroes."
I say to this retard - What do you think would have happened to John B. Russwurm if he had set up shop in Birmingham and started cranking out issues of Freedom's Journal? Or if David Walker had published Walker's Appeal in Raleigh? Yeah, the North hated the "menacing negroes" so much that they helped to distribute their words. I have been told that they teach this stuff to kids in public schools in this country. Damn! Also, when you're reading the sites that defend the Confederate flag, try this little trick that I thought up - Whenever you see the words: Confederate Soldiers, Confederacy, Southerners, or any other words used to describe a Confederate supporter - insert the word "Nazi". Then go find pro-Nazi propaganda documents from WWII - They look exactly alike!! Go ahead and slap that bad boy on your truck!
Also, have you ever seen a black person flying the Confederate flag? Some black folks have Southern culture and heritage, so why not fly it? That's right - because it would be a reminder of the time that their ancestors were captured, enslaved, beaten, raped, and made to work in a field against their will. That does make sense. If you really want a flag that represents Southern Culture and Heritage, I'll make you one:
Anyway, you won't find any of the sites here because I just can't be objective about it and I can't find a phrase that only gives you the good ones. Look it up yourselves...Just don't tell me about your politics.
Sorry about that guys - I promise that I'll have some fart jokes or something for next time.
