This editorial appeared in the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat on August 5, 1999. Naturally, I was infuriated, and therefore I wrote a response.
Recently, there has been a lot of news about flag burning. Anybody who burns Old Glory should be put in solitary confinement and the key flushed down the toilet.
But there is another side of the flag issue: The Confederate Flag. This is the flag that Americans should be burning.
Recently, a lot of opposition has been shown against this miserable flag from all corners, especially Blacks (NAACP), and with good reason.
This flag represents the worst of this country: Slavery, Civil War, lynching, segregation, Ku Klux Klan, all hate groups. They all fly this flag.
More Americans (Union and Confederate) died in the Civil War than all our other wars combined.
I’d burn this flag, even before the swastika flag.
Gen. Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis and a lot of other traitors should have been hanged after this war. (Davis served six months in prison). Remember John Brown of Harper’s Ferry? He was hanged for doing less. He simply was against slavery and took over a federal arsenal.
The only person hanged was the commandant of the notorious Andersonville, Ga. prisoner-of-war camp, where thousands of Federal prisoners died from starvation and brutality.
All the statues of Lee and Davis should be blown up. And all Confederate flags shown in public and state buildings should be burned.
Old Mississippi University’s nickname is Rebel’s; its school flag at athletic events is the Confederate flag. Black athletes should not even play for this school, it is an insult to them.
Even Texas has a Confederate Memorial Day. Baloney to Texas, Mississippi and all the other Rebel states.
But there is another side of the flag issue: The Confederate Flag. This is the flag that Americans should be burning.
Recently, a lot of opposition has been shown against this miserable flag from all corners, especially Blacks (NAACP), and with good reason.
This flag represents the worst of this country: Slavery, Civil War, lynching, segregation, Ku Klux Klan, all hate groups. They all fly this flag.
More Americans (Union and Confederate) died in the Civil War than all our other wars combined.
I’d burn this flag, even before the swastika flag.
Gen. Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis and a lot of other traitors should have been hanged after this war. (Davis served six months in prison). Remember John Brown of Harper’s Ferry? He was hanged for doing less. He simply was against slavery and took over a federal arsenal.
The only person hanged was the commandant of the notorious Andersonville, Ga. prisoner-of-war camp, where thousands of Federal prisoners died from starvation and brutality.
All the statues of Lee and Davis should be blown up. And all Confederate flags shown in public and state buildings should be burned.
Old Mississippi University’s nickname is Rebel’s; its school flag at athletic events is the Confederate flag. Black athletes should not even play for this school, it is an insult to them.
Even Texas has a Confederate Memorial Day. Baloney to Texas, Mississippi and all the other Rebel states.
It was not until 1863 (when the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect) that the issue of slavery reached new heights of momentum. Even then did the majority of Union soldiers refuse to fight with or make the purpose of the war the free the blacks. A closer look at history also illustrates that the flag did not have a racist meaning at the time it was conceived. The book Black Confederate and Afro-Yankees in Civil War Virginia by Erwin L. Jordan Jr., brings up the point that Tennessee authorized the enlistment of free blacks in 1861. These soldiers were paid the same as white soldiers, unlike their Yankee counterparts who were paid three dollars less. When the Confederate government called for the enlistment of 300,000 blacks in March 1865, the now freed men answered the call. (According to Soldiers Blue and Gray by James Robertson Jr.) The majority of Confederate soldiers were poor farmers without any slaves, so they were obviously fighting for something more. Besides, Northern businessmen of that era mistreated immigrant workers and child labor was also a common practice of the time. We cannot judge the 19th Century lifestyle with 20th Century values, and this must be taken into consideration.
Another interesting historical point is that the Confederate flag most people picture was never officially adopted by the Confederate government. Over the nation’s four year history, there were three national flags, as well as the flag which has gained such notoriety. This flag was a battle flag that soldiers in the field used to recognize and follow during the chaos of a battle. Through the smoke from gunfire, the flags would stand out as a rallying point.
As for hate groups, they have desecrated the image of the Confederate flag in the same way they have desecrated the human race. Yes, there are people who misuse the flag, but the overall meaning of the flag as a heroic symbol cannot be forgotten because some people use it with ill intent. Hate groups also fly the American flag, quote Biblical passages, and burn crosses to promote their ideas. Should the Bible, American flag, and Crucifix be eradicated because of the fact that hate groups misuse them?
Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate hero and the first Grand Wizard of the KKK renounced the Klan when it began to commit hate crimes, and called for the Klan's abolishment stating, "We are born on the same soil, breathe the same air, live on the same land, and why should we not be brothers and sisters?" and calling for the Klan’s abolishment.
Some also feel John Brown was hanged because he "simply was against slavery and took over a federal arsenal." The reason Brown stopped after taking over the Harper’s Ferry arsenal is because the military captured him. Brown’s intent was to arm the slaves and abolitionists to initiate a great rebellion.
As for the accusation of Robert E. Lee being a traitor, he was very loyal to his family and his home. People today rarely show the passion Lee and the other Confederate and Union soldiers had for their beliefs. These men were the epitome of a day when honor and courage prevailed over underhandedness and apathy. This was a far simpler and a nobler day.
We would like to close this letter with a poem written by Jeff McClesse, ©1997:
I am the Confederate Flag of America.
I was born in 1861. I represented many Americans of which were many colors, contrary to modern day beliefs. I am hated by people who don’t know me or what I stood for. I was not designed as a hate object, though many people look at me this way today. I was not born to represent white sheets and shaved heads.
I was designed to support state rights and soldiers who wore grey. So don’t hate me because of what certain groups have used me for. Just remember at some point in time I represented each and every one of you, because I was an American symbol, and
represented you, no matter what race you are.
I am the Confederate Flag of America.