Guest column: Southern HeritageBy Derek Boyd HankersonPeople today as they did yesterday assume just because you support something different from the norm that you are a bigot, racist, etc. Let’s take for example the Confederate Battle Flag. This flag was originally used in battle as the symbol representing the south. Some families still proudly display it today, which is their right in America. And, some whose family fought and died wave the American flag. More importantly the confederate flag has gone different variations and to include the original Native American Confederacy, which was originally a compilation of five upstate New York Native American Tribes and they formed the basis of our nation and the foundation upon which both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation are drafted. The Iroquois Confederacy, consisted of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida and Mohawk, and it had its origins as early as 1100 AD.I've never heard of a Confederate flag representing the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) tribes in upstate New York. Nor could I find anything in a brief Google search. It sounds as though Hankerson is saying the Confederate flag represented the New York tribes as well as the Southern states because both were named the "Confederacy." If so, that would be a ridiculous claim.
But yes...believe it or not, Hankerson implies the first confederacy led to the second:
As we know the confederacy was resurrected in another form during the 1800’s, but with a similar mission of supremacy, and this time led to the War Between the States or the Civil War.Okay, thanks for clearing up the linkage between the two confederacies.
Swastika bolsters the case?Hankerson continues with his argument that Confederate flag wavers aren't bigots and racists:
The point is this, just because people wave the American, British, or Spanish flag does not mean they are tolerant or intolerant of others; maybe they are proud of who they are, hence they are proud of their heritage. Rightly, those who wave the Confederate Battle Flag can claim the same rights, and opinions of heritage. God bless them for believing in their family roots. Yes, the battle flag was used by domestic terrorist organization to wave and spread fear. But, the fact also remains that the Indian sign (AKA) swastika was reversed and used by the Nazis in Germany.So Nazis misused the Indians' swastika and racists have misused the Confederates' stars and bars. As we discussed before, few people think Indians can
reclaim the swastika anytime soon. The same applies to the Confederate flag. Both are more or less permanent symbols of hatred and oppression.
To recap Hankerson's position: The Southern states and Iroquois tribes both called themselves the Confederacy. The Confederate flag is just like the Nazi flag, which is harmless because it's really an Indian flag. Therefore, the Confederacy didn't fight a war to preserve its inhuman institution of slavery. It didn't treat African Americans the same way Nazis treated Jews: like chattel. The Confederate flag is a symbol of Southern pride, not Southern racism and white supremacy.
Wow. How pathetically bad can you get? This is the weakest argument I've heard in a long time.
Below: The Confederate, Nazi, and Iroquois flags. Three symbols of pride and heritage. Three peas in a pod.
Linde Knighton's response on Facebook:
ReplyDeleteA bunch of Bubbas have turned a symbol what just used to mean, "Hey some of my ancestors fought in the Confederate army," and remember, it is very few who fought to keep slavery alive; most fought for other, more personal reasons. Most people could not afford slaves.
So the Bubbas had to have a flag that means, "Hey, I'm ignorant, loud and probably drunk." Too bad they couldn't design their own.
I don't think Southern whites had to own slaves to feel a sense of entitlement, Linde. They realized that ending slavery would reduce their power and privilege whether they owned slaves or not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about a new flag. If Southerners really cared about their states' pride and nothing else, why wouldn't they design a flag that included rather than excluded minorities? That no one has seriously proposed this tells us all we need to know about them. They want to honor the white-ruled Confederacy, not the modern multicultural South.