Say What?

“Our” country?

So I read this article today.  In case you don’t want to commit to clickage, I’ll give you the skinny: there was a parade in Homestead, and some Confederate flags were displayed, and some of the black folk in attendance got pissed. Then the NAACP petitioned the school board to keep students and school bands from appearing in future events where the Confederate flag was to be displayed.  A week later, the Homestead Human Relations Board, which was set up to discuss racial matters like this one, was disbanded.  The situation has now escalated to the point where the NAACP wants to ban the flag, and is trying to further their agenda by threatening to boycott… NASCAR?!

Hey, I’ve got a great idea.  Why not get the Amish to boycott Comcast as well?  Or see if you can persuade the lactose-intolerant community to boycott Ben & Jerry’s.  Or get the entire U.S. population to boycott Jennifer Lopez movies.

But before I go on, let me just settle the underlying issue right now.  The Confederate flag is racist.  That’s it.  It’s not a question of southern pride.  That’s complete and utter bullshit.  Everyone knows the reason for the Civil War, and it wasn’t because Abraham Lincoln was being a dick and trying to take away states’ rights.  It was over slavery.  The southern states wanted to keep their slaves, the federal government wanted to free them, and so they seceded (side note: nearly all southern preachers in support of the war used the Bible to justify slavery and secession).

Color it any way you want, but that flag is a symbol of the oppression of blacks in early America.  And no amount of chanting, “it’s heritage, not hatred” is going to change that.  If a German walked around waving a Nazi flag and tried to justify it by saying “it’s not about racism, it’s just my heritage,” any self-respecting Jew wouldn’t hesitate to kick his ignorant ass.  Or at the very least point out his complete lack of sense.

So if you’re one of these southern peckerwoods who believe there’s nothing offensive about the Confederate flag, I’m sorry to have to do this to you, but you’ve earned it…

That having been said, my black brothers… let them keep their damn flag! This is America.  Humans have been believing nonsense for millenia upon millenia, but in this country they have just as much right to believe it as you have the right to call it nonsense.  And not only is it their right under the First Amendment to have a Confederate flag and display it, but in my humble opinion it also has the unintended effect of making it easier than ever to spot (and avoid) the ignorant, inbred racists in our neighborhood.  I’d rather just see the flag and move on, than waste time and energy listening to them spew forth racist garbage.

I mean, if you were going door-to-door soliciting donations from people, wouldn’t you look for a mezzuzah on the door frame to see if they’re Jewish before you bother knocking?

Hey, that wasn’t racist.  It’s my heritage.