Remove That
Offensive Flag!!
A Commentary by
J. D. Longstreet
*************************
Recently, I have detected an uneasiness in my soul when I
find myself in the presence of a display of a national symbol which, during
it’s history, has been present at disgusting events of offensive conduct on the
part of the nation it represents.
When I think back
over the history of this National Flag I find that I am offended by it’s
presence and I believe it is in the best interests of the people of this
country, especially the children, the people of color, and the native,
indigenous, peoples of this land, that it be removed from public view and
placed in a museum, under glass, so that future generations, interested in it’s
history, can hear a sanitized version, a “less offensive” re-telling of the
events, places, and circumstances, of the long, and less than glorious, history
of this piece of offensive cloth.
The early history of this flag finds it flying proudly over
a rag tag bunch of rebels determined to secede from a mother country which, of
course, wished only the best for its colonies, which it held in the highest esteem. This dirty, bunch of rabble did manage to
wrest their separation from that amiable mother country and forced the troops
of Great Britain
to board ships and leave for home immediately.
It was forced deportation… at gunpoint.
How deplorable!
Another hurtful fact of the history of this flag…the same
raggedy bunch created what they called a “republic” from the remnants of a
country left after the “genocidal” war they started.
Now comes the really
corrupt part. They agreed to legalize
slavery in the country they created, because, they said, if they didn’t, it
would be impossible to form a country and a government. So, slavery was instituted, under law, in the
states of the new country, north and south.
But, the new government would not allow the southern states, where the
plantations were, to use their own resources, as in ships and ports, to bring
in new slaves from Africa. No, this bunch of dastardly people, made sure
the slave ships were only allowed into northern ports in New
England.
What is so horrible is -- that national flag, I now find
offensive, was flying over every one of those slave ships from this new upstart
country. As the newly arrived slaves
stepped, shackled, down the gangplanks, and onto the shores of the country,
which had enslaved them, they saw this flag flying above the docks and piers of
this harbor in the northern part of this country. The old mother country had her own slave trade but she flew, of course,
her own flag.
Then, in the mid 17th century the southern half
of this fairly new country wanted to separate itself and form a new nation. As the Constitution did not forbid it, they
set the process in motion. Some of the states leaving even offered to
pay their state’s share of the National Debt. But, WAIT! The northern part of the country said no --
and sent troops into the south to pillage, rape, and burn the homes and
factories of the south. All the time,
that national banner (I now find offensive) was flapping in the breeze above
the troops in blue as they ripped apart a society, like none other on earth,
and destroyed it, killing innocent women and children, sometimes by starvation.
Needless to say, their sheer numbers forced their southern
brothers to capitulate. Then followed seven years of even harsher
punishment by the northern part of that country on the south. It was
a calculated decimation of a people never before seen in the annals of history. And that offensive flag was flying above the
perpetrators the entire time.
Soon after that debacle, the same country decided the native
people of this country, the people who were here when the white man’s ancestors
stepped off the first ships, were now an inconvenience and they began a crusade
of genocide to wipe them from the face of the earth. One of their generals even stated, “A good Indian is a dead Indian.” All the while that banner of theirs was
flapping in the air above all those atrocities.
Even today hate groups, some wearing white robes and some
with shaved heads, meet beneath this flag as they pontificate about destroying
the people of color in the county. They
also meet beneath the Christian Cross and the Battle Flag of the southern
people of this country. You see, these patrons of hate know the Battle Flag will receive the attention of the
press and not the flag I find offensive. Nor the Christian Cross, because the
Christian creed enjoins those, who subscribe to its tenants, to forgive this
kind of conduct. So, the offensive flag flies smartly above these
hateful events in total immunity to harsh treatment by the “oh, so easily
offended “media.
The early histories of the people who are represented by
this offensive flag were times of overbearing hate, and conquest, and
genocide. Yet that same flag flies above
legislative buildings, schools, post offices, courthouses, and even private
homes in a boisterous manner designed to offend the sensibilities of every
“right thinking” man and woman. This must be brought to a close. That flag must be removed from public
display.
Those of us who band together and form organizations to
further the progress of our group of “right thinking” peoples must insist that
this blood stained banner, this hateful rag, be pulled down, and never again
allowed to be seen in public for fear of offending someone.
If we must, we will seek legislation towards that end. The people under this flag must not allow
their self esteem to be diminished by this blatant display of an emblem with
such a tarnished past.
Yes, the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, must come down. It is offensive. We cannot have if displayed over the graves
of veterans, and such, because passers-by, who know of its ugly history, may be
offended.
A new flag must be designed for all the people… for this
nation. May I suggest a very simple
flag? I suggest one, which represents
all the sensitivities, of all who reside under it.
I hereby suggest… a solid white banner!
J. D. Longstreet
Dear Reader: If
you are now incensed by the scribbling above, I ask you to consider… it was
written to be an absurd depiction of a truth that is, itself, absurd. What is happening to the Confederate
Battle Flag today IS ABSURD!
My point is -- if we continue to capitulate to groups
who are offended, how long do you suppose it will be until the scenario I
describe above will play out on the stage of this nation’s judicial system?
So, next time you read of someone offended by the
Confederate Battle
Flag, stop for a moment and consider the words above. Then lean on your political representatives
to bring some kind of sanity back to this country, which finds itself in the
dictatorial grip of Political Correctness, which is squeezing the life from
us.
It is Political Correctness, Dear Reader, which
offends me!
J. D. Longstreet
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