Reply #4: Good points here [View All]

[Northwind]

I get a kick out of those who claim that anyone who has a confederate flag on their truck, a tattoo, or whatever is automatically racist. That the symbol itself is inherently racist, as if its meaning is an objective one rather than subjective to the observer. That sort of closed minded thinking is what is supposed to characterize conservatives, and it is always disturbing to find it among those who claim to be liberal (although a more accurate term for them is the dirty word "progressive").

When I hear this, I challenge these dogmatic extremists with the following:

I have a lot of family in deepest darkest East Texas, they are my Mother's side. Most of them live along the same stretch of a red dirt road that comes right off the state highway. Many live in trailers. Some live in squallor. Two of them stand out in this instance. One is my cousin Chris. He works at a grocery store. He lives in a very small trailer behind his parents home right on that stretch of dirt road. He drives a very old red Chevy pickup that once belonged to my Papaw (grandfather) before he died. The back window of that pickup has one of those mesh screens you can buy that allow you to see through the window from the inside, but have a graphic on it when viewed from the outside. That graphic is, as you may guess, a confederate flag. Chris is no racist. He drives that truck though a tiny little town with a high percentage of african-americans. He receives no grief for his flag. And no, he does not have a shotgun in the truck to intimidate people, nor is he a big tough looking man. But he drives around town with that flag proudly displayed in his back window, because to him it is a symbol of southern heritage, of pride, having nothing to do with slavery. And sitting beside him in that truck with the confederate flag in the back window, is his african-american wife.

Another relative is my Uncle Robert. Robert lives in a trailer as well, way back in the woods behind my Mamaw's (grandmother) house, which is also on that same stretch of dirt road. In the "yard" in front of the trailer there are a number of old non-working appliances, a dead car, and assorted trash and rubbish. He has his confederate flag tattooed on his right arm. He owns many guns. He hunts. He also has a Master's Degree. His IQ hovers somewhere around 145. He works for the forestry service. He keeps population statistics on bald eagles. Many of these birds have started living full time in that area of the country as their habitat elsewhere is overrun . He protects them. His business is conservation.

Neither of these good men match all the stereotypes seen on this board about southerners. They are good men. They are not ignorant. They are not racist. They are not hateful. Chris is very religious, but Robert is an agnostic. Open your minds and start learning about people. Stop making assumptions.