Facts versus Opinion And Cognitive Dissonance
Investing the time and effort to fully understand a subject more
fully takes time and sacrifice on our part. Leaving history and
facts in context with an open and objective mind are just a few of
the prerequisites of gaining a simple working knowledge of whatever
it is we are studying.
Our bumper sticker society loves to try and educate themselves
on various subjects with one-liners. This simplistic approach
replaces what it takes to contextually gain even a small grasp on
any subject.If we can't read it in 10 seconds on our "smart phones"
we just scroll over the long paragraphs. We try to discredit the
facts before us with our one line philosophy.
Denying the facts and attempting to de-legitimize them becomes a
type of cognitive dissonance. When the facts make us uncomfortable
or clash with our preconceived bumper sticker beliefs we scramble
for more bumper sticker information or others who think like us to
refute the facts in front of our lying eyes.We often hang on to our
own opinions no matter what the facts left in context tells us.
At other times confronted with facts we try to delegitimize them
or the source in some way. We refuse to acknowledge the truths we
find that conflict with those one-line bumper stickers our
viewpoint can at times be built upon. Quoting our one line opinion
while we are denying the very demonstration of proof and
information on the paper trail of facts or the time line of
evidence right before our very eyes.
We use a single example plucked from our world of one-line
bumper stickers to defy and refute the mountain of evidence
standing in front of us.
There will be plenty of grammatical errors for those who will
choose to use that thinking fallacy to discredit the facts I am
sharing. Pointing at my spelling skills to distract them from my
greater point.Have at it. It only proves my point. Some of the
mistakes are left that the original writers or speakers used.
Again I repeat being honest and objective about this process is
the first step in educating ourselves on any subject.It is in that
spirit I share this following information, words and pictures. Oh
yes, there are lots of pictures.
Fire Truck and Confederate Flag
I came across this story several weeks ago in the Star Tribune.
The article is about the picture below concerning the Confederate
Flag being flown on a fire truck during a 4th of July
celebration.While I chuckle at the ignorance displayed by the
person, Mr. Brian Nielsen, who placed the flag on the truck it was
his view of that flag I found even more flabbergasting.
In Mr. Nielsen's response when questioned about his motive in
flying the Confederate flag he reveals a common flaw we often see
in those who try to use their twisted logic in defending or stating
their opinion on various subject.
I also found a strange dichotomy when seeing the two flags
together on this fire truck during the 4th of July parade.How could
anyone conflate these two symbols of cloth as somehow representing
the same thing? Displaying the two flags in this way was as
disgusting as I found Mr. Nielsens response on the subject of the
Confederate flag on the fire truck.
Mr. Nielsen's response is laughable yet sad.In his blind
ignorance and insensitivity Mr. Nielsen spoke about "PC" or
political correctness concerning the flag and slavery. He states
this confidently as if there was an ounce of truth or fact filled
evidence in his warped opinion and response about the flag.
History is very plain that the Confederate states and flag had
everything to do with the issue of slavery, making the designation
of skin color a proof of inequality. History speaks loudly about
this flag and the denying of equal rights to American citizens.
However in one giant leap Mr. Nielson throws all the facts to
one side and replaces it with his opinion as he tells the reporter,
It had nothing to do with slavery.
Here is Mr. Nielson's response to flying the flag in the parade
on the fire truck.My view is that PC is going too far taking things
out of history, Nielsen said. It has nothing to do with slavery. I
dont see color, black or white. Were all equal.
Cognitive Dissonance
Mr. Nielson's simplistic view of the Confederate flag is a
glaring example of the application of cognitive dissonance. To
relieve any discomfort that the flag is connected to slavery or the
denial of civil rights in any way he just says it isnt.Somehow he
thinks just stating something and believing it doesnt exist makes
it so.
This is part of the problem in viewing what the symbol the
Confederate flag represents in our country's history. Pretending or
not knowing this history of that flag does not change the reality
of what the flag is and has been connected to. Even more disturbing
is the lack of knowing even the basics about the events surrounding
that same flag Nielson claims, has nothing to do with slavery.
Let me offer just a tiny bit of history saturated with
contextual evidence and facts for Mr. Nielsen and anyone else who
think this flag has nothing to do with slavery.I do this since Mr.
Nielsen so blatantly thinks something is being "taken out of
history" for the sake of political correctness.
What is comforting for me is I dont have to debate Mr. Nielsens
claims or use my own personal opinions to argue with his position.I
dont have to throw a bunch of one-line bumper stickers at him or
anyone else who holds this opinion about the Confederate flag.Mr.
Nielsen or anyone else that believes that the flag has nothing to
do with slavery, white supremacy or the denial of civil rights get
to debate with some other folks. Their argument isnt with me but
with the very Confederate leaders whose words and ideology are left
for all of us to read and learn from. There is no doubt what the
creators of these flags choose the flag to symbolize. They told us
in their own words.We can pretend those words from the Confederate
leaders dont exist by using cognitive dissonance.We can create our
own illusion about the flag but this does not erase the historical
facts and words of those people who created the Confederate
government, flag, and Confederate constitution after seceding from
the United States of America.
Let me emphasize no one is advocating the North was not racist
nor do they have an unblemished record on civil rights. I am not in
favor of erasing or banning the Confederate flag from the history
of America. How absurd. Its history is well established and
long.
It should be studied in depth on why and how the Confederacy and
the Confederate flag came to be. It does belong in a museum and our
history books where it can be seen in its full historical context
and display. Seeing the Confederate flag in full historical context
would make any liberty and justice believer in Americas
constitution and democracy blush with anger and shame whenever this
flag was being displayed as a banner of freedom. It is an insult to
our intelligence and history that somehow they are pretending these
two flags support the same values we hold dear for all citizens in
our democracy.
For those who are not willing for a moment to partake in a
little empathy for the tens of millions of Americans that find
offense in this flag I hope you pause and open your mind.
For those who choose their beliefs over history because they
want to deny what this flag was connected toI hope you can open
your mind to the facts from our own history and the words of the
very people who designed and fought under that banner.
Denying this flag is not directly connected to slavery, white
supremacy, Jim Crow, segregation, terror, hate and the denial of
civil rights to fellow Americans is offensive to say the least.
The long history and the events surrounding this flag should be
studied always because it is a very different history than the one
Mr. Nielsen believes is true and embarrassingly uttered his beliefs
openly in the newspaper article below after displaying the flag in
a parade.
http://www.startribune.com/aside-stars-and-stripes-firetruck-flies-confederate-flag-in-albert-lea-holiday-parade/311675081/
I stress again just because someone claims they dont see a
symbol in the way it has been used in the past does not nullify
those past connections of the symbol to those negative or evil
actions.
Anyone not Jewish or from Germany may not understand why the
swastika is so offensive but it does not change the history and
legacy of Hitler, the swastika, the Holocaust survivors and
WWII.
For those who think just stating, like Mr. Nielsen does, that
this flag has nothing to do with slavery I offer a very light
history lesson which is connected to another picture of the same
Confederate flag below.
I am not a historian or claim to be one.Hopefully folks will
take the time to read my simple effort in sharing these facts.Then
they don't have to embarrass themselves on Facebook or in parades
by making such asinine statements similar too what Mr. Brian
Nielsen has made concerning the Confederate flag, slavery,
segregation and the denial of basic civil rights to our fellow
citizens.
Dylan Roof and Self-Radicalization
Dylan Roof is shown below with his Confederate flag and gun.He
is just one more example of these self-radicalized attackers drunk
on their ideology and blinded by their warped sense of reality. As
they become more radical in their beliefs it can morph into violent
action as they live out their radicalized fantasies.
No matter if it is Timothy McVeigh, Glenn Miller, Dylan Roof or
some fanatical religious zealot, Muslim or Christian, they all
become radicalized in similar ways. They shut off any logic and
common sense and fill their minds with the poison of their
cause.These guys will continue to pop up in our society from
various groups as they become radicalized by their ideology. They
are far more similar than they can imagine.
Roof plainly displays the symbols of his ideology in many
pictures taken with them.He wrote about his ideology rather
extensively on the Internet. The symbols, ideology and doctrines no
matter how different with individual groups are always tied to the
same process of radicalization.Individuals or groups step over a
line in the consumption of these ideas causing them to act on them
in violent ways.Justifying Hate Approximately a little over a year
ago before the latest hate-filled rampage and ignorance of Dylan
Roof holding the Confederate flag in the picture above there was
another violent actor on the stage of racial hatred who appeared,
Glenn Miller.
Glenn Miller the former Green Beret who served two tours in
Vietnam was one of the more visible patriots of that era who could
claim he served in the military.I would remind anyone reading there
were plenty of Confederate flags raised in the military on the
deaths of Martin Luther King and President John Kennedy.Being in
the military does not cure one of the baggage ingrained in the
psyche or the ability to become radicalized when the lens of logic
and common sense are removed.
The service of Glenn Miller or Timothy McVeigh produced no
miracle in stopping them from becoming radicalized killers.
Just as various voices tried to turn this latest hate crime of
Dylan Roof into an "attack on Christianity" a year ago these same
voices were trying to deflect Millers actions. They tried to turn
the vicious racist attack on a Jewish Center by Glenn Miller as
resulting from the influence of "liberal" journalist Max Blumenthal
trying to deflect the obvious reason for the shootings.
Confirmation Bias
Events like this as sad as they are present an opportunity to
let history and the facts speak. The evidence will plainly present
to us contextually and historically facts that speak loudly from
the vaults of days gone by.
When we let objectivity over rule the confirmation bias we use
to cherry pick small bits of information to confirm our opinions or
what we want to believe, a much clearer perspective is created when
all facts are seen in context.A perspective based on these facts
left in context presents a much broader view and balanced
perspective than the narrow viewpoint of a lens constantly
filtering out all the facts with confirmation bias.
Glenn Miller was the hate filled racist, lunatic who shot and
killed several people at a Jewish Center in May of 2014.
Miller methodically planned his attack for weeks before picking
the Jewish Center and did a walk through unarmed to see how the
landscape lay. He had been trained well and was now using his
training again to take action about what he believed. His ideology
was driving him to act as he had been doing since he left the
military and had followed his beliefs and ideology.
While various voices in the media tried to blame this violent
act of Miller as a response to a so-called "liberal" Jewish
journalist the history and past of Glenn Miller spoke much louder
than their disinformation.
However if you don't know that history of Glenn Miller then you
are willing to swallow what these voices behind their TV cameras
and microphones want you to believe. Using their confirmation bias
we will fail to look at the broader picture and mountains of facts
scattered on the landscape and timeline of Glenn Millers life and
journey to that Jewish Center on that sad day.A brief timeline
shatters the ingenuous claims these voices made about Miller being
somehow influenced by the Jewish journalist on the rocks of truth
and history.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article3955528.html
Glenn Frazier Miller
Long before his senseless killings in Kansas Glenn Miller was
associated with hate, violence and death for decades.His book,
marches and activities are documented in many places.The symbols of
his ideology are always present wherever he went.
Decades before Glenn Miller was this 73-year-old man belowbeing
arrested for shooting innocent people at a Jewish Center his path
was strewn with hate, murder and ignorance.This was not a random
act of violence and it didnt happen in a vacuum.
Miller had founded his North Carolina chapter of the KKK in
1980.
By 1985 he changed the name of his group to "The White Patriots
Party" and marched in Raleigh, North Carolina. His symbols always
displayed surround him.
His efforts to recruit and bully were continual. His record was
full of hate filled rhetoric, violence and death.
A year later in 1986 Miller was marching in Raleigh, North
Carolina again to abolish the MLK holiday.Marching with their minds
were full of their conspiracy theories and disinformation about the
world and people around them. Facts twisted and distorted by their
bias to fit into their jigsaw puzzle and perception of life.
This former Green Beret did all of this in the name of "Southern
Heritage," white supremacy and under the banner of the Confederate
flag.We have voices saying these groups with their ideology of
white supremacy; hate and segregation have hijacked the Confederate
flag.
Once again we have cognitive dissonance used by some to make
their mind believe something that is not based in fact.Like Mr.
Nielsen, just stating something and wanting to believe it is so
doesnt make it true factually. No one hijacked what that flag stood
for.
Ideology
This set of beliefs held by Dylan Roof and Glenn Miller is an
ideology. It is an ideology born out of and based on white
supremacy, slavery, Jim Crow and the need to control and dominate a
group of people seen as inferior because of skin color.It comes
right out of the slavery era with all its propaganda to justify
slavery.This ideology has various banners or symbols it uses to
stand under as most groups do. One of those symbols used is a
constant and it is the Confederate flag.Lets move forward in our
limited time and efforts to let the facts left in context speak for
their self.Mr. Nielsen I hope you can open your mind and take
notes! Remaining blind to your own cognitive dissonance will only
leave you ignorant to the history you claim didnt happen.
William T. Thompson versus "Southern Heritage"
This brings me to the picture of the flag below as people try to
come to grips with a picture of another racist lunatic waving a
Confederate flag or an ignorant fireman stating this flag had
nothing to do with slavery or the subjugation of a group of
American citizens.While the creator of the flag below is long gone
his words are recorded in the annals of history on what his design
for this flag stood for and symbolized.Again these are the designer
of the flags words. If you want to argue and debate then here is
one of the guys you need to debate with the creator of the flag. If
you cant accept the basic fact the designer of the flag left us in
his statements then one is using cognitive dissonance to
delegitimize what the designer of the flag states plainly as if
this history doesnt exist.We have historical records about William
T. Thompson who created one of the original flags and what the flag
symbolized.His words are below taken from a book written about the
history of various flags.I also offer a link to clips from three
newspaper articles from that period as this flag evolved.
http://asagordon.byethost10.com/XNEOCONFEDS/WHITE%20MAN'S%20FLAG.html#wmf3
The unique thing about William T. Thompson was he just wasnt
your average Joe back in the 1863. Thompson was the co-founder of
the Savannah Morning News.Yes his words are left to us right from
his own newspaper. Thompsons own printed words directly from his
mind and ideology to print in his newspaper.
I present to you Mr. William T. Thompson of Savannah, Georgia
offering his words in describing the battle flag.
Read again the yellow highlighed words.These are the words of
Mr. William Thompson creator of this specific flag above one of
several flags used by the Confederacy.
https://books.google.com/books?id=R3MUAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22maintain%20the%20Heaven-ordained%20supremacy%20of%20the%20white%20man%20over%20the%20inferior%20or%20colored%20race%22&pg=PA526#v=onepage&q=%22maintain%20the%20Heaven-ordained%20supremacy%20of%20the%20white%20man%20over%20the%20inferior%20or%20colored%20race%22&f=falseSo
what does the creator of the flag, Mr. Thompson, claim this flag
was a symbol of? Hmmm? Well, well imagine that.... another voice
telling us the flag and the people fighting under this flag did so
because of the "heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man" in
their efforts to justify slavery and the war.
Here is link to your choice of three different newspaper
accounts of the same design. They all basically refer to the same
thing "white supremacy" validated by heaven and the Bible to
maintain and expand the institution of slavery.
http://asagordon.byethost10.com/XNEOCONFEDS/WHITE%20MAN'S%20FLAG.html
What does the creator of the stainless banner of the Confederacy
say about the flag he created? What does the co-founder of the
Savannah Morning News say about why they are fighting the war?It is
left for everyone to read right there in his own newspaper.
Thompson is not some fringe guy who hijacked a symbol but a pillar
in the community of one of the Souths most prominent cities in
1863.
Again these are the words of Mr. Thompson telling us why they
were fighting the Civil War and what the flag he created
represents.
As a people, we are fighting to maintain the Heaven-ordained
supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race; a
white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause.
Such a flagwould soon take rank among the proudest ensigns of
the nations, and be hailed by the civilized world as the white mans
flag .
As a national emblem, it is significant of our higher cause, the
cause of a superior race, and a higher civilization contending
against ignorance, infidelity, and barbarism.
Another merit in the new flag is, that it bears no resemblance
to the now infamous banner of the Yankee vandals.
Heaven-ordained White Supremacy
Mr. Nielsen flies a flag on the back of his fire truck that rose
up in rebellion because of an election outcome they didnt like.
They seceded from Union and US flag. They created their own
constitution validating slavery, created their own flag based on
"white supremacy" and fought a war to destroy the United States of
America while hoping to expand slavery. Hmmm?It couldnt be any
plainer but of course people dont want to be confused by the facts.
They just cant believe their lying eyes. So they use confirmation
bias and cognitive dissonance to cherry pick various facts and
surround themselves with people who believe what they believe all
while delegitimizing the mountain of evidence in front of them. The
co-founder of that newspaper tells us plainly why the war and what
the flag symbolized.
Southern Secession
Mr. Thompsons belief in white supremacy and his symbol of the
flag is no surprise to anyone who has read about the secession of
Confederate states after Lincoln's election. The flag above created
by Mr. Thompson is one of the battle flags of the Confederacy that
sought to destroy the United States and to preserve and advance
slavery.The reason for secession of these states from the Union was
stated plainly in their individual secession statements.Were there
a bunch of young soldiers who couldn't read or write who fought for
the South not knowing what the leaders fully stood for? No doubt,
but the political class and planter elite, often the same people,
knew from the very start why they gathered those young soldiers
under these various flags of the Confederacy. It was to protect
slavery.
PC vs HC(Historical Correctness)
Let me offer Mr. Nielsen a little "HC," historical correctness,
that is in direct contradiction to his claims about PC and that the
flag he says doesnt represent slavery or inequality.
I will allow the leaders of the Confederacy and those who stood
by the flag of the Confederacy state their case if that flag
represents slavery or not. I offer the words of those who lead the
Confederacy. After all whom am I going to believe Mr. Nielsen and
his cognitive dissonance and perspective of the Confederacy and the
flag or the people who created the Confederacy and the flag? Hmmm?
Let me see whom should I place my money on? Decisions,
decisions!
Jefferson Davis President of the Confederate States
In January 1861, soon-to-be Confederate President Jefferson
Davissaid that his state had seceded because "She has heard
proclaimed the theory that all men are created free and equal, and
this made the basis of an attack upon her(the South's)social
institutions; and the sacred Declaration of Independence has been
invoked to maintain the position of the equality of the races."
Davis was referring to well-known speeches by Lincoln and other
so called Black Republicans. Lincoln and others were seen as
pro-slavery opponents, for using the Declaration of Independence in
criticism of the institution of slavery.
It is clear Jefferson Davis wants to protect the institution of
slavery because after all, all men being created equal dont apply
to anyone who doesn't have white skin.This is a major plank in the
white supremacy ideology.Slaves could never be equal and it was
against Gods own word to declare it so.Their (the Souths) claim was
that the Constitution being applied to people of color was warring
against the very principles of God and the Creator who had made
white people superior and people of color inferior. This white
supremacy was ordained by heaven and the Creator.Vice President
Alexander Stephens lays this claim out in even more plain terms.I
offer his words to you Mr. Nielsen since you claim none of this has
to do with slavery or inequality. Lets read what Alexander
Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States had to say on
the subject.Alexander Stephens Vice President of Confederate
States
Here is just a glimpse of what the Vice President of the
Confederacy had to say about their new constitution, their new flag
and their new confederacy of states. This is just part of the
speech and you can read the rest at the link below. In that speech
Stephens is talking about the US Constitution, its errors and its
flaws.The 50th governor of Georgia and the Vice-President of the
Confederate states tells us very plainly how he sees the new
government gathered under various Confederate flags.
Of course stating Southern secession was about slavery today is
called "liberal propaganda" by the Neo-confederates. Lets just let
those traitors to the Union, our Constitution and the US Flag
explain in their own words why they seceded. Let's see how much
liberal propaganda the leaders of the Confederacy try to sell us.
Lets see how "politically correct" they come off in their own
words.
Take it away Mr. Alexander Stephens explain to us how you saw
the US Constitution and your new Confederacy.
For you Mr. Nielsen I present Mr. Alexander Stephens:
"Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested
upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It
was a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when
the storm came and the wind blew.Our new government is founded upon
exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its
corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not
equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior
race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government,
is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great
physical, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has been slow
in the process of its development, like all other truths in the
various departments of science. It has been so even amongst us.
Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect well, that this truth was
not generally admitted, even within their day. The errors of the
past generation still clung to many as late as twenty years ago.
Those at the North, who still cling to these errors, with a zeal
above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics. All fanaticism
springs from an aberration of the mind from a defect in reasoning.
It is a species of insanity. One of the most striking
characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is forming correct
conclusions from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the
anti-slavery fanatics. Their conclusions are right if their
premises were.
They assume that the Negro is equal, and hence conclude that he
is entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man. If
their premises were correct, their conclusions would be logical and
just but their premise being wrong, their whole argument fails. I
recollect once of having heard a gentleman from one of the northern
States, of great power and ability, announce in the House of
Representatives, with imposing effect, that we of the South would
be compelled, ultimately, to yield upon this subject of slavery,
that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle
in politics, as it was in physics or mechanics. That the principle
would ultimately prevail. That we, in maintaining slavery as it
exists with us, were warring against a principle, a principle
founded in nature, the principle of the equality of men. The reply
I made to him was, that upon his own grounds, we should,
ultimately, succeed, and that he and his associates, in this
crusade against our institutions, would ultimately fail. The truth
announced, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a
principle in politics as it was in physics and mechanics, I
admitted; but told him that it was he, and those acting with him,
who were warring against a principle. They were attempting to make
things equal which the Creator had made
unequal."http://web.archive.org/web/20130822142313/http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/cornerstone-speech/
Several Flags
The Confederate battle flag was one of several flags used during
the War Between the States.Interestingly enough the first
Confederate flag was thrown away because it looked too much like
the Yankee flag the Confederate states had broken away from.The
third flag was discarded because the white background got dirty and
could easily be thought to be a flag of surrender.The
southern-cross remained a central part of the design of the flag
and was an astronomy symbol of a group of stars by the same
name.Various southern leaders saw the southern-cross as the idea
they could expand slavery into Latin America. Their words not
mine.
Like the many words left by so many they wrote and spoke freely
about the design of the flag and the cause of white supremacy.A
direct quote below from a Southern editor in the Literary Messenger
in 1863;"the destiny of the Southern master and his African slave"
the Confederacy's hoped-for expansion of slavery into Latin
America.The flags of the Confederacy with their stars and bars or
Southern Cross were all connected directly to one thing and that
was to the preservation and expansion of the institution of
slavery.
The Southern Cross was a guiding way to navigate forward in
their expansion of slavery.
The creator of the early flag, Mr. Thompson and the President
and Vice President of the Confederacy stated what the Confederacy
was about and what their flag symbolized.Now what was that that the
Confederate States and flag stood for? Hmmm? Let me see? Oh that's
right, they, their constitution and flags represented the
slave-holding states. They did not represent equality or liberty
and justice for all. The Confederate leaders stated loudly and
clearly what they seceded and stood for.
Those same states who were willing to fight a Civil War for
maintaining and expanding the institution of slavery.
No matter what flag it was it represented a separate nation
being created and the breaking away from the Stars and Stripes of
America. They even discarded a flag because it looked too much like
the US Yankee flag. It has been documented over in several places.
They wanted nothing to do with what the Yankee flag
represented.
The Confederacy and their flag represented breaking our country
apart because they (the South) lost an election and going to war
over what they feared that election meant... that slavery would not
be expanded. I repeat Mr. Nielsen that is what the war was about
from the perspective of the South no matter who tries to sanitize
it.
These states and their flag was all about "white supremacy" and
their God given right to maintain and expand the institution of
slavery in the name of their constitution and Bible.
Falling on the Wrong Side of HistoryAs time moved forward it
became apparent these slave holding states fell on the wrong side
of history. As the abhorrent stain of slavery was being realized by
most nations and the rest of the western world the South had to
create this "states right" and Lost Cause narrative to soften their
documented words left for all to read why they seceded.It is almost
laughable because in their secession statements they (the South)
are complaining about states like Iowa, Michigan and New York who
were using their "states rights" to outlaw slavery. It's all
recorded in historical documents. Then suddenly out of the blue
they (the South) come up with their own states rights theory to
validate and justify slavery.
I won't bore you with all the secession statements of each state
but they are very plain in why they broke with the Union and
everyone stated it loudly and clearly it was to preserve and expand
slavery.It is there words not mine.
Slavery was booming in the South and its expansion was
all-important to maintain the Southern economy.All the social
institutions from churches to their government officials supported
slavery as a divine station, heaven ordained and given them by
God.
You can read sermons and books by prominent preachers in the
South justifying the very same ideas the whole culture was
identified with.
Dividing a Nation
It is always interesting to me when people observe divisions
concerning various subjects and the rhetoric around those debates.
Gathering all the facts with an objective of an open mind becomes a
mute point for many. When one side cant garner facts they begin to
de-legitimize the facts they dont agree with. Then the name-calling
begins. The pro-slavery voices took every opportunity to tie
Lincoln and his party to the chained souls bound in slavery.Lincoln
and his party were called the black-Republicans.Anyone against
slavery was a heretic standing against the word of God.The idea of
abolishing slavery was seen as fanatical and a mental illness.
Our very Constitution and Declaration of Independence was seen
as flawed trying to use these documents to apply equality to all
men.
Conspiracy theories and hoaxes were created that slaves would
take over the Southern plantations and make whites
slaves.Miscegenation (race-mixing) was used as a tool of fear that
these slaves would rape every white woman they found before and
after Lincolns election and re-election.All of these claims were
based in fear and disinformation dividing the country
regionally.What divided the country was holding onto disinformation
(lies) as facts or truth, conspiracy theories and hoaxes.The effort
to validate those warped perceptions with the Bible while standing
on Gods word to protect their position now looks ridiculous. It
resulted in secession.Part of the South Carolina secession
statement:A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and
all the States north of that line have united in the election of a
man to the high office of President of the United States whose
opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. He is to be entrusted
with the administration of the Common Government, because he has
declared that that Government cannot endure permanently half slave,
half free, and that the public mind must rest in the belief that
Slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction.
This sectional combination for the subversion of the
Constitution has been aided in some of the States by elevating to
citizenship, persons, who, by the Supreme Law of the land, are
incapable of becoming citizens; and their votes have been used to
inaugurate a new policy, hostile to the South, and destructive of
its peace and
safety.http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/south-carolina-declaration-of-causes-of-secession/
Part of the Mississippi secession statement:I offer the
Mississippi secession statement because the President of the
Confederacy was Jefferson Davis from Mississippi.Our position is
thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the
greatest material interest of the world.Its labor supplies the
product, which constitutes by far the largest and most important
portions of commerce of the earth. These productsare peculiar to
the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by imperious law
of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure tothe tropical
sun.These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow
at slavery is a blow at commerce and
civilization.http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/declarationofcauses.htmlReconstruction
After the Civil War and the failed attempts of reconstruction
"Southern Pride and Heritage" rained down on anyone connected to
the party of Lincoln black or white. Lynchings, murder, the
creation of the KKK and various vigilante groups played their role.
Jim Crow became the law of the land. Slavery just took on another
name.No one with an ounce of objectivity and even a slight
historical knowledge of the Jim Crow era can deny the inhumane and
violent treatment of racial minorities in the South.
As the rest of the country had started to evolve on its
perception of slavery and was evolving on the issues of race and
civil rights the South dug in deeper to maintain a racist and
segregated society. The violence against American citizens by
various groups are everywhere in the history of the South and our
country at this time.All though the Confederacy was defeated and
slavery abolished in America the reign of terror was just beginning
in the South. This terror was connected to the white supremacy
ideology interwoven into the culture.
Political Terrorism
The political terrorism of these various vigilante groups
dominated the landscape of the South.George Ashburn below in 1868
was the first recorded assassination of the KKK for his helping
ex-slaves create schools and assimilate into the greater
society.There were several eyewitnesses who saw and recognized
several of the participants. Two Confederate segregationists
defended those who were charged in the shooting of Ashburn. Their
names are very familiar and I share them below.
These two Confederate segregationists defending the KKK shooters
were General Henry Benning and Alexander Stevens the former Vice
President of the Confederacy. That's right the same Alexander
Stevens who was VP of the Confederacy.What could possibly go
wrong?
General Benning and Alexander Stephens triumphed in defending
the assassins.All charges were dismissed against the KKK killers of
Mr. Ashburn. This type of "Southern justice" continued on for over
a hundredyears.The history book and legal records of similar cases
are scattered across the landscape of the South.Time and time again
the very system of laws that were suppose to be fair and equal in
the justice system were used against victims of violence and their
families.Law enforcement officials from judges to the police
conspired together to make sure equality and justice for all
remained only for a certain part of society.
General Henry L. Benning
Mr. Nielsen lets see if a major leader who fought under various
Confederate flags thought the flag or war had anything to do with
slavery.
General Benning stated plainly why Georgia seceded from the
Union. I will let Benning's own words state his position.Mr.
Nielsen you can argue and debate this Confederate General about his
view of the Confederacy, the flag, equality and slavery.They are
his words not mine.
Take it away General Benning..... "What was the reason that
induced Georgia to take the step of secession? This reason may be
summed up in one single proposition. It was a conviction, a deep
conviction on the part of Georgia, that a separation from the
North-was the only thing that could prevent the abolition of her
slavery."
Boy that old General Benning, a staunch believer in slavery,
segregation and white supremacy, sure had been brainwashed by
those"liberal" historians.Benning claimed secession was the only
thing that could prevent the abolition of slavery. Hmmm?
Imagine that Mr. Nielsen? I guess General Benningdidn't read the
same history books or listen to the same talking heads you do about
your revised history of the Civil War.I guess, as General Benning
was living and making history in Civil War he was some how brain
washed with some liberal propaganda because Benning states plainly
why the South seceded. I guess the PC police shackled Benning
because he certainly is not giving the same response you gave Mr.
Nielsen about the Confederacy that flag represented.
Mr. Nielsen has informed us in his response in the newspaper
that the Confederacy and the flag hadnothing to do with
slavery.Fort Benning
Yes.... Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia is named after a man
who wanted to maintain slavery and expand it while he detested the
ideaof black equality.
His disgust with the idea that a man like Frederick Douglas, who
frequently consulted Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, would
beingon equal ground as a "white-man." This is documented in his
own words left to us. Benning must still be spinning in his grave
that anyone otherthan white-men make up the US Armed Forces today
at Fort Benning.
I wonder how many German military bases are named after Hitler
and his crew in Germany? Hmmm? I wonder if the US suggested
toGermany to name a significant number of bases after those
"honorable" Nazi leaders who fought so nobly for their Nazi cause?
Hmmm? After all those Nazi patriots who gave their all to protect
their right to exterminate human beings in the name of Aryan
supremacy as these Nazis fought for their cause too.Pretending
there is honor just because one fights for and dies falling on the
wrong side of history does not validate a persons position as just.
One can have a twisted and warped view of life and hold an ideology
that is radical and die very easily when weapons of mass
destruction are being used.Your death still does not bring honor to
a ideology that stood on the wrong side of history.We dont see a
lot of honor given to British soldiers or their leaders from the
American Revolution.
Control of Social Behavior
Klan and vigilante violence born out of the mind of Confederate
leaders was used to control people's social behavior.
Now who were the founders of the KKK and other vigilante groups?
Hmmm?
Oh yes it was those secular, atheist, liberal, politically
correct, ...... oh wait it was Confederate Generals and leaders
including Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Schools and monuments are named or created for him in the
South.Think about that.Should we erect a school to honor other
traitors or domestic terrorist?Hmmm?
Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford ForrestThe same man who was
leader of the Fort Pillow massacre where over 300 black Union
soldiers and 200 Southern white Union soldiers were killed
immediately after surrender because blacks and whites fought
together against the Confederate cause. It was a message being sent
by the Confederacy.
An artists painting of the Fort Pillow massacre of 1864 is seen
above.
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/fort-pillow-massacre
Vigilante JusticeThese vigilante groups including Nathan Bedford
Forests KKK raised havoc all over the South after the end of the
Civil War.In Louisiana in 1868 alone over 2000 people were lynched,
shot or burned. No arrests or convictions. Open season on anyone
they chose to attack or who did not fall in line with their white
supremacist ideology of those former Confederate leaders. The same
ideology that justified slavery in the first place now justified
more murder and submission.
In fact there was an effort by the US government decades after
the Civil War to water down the animosities that took placeand to
mend fences.
Can you imagine putting Hitler's henchmen back in charge of
anything after WWII? Can you imagine Germany putting up statues to
honor those infamous names of the Nazis? But that is what happened
here in America. Highways, schools, and military bases all honoring
the men who did far worse than anything Benedict Arnold ever did.
How many schools do you see named Benedict Arnold High? Hmmm? Where
in Germany is there a "Hitler Highway?"It wasn't so horrific it
would laughable.All this Civil War history may be a little boring
Mr. Nielsen so I am going to jump over decades of injustice and
land in the 20th century. Lets observe how that new century used
the Confederate flag to push equality, liberty and justice for all
citizens.Fast Forward to 1948
Now for Mr. Nielsen's sake lets jump over 80 years of Jim Crow
apartheid, inequality and terror all committed in the name of
Southern heritage. Lets land in the year 1948 once again looking at
the flag Mr. Nielsen thinks is being so dominated by "PC" and has
nothing to do with slavery, oppression or racism.
For the most part the Confederate flag was put on mothballs
after the Civil War. After all, the South lost the war. The flag
was seen in cemeteries or museums. It was the flag of treason,
secession and one that embarrassingly fought for the enslavement of
human beings and the expansion of that same institution of slavery.
They always seem to forget all this history and heritage as they
still celebrate their "Secession Balls" here in the South.They
promote this "Lost Cause" myth as if all of this was some romantic
fictional movie like 'Gone With The Wind.'
As we fast-forward to 1948 the desegregation of the US Military
by President Truman sent large portion of the folks in the South
into a segregationist tizzy.This brought out the Confederate flags
and protestors carrying signs about communism and the
anti-Christ.The very same states that had seceded from the Union in
1861 again were breaking awayfrom their own political party.The
solid South once again divided itself from the country and the
President of the United States over this issue of segregation.
Solid South or Southern Bloc breaks away again.For the most part
the "solid south" desertedthe Democratic Party andPresident Truman.
Their break with the party of Truman who had just led our country
to a victory a few years earlier over Hitler and the Nazi's put
Truman's re-election in jeopardy.This famous picture of Truman
holding up the paper predicting his defeat was in large part
because of the "Solid South" breaking away from Truman because his
integration efforts with the military.
The Southern states and politicians that broke away from Truman
formed the Dixiecrat Party.Just as the South had broken away from
the Union before the Civil War the South again broke away
politically from Truman and his efforts on civil rights and the
integration of the military.
After breaking away from Truman the Dixiecrats of the South
nominated Strom Thurmond for president. Thurmonds ugly speeches on
segregation brought those Confederate flags out in droves.
The Confederate flag suddenly again became the symbol of
segregation, hate and denial of civil rights to over one third of
the Souths population that was African American.Once again
"Southern Heritage" rose up against the basic concepts of fairness,
civil rights, democracy and justice for American citizens.Once more
the Confederate flag was siding with those thumbing their nose at
equality, justice, progress and the democracy our Constitution
promises to every citizen.
A large portion of the South was standing against the basic
civil rights, voting rights and citizenship for fellow Americans in
our common democracy. The South wanted to retain their Jim Crow
laws that were based completely on white supremacy and racial
discrimination.Who couldn't be proud about that heritage?
Southern Bloc not the Fringe
As a sitting President, Harry Truman was not even put on the
ballot in Alabama for his re-election bid. This was not done by a
fringe group but by a whole state and political party that rallied
around their common symbol. Confederate flag.
No one hijacked the concept of Jim Crow from the South. This was
what the South believed in. Jim Crow was not put into place by a
fringe group it was state law in every state in the South. It was
all done in the name of white supremacy and segregation.
Strom Thurmonds America was a racist, segregated America based
on the ideology of white supremacy.
As the Confederate flags were pulled out once again this symbol
stated plainly what the South and the flag stood for.The issue of
civil rights and segregation separated the "solid south" into a
political party based on segregation, racism and they were
anti-civil rights for all Americans.They didnt hijack the
Confederate flag for this cause it represented what their cause had
always been about white supremacy.
Strom Thurmond was the1948 Dixiecrat nominee for President, who
said, Theres not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern
people to break down segregation and admit the "n.... race" into
our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our
churches."Again I would point out this was not the political fringe
of the South but the mainstream thinking of the vast majority of
Southerners hanging onto their "heritage" of hate. It is why they
called it the "solid south." The election results showed Thurmond
carried four states in the South and would have carried more if the
progressive whites and blacks of the South had not nudged out the
Thurmond supporters in other Southern states.In the states he
carried Thurmond garnered almost 65% of the votes. He carried four
Southern states and nearly carried more.This was not a fringe group
or movement.
Watch this 30-second clip and you will get the drift.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgH7WgtIU2k
Earl Warren, Impeachment and Educational Integration
After "the traitor" President Truman left office Chief Justice
Earl Warren became the new target and scapegoat of the Confederate
flag waving segregationist.
By 1958 Earl Warren Supreme Court Justice was seen as a traitor
and calls of impeachment rose from the leaders of groups like the
John Birch Society, the KKK, White Nationalists and of course all
those segregationist full of Southern pride like Strom Thurmond,
George Wallace and others across the South.Why did they want to
impeach Warren and curb the Supreme Court? Hmmm? What was that big
fuss all about? What was the evil Warren had committed?
What was the treasonous act they wanted to impeach Earl Warren
for? Hmmm?What despicable act had he committed?Was he calling for
secession?Was he calling for the return of slavery?Did he want to
create a new flag and country?
They wanted Earl Warren impeached so that in an institution of
higher learning we didn't have to see ignorance being displayed
like this picture of George McLaurin below separated from a class
of white students.
All of his life McLaurin wanted to continue his education as a
lawyer and get a doctorate degree.Those flags were coming out in
protest of George McLaurin. That flag supported the humiliation and
blatant discrimination against an American citizen.
In 1948 George McLaurin finally got to apply for his doctorate
degree at age 61 at the University of Oklahoma but he couldn't sit
in the same classroom, cafeteria, library or bathroom as the other
students. In 1950 the Supreme Court started breaking those walls
down.What brought on all this flag waving outrage and hostilityand
talks of impeachment?Oh that's right it was the integration of
public schools so little black kids could go to public schools with
little white kids.
Ruby Bridges below in 1954 going to a public school escorted by
Federal Marshals is why all these groups wanted Earl Warren
impeached.
The Norman Rockwell painting may be his most powerful depicting
the scene above.
The Confederate flags were coming out in droves to protest these
actions.Once again just as the Confederate flag was waved to detest
the desegregation of the US Military it was waving in protest of
integrating public schools in America.It was waved in the face of
Federal Marshalls and a little girl named Ruby Bridges. Ask Ruby
Bridges if what that flag represents to her?
This in part was what the Confederate flag stood against as
calls to impeach Earl Warren came from the same voices that stood
up against Truman and the integration of the Armed Forces. It was
now standing against George McLaurin and Ruby Bridges
Mr. Nielsen if you wonder why people somehow tie the Confederate
flags to racism; hate, segregation and fear just turn the pages of
any good history books dealing with the civil rights era.Why would
anyone draw that conclusion whenfrom the late 1940s through the
late 1960s the Confederate flag was a constant symbol of
whiteresistance to integration of the military, public and
elementary schools as well as Colleges and Universities.
Mr. Nielsen do you think these people below in 1961 are honoring
the Confederate dead or that they see no color or are waving the
Confederate flag for the ideals ofequality, or liberty and justice
for all?
No Mr. Nielsen those werepeople protesting public school
integration with the Confederate flag. They were the racist
segregationists who saw color and whodidn't believe in equality.
They used the very same flag you claim does not represent any of
that. Hmmm?
Mr. Nielsen should I believe YOUR twisted,misinformed view of
slavery, civil rights history or the actual history that took place
right before the eyes of America?
Mr. Nielsen do you think these folks are praising equality and
justice honoring the ideals of our constitution and civil rights
with their Confederateflag? Hmmm?
A mother pictured below with her daughters and their flag of
choice. They are waving this at people marching for integrated
schools in Bogalusa, Louisiana in 1965.
Mr. Nielsen do you think this man below is showing this flag to
promote the rights of all American citizens? Hmmm?
In this Sept. 3, 1957, Paul Davis Taylor displays a Confederate
flag in front of Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock,
Ark. Taylor was among some 500 people who gathered across the
street from the school, which had been scheduled to integrate
showing some of that "Southern Pride"as they protested. They were
protesting 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford and eight others being
admitted to the school.Mr. Nielsen can't you see the love on the
faces of those who were supporting Elizabeth Eckford as she walked
from the school? Cant you just see and feel they support that
equality you think that Confederate flag represents.
In the picture below Elizabeth Eckford, is followed and taunted
by an angry crowd after she was denied entrance to Little Rock
Central High School, September 4, 1957.
Just like the man holding the Confederate flag above can't you
see how these people aresupporting the ideals of justice, equality
and democracy? What a nice welcoming committee!
Integration efforts in the early 50s and 60s according to many
in the South were a sign of communism and the anti-Christ.They used
their religious beliefs and political ideology to somehow convince
themselves these were American values.These were the values of
white supremacy the South had always held so close to their
hearts.
After all according to those who hold this ideology they believe
that brown-skinned Palestinian guy wanted the South segregated and
heaven too.Yes they believed it in the past and still believe
heaven will be segregated. Just ask Finis Dake author of the Dake
Bible who believed it would be too quoting scripture to validate
this belief.Check out Acts 17:26 in the Dake Bible.Dakes commentary
reads like KKK rally.
Think of the irony of this? Every Bible character they know from
the pages of their own Bible with their dark skin wouldnt be
allowed on their side of their segregated heaven.I know.... doesn't
it make you chuckle?
This photograph below shows University of Alabama students
burning desegregation literature during a demonstration in
Tuscaloosa, Ala., Feb. 6 1956.
Now Mr. Nielsen why would anyone connect that flag you put on
your fire truck with these protestors against the integration of
the University of Alabama? Hmmm?How could anyone possibly get the
idea that waving a Confederate flag and the burning of integration
literature could be the slightest bit offensive to anyone who
believed in equality and liberty and justice for all?
Mr. Nielsen your cognitive dissonance may think this picture
below is just some people having fun. You may claim it is some type
of liberal propaganda but history tells us it is an image repeated
over and over in the South from the late 1940s to the Civil Rights
Movement of the 1960s.These Confederate flag wavers wanted Jim Crow
laws to remain as it had been since after the Civil War. The same
laws of white supremacy and inequality you say that flag doesnt
represent. Guess they didnt get your memo. This is the same
perspective of those who have rallied under this flag for over 100
years.
Mr. Nielsen as you put that Confederate flag on the fire truck
trying to convince yourself and others around you that it has
nothing to do with slavery, segregation or the denial of the civil
rights of fellow American citizens is not based on reality or
historical facts.
Just because you or someone you know was never enslaved,
lynched, beaten or intimidated by that flag and its ideology does
not change in anyway the history and truth about what that flag has
always represented.
Similarly the fact one never had a relative die in a Nazi gas
chamber does not change the pain and carnage of the history and
events connected to Nazi symbols.
Mr. Nielsen because you assume that Confederate flag has nothing
to do with the ideas of white supremacy and racism I guess the
folks below never got your memo about "political correctness. They
state proudly they want to save the segregation vote and the
segregated society of white supremacy that flag stood for.They
bombed churches, killed voter registration workers and assassinated
African-American civil rights workers to intimidate anyone trying
to honor the ideals of liberty and justice for all.They wanted to
hang onto their white supremacy and those good ole days.
They didnt hang their head in shame they proudly waved their
flags and signs in the faces of the US government and the poor
souls seeking just a small piece of what liberty and justice meant
for other citizens living in America.
Mr. Nielsen when you erase these facts from your cognitive
memory trying to somehow make the ugliness of all this more
appealing for you to believe in it does not change facts. Trying to
create some valiant idea about slavery, or segregation as if all of
this never happened.
Why would anyone think the Confederate flag is tied to white
supremacy and racism? This ideology and the flag they rallied under
should repulse any American who honors our constitution and values
the ideals of democracy. Hmmm?
According to the creator of the flag all of this white supremacy
is heaven ordained and God's plan.
Their ideology was validated by the Bible be it slavery,
segregation or any of the other justifications they used for their
beliefs.This ideology continues to be on the wrong side of history.
But how could anyone tie the Confederate flag to slavery, the
denial of civil rights, segregation and hate? Hmmm?
Below is the legendary Reverend Fred Stroud who believed and
passed on the same Biblical passages used to validate slavery and
segregation with before the Civil War. The new twist now was
integration was Communism and Jews had infiltrated the government,
churches and schools. Where have we heard this before? Hmmm?
Through it all that same flag keeps appearing as a symbol of
what they believe.
https://books.google.com/books?id=-dDQ6ZWRTzYC&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=Reverend+Fred+Stroud+segregationist&source=bl&ots=glZ_ft7t7U&sig=TY2CvwUloLr9z82CGuWWPUPw398&hl=en&sa=X&ei=T4aYVcGgPIqRyQTnsq3YBw&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Reverend%20Fred%20Stroud%20segregationist&f=false
Mr. Nielsen look at these folks above and below offering their
acceptance and support for equality and civil rights for fellow
citizens. Notice their Southern heritage and that Confederate flag.
The one that you claim doesn't represent slavery, segregation or
inequality. Antagonizing people who just wanted to vote or let
their children go to public schools. Who just want what all
Americans enjoy. equal rights.
Using the flag and Bible to make a statement about segregation
and equality. Do you think these people didnt see color? Hmmm?Do
you think their flag stands for liberty and justice for all?
Hmmm?
George Wallace
I am always amazed when people try to tell us some "fringe"
group stole the Confederate flag and hijacked it for their own use.
History offers a very different picture of this. The fringe did not
hijack this flag.During the modern Civil Rights Era George Wallace,
Strom Thurmond, J.B. Stoner, Fred Stroud and the entire South were
notthe "fringe. It was just the opposite.These were the mainstream
leaders of Southern life. They understood what the Confederate flag
symbolized. The values they wanted to hang onto stood indirect
opposition to the civil rights of other Americans. These were the
values that supported the ugly, unequal use of segregation to
discriminate against and control a group of people for
centuries.
I can still hear the words of George Wallace as I watched TV as
a kid.
From this Cradle of the Confederacy, this very Heart of the
Great Anglo-Saxon Southland, Wallace declared, I say segregation
now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.
Mr. Nielsen if only you would take 30 seconds to watch the video
clip below it is very revealing. In the video clip below notice the
Confederate flag folded and on top what looks like a Bible to
me.Now how in the world could anyone feel as though the Confederate
flag is tied to this injustice, ignorance and hate? Hmmm?This was
not some "fringe" group these were the mainstream mindsets and
ideology of the South. This is a governor of a state.Watch the
crowds reaction to these despicable words uttered by Governor
Wallace.Yes Mr. Nielsen I guess George Wallace didn't get the memo
about the Confederate flag being just another symbol of American
liberty and justice for
all.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C-kBVggFrs
An effigy hung beside a Confederate flag on the University of
Mississippi campus in 1962. Why? For the simple fact James Meredith
had enrolled. Looks like they are celebrating equality and hanging
that flag had nothing to do with the racist attitudes behind the
message they were sending by the hanging effigy and flag.
Dishing Out Some Southern PrideBelow a returning US soldier from
Europe forgot the rules of segregation and gets some of that
Southern pride to remind him where he is and where his place is
naturally all under the symbol of the Confederacy.
Mr. Nielsen in the picture below Martin Luther King is called
"King Coon" and a communist on the signs they hold as they prepare
to march through a black neighborhood showing off some of that
"Southern Pride" in Florida in 1964.
That photo above isJ. B. Stoner on the microphone. He was a
segregationist from Atlanta, Ga. Stoner holds a Confederate flag as
he addresses a large crowd of whites at a historic slave market and
then leads them on a long march through African American section of
town, on June 13, 1964, in St. Augustine, Fla.
Why would anyone think there is some weird connection between
racism and the Confederate flag? These flags and symbols appear
over and over as these leaders from Strom Thurmond to George
Wallace protest the basic civil rights of all Americans. It is
always the same rhetoric and signs repeating their stale claims.
None of this happened in a vacuum. This was the ideology of the
South. Hmmm? The good ole days they long to return to.
Look at this young man sharing his "Southern Pride" and honoring
the Confederate dead below! Oh wait why is he waving it at a line
of black protestorswho are marching for the right to vote? Hmmm?
Perhaps he is cheering them on and telling them he supported their
efforts in seeking equal voting rights.Perhaps he is telling them
he sees no color and all are equal in his book.
That flag stood in the way of people having the simple right to
vote. It would make any proud American want to haul it out on the
4th of July and line the highways with this great symbol of
inequality. HA!I guess he is like you Mr. Nielsen and he doesn't
see color and views everyone as equal and that makes holding that
Confederate flag to antagonize the marchers OK! Ridiculous!
Imagine anyone who had ancestors that were slaves getting this
flag waved in front of them. Being intentionally antagonized by
this symbol of Jim Crow.Imagine anyone who had to drink at a
separate drinking fountain or who couldnt go in the front door of a
restaurant being antagonized by this flag as they marched for those
simple rights.Imagine if you were connected to someone who was
lynched just because of the color of his or her skin. Imagine
watching churches burn or being blown up by people who supported
that same flag.
Historical FactsMr. Nielsen the various Confederate flags were
created and symbolized "white supremacy." This is stated in the
words of their very designers like Mr. Thompson. Those who fought
for that flag fought to destroy the US and its constitution. They
seceded from the US for the defense and expansion of slavery. The
various political leaders who seceded broke away from the Union of
the United States in 1861. They tell us plainly why they seceded
and why the Confederacy was formed and fought under that flag.
The same Confederate flag was revived in 1948 by a movement that
murdered and killed people in the defense of segregation and denial
of civil rights to American citizens. This flag was flaunted in the
face of federal law as our country tried to move away from the
ignorance and hate entrenched in a segregated south and interwoven
racism in our culture.
The Confederate Battle Flag was the symbol and emblem of Jim
Crow in defiance to the civil rights movement.It was the standard
of the Dixiecrat opposition to de-segregation and the integration
of American minorities into our culture and political system.
Presidential candidates, governors and leaders of Southern
society in the past stated plainly about how they felt about
segregation and civil rights waving that same flag claiming
segregation forever.That same flag is an emblem of the domestic
terrorism of the KKK and White Citizens' Councils that still
inspire people to commit these senseless acts of violence based on
the twisted propaganda of hate be it Glenn Miller or Dylan
Roof.
It was the flag of choice for those who planned and carried out
the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Army veteran and civil rights
leader Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King.
It was the flag of choice for the people, state and governor of
Alabama who stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama.He
stood there as a symbol of resisting the idea that a black student
could enroll in the University of Alabama.He stood in that door way
as a symbol of the states stand against integration.
Talk about standing on the wrong side of history!
This is what that flag you put on your fire truck is tied
to.Again your argument isnt with me it is with the voices and
recorded words of the people who used that flag as a symbol of what
they stood against. They stood against the very ideals of American
democracy.
Robert Kennedy Visits Alabama
When Attorney General Robert Kennedy went to Alabama in April of
1963 he was met with a parade of Confederate flags along his route
and as he walked into the Governors mansion. A Confederate flag had
been raised above that same mansion.Signs read Koon kissing Kennedy
go home.
Kennedy was called a socialist and communist.These men above and
below were just a few of the protestors Robert Kennedy saw that day
on the road and in front of the Governors mansion.
What is it these people were so afraid of?Why all the fear and
name-calling?Oh I forgot these people were for equality and liberty
and justice for all. NOT!
They were drunk on their conspiracy theories about Jews
infiltrating our government. Drunk on the hate of the ideology they
clung too and wanted to maintain. They stood against civil rights
for all Americans with a religious fervor.
Other signs waved in Kennedys face read, They would resist.What
was it they were trying to resist?Why did George Wallace stand in
front of the door to the University of Alabama?What evil was
Wallace trying to stop with all those Confederate flags waving in
the hands of protestors?Oh yes I remember now!Just simply letting a
black student go to the University of Alabama!Thats right Mr.
Nielsen the flag you claim isnt suppose to stand against equality
was waved all along the highway of Robert Kennedys route to see
Governor George Wallace.
Were all those people waving those flags to thank Robert Kennedy
for standing up for the civil rights of an American citizen to be
allowed into the University of Alabama to further their education?
Hmmmm?
Mr. Nielsen that flag you hung on the fire truck came out in
droves to maintain a system that created this picture below of
separate but equal.
Just because you or your past relatives never had to face the
humiliation or face the terror of being seen as inferior does not
take away from the fact it all happened for over a hundred years to
fellow human beings and Americans.
The flag you put on your truck was the flag of choice for the
South in their efforts to maintain Segregation today, segregation
tomorrow, segregation forever.
It was the flag of choice when Strom Thurmond proclaimed to
thunderous applause, Theres not enough troops in the Army to force
the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the "n....
race" into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes,
and into our churches."
This same flag is held in high esteem by people like white
supremacist William Pierce (Andrew Macdonald) author of 'The Turner
Diaries' with the premise of this fantasy race war where Jews and
people of color are exterminated. The same "race war" that both Tim
McVeigh and Dylan Roof wrote about or spoke of before their
cowardice acts of terror and murder.
The flag is the emblem of choice of white supremacist lawyer
Kirk Lyon below who has ties to various Christian Identity groups
that believe that Jews are "biologically descended from Satan" and
minorities have no souls but were created as "beasts of the fields.
Some of them believe they are decedents of the lost tribes of
Israel. Anglo-Aryans. Oh sweet Jesus!And people wonder why the
Civil War and all its propaganda are still alive today. It is the
same stuff Southern leaders and preachers were touting decades
before the Civil War.
Mr. Nielsen the Confederate flag was hung proudly above Maurice
Bessingers famous restaurant in the picture below.If you remember
Bessinger passed away in 2014 you may have read about his passing
back then.
Bessinger was famous in South Carolina for taking down the
American Flag and putting up the Confederate flag.
Why did he put up a Confederate flag? Was it to honor equality
and liberty and justice for all? Hmmm?Hardly, Bessinger was an
avowed racist and segregationist.He sold racist tracts in his
restaurant on how the Bible supported slavery and segregation.
After theCivil Rights Act was passed in 1964Bessinger proudly
displayed a sign in his restaurant windows.It read: The law makes
us serve niggers, but any money we get from them goes to the Ku
Klux Klan.He tried to shove his racism down the throat of society
in the name of his "religious freedom."His flag of choice Mr.
Nielsen that you claim has nothing to do with slavery or the
ideology of hate and inequality was the Confederate flag.
I guess Mr. Bessinger didn't go to your school of brainwashing
that the Confederate flag had nothing to do with slavery or that it
stood for white superiority and the Jim Crow laws of the solid
South.
http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/HaireoftheDog/archives/2014/02/24/maurice-bessinger-bbq-baron-and-unrepentant-racist-dies
These people like Dylan Roof do not wave the Confederate Flag to
commemorate the Confederate dead.They are waving it for what it
represents... slavery; treason, rebellion, segregation and white
supremacy just like Mr. Bessinger.Their ideology is seen in the
words of those Southern leaders who seceded from the Union.
Their ideology is seen in the actions of the Dixiecrats who
seceded from their political party because of President Trumans
integration efforts in the military. It was the exact same thing
they did when Lincoln was elected. They secede from those who do
not hang onto the past with its Jim Crow, segregation and denial of
civil rights. That is the past they want.These political leaders
like George Wallace and Strom Thurmond parrot the same ideology
that the designers of the Confederate flag used.
Loy Mauch
Perhaps you remember this Arkansas state representative who
praised John Wilkes Booth and tried to have a statue of Abraham
Lincoln removed from his state.Notice those two flags behind Loy
Mauch in the picture above.Now where have we seen those before?Let
me see where was that?Hmmm?
Mauch compares Abraham Lincoln to the Hitler and the Nazi's.
Doesnt that sound familiar?He defends the institution of slavery
because Paul and Jesus didn't think it was wrong.It is
laughable!
I guess Loy Mauch didn't get your memo either Mr. Nielsen
because Mauch thinks that same flag has everything to do with
slavery, segregation and God's ordination of "white supremacy."
This is their view of equality, liberty and justice for all. It
is their ideology. It is why they left the Union and fought a war
over slavery. It is why they created Jim Crow law and murdered tens
of thousands of people.It is why the entire south created a new
political party and presidential candidate when President Truman
stood for integration of the military.
How does Loy Mauch see the Confederate Flag? Hmmm?Loy Mauch
words echo exactly the words and attitudes of Confederate VP
Alexander Stephens to Maurice Bessenger with their Biblical slavery
claims. You can't make this stuff up!
Loy Mauch states this about the flag; " It's a symbol of Jesus
Christ above all else. It's a symbol of Biblical government."
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2012/10/06/loy-mauch-update-the-republican-rep-is-on-record-on-slavery-too
http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/the-south-shall-rise-again/Content?oid=1380685
Moving along as we look at symbols of hate lets look at a Hindu
drawing of Ganesha below. Ganesha is the remover of obstacles. You
can see why the Hindu's would use a powerful elephant to symbolize
the power of removing obstacles before their path.The elephant
comes out of their culture as one of the most powerful forces they
knew in the animal world. The power of this great beast could push
trees over or move huge obstacles out of its path with its head and
powerful trunk.
The symbol below had become the symbol of "good being" or "good
luck."Symbols like this are nearly 5000 years old give or take a
measly few hundred years.
The strange thing is the Nazi's took that symbol and with a
little twist they designed the swastika from this symbol.The
historical meaning of the swastika was changed forever.
Any family that had relatives in WWII or that are Jewish or are
old enough to be connected to Europe before or during WWII do not
seethat swastika as a Hindu symbol of good luck. In fact anyone who
is connected to those memories find this symbol offensive to say
the least. The ideals that Nazi symbol stood for were in direct
opposition to democracy and freedom of our Constitution. That
symbol wanted to destroy the United States of America andthe Nazis
fought a war in an effort to do so. That symbol stood for enslaving
anyone who was not "Aryan" or German.It stood for white
supremacy.That symbol enslaved people in work camps and had many
millions exterminated for belonging to unions, being educated,
being a certain religion,race or color.
It should be offensive in what it represents and the evil it
committed to tens of millions of people. History has recorded the
evil done in the name of the people who saluted that symbol.
Germany is so embarrassed by that symbol that it bans its use on
governmental property. It bans it use as an instrument of hate.
Symbols of White SupremacyBelow a white supremacist wearing his
swastika and Confederate Flag in South Carolina. All are symbols of
white supremacy. No distinction is made.
All of these are symbols of a radical mindset known for their
love of Hitlers doctrines, apartheid and hate. Mr. Nielsen would
you mount any of those other disgusting symbols on your fire true?A
Michigan resident in the photo below displays his colors. Amazing
isnt it?Now why would anyone ever think just for a moment the white
supremacy of these two symbols are connected in anyway.
Flag of Choice for Neo-NazisIn Germany the public display of the
swastika is outlawed. So what is the flag of choice for the
neo-Nazis and skinheads of Germany?What symbol could they display
that represents the same values of white supremacy Hitler spread
across Germany?In Deutschland the white supremacists go with the
flag below because they cant display the swastika.
The German government after WWII put the swastika and Hitler's
flag in museums. It is a history lesson for the German people to
always be reminded on the subject of hateand white supremacy. In
Germany most of the Germans find the swastika disgusting and
embarrassing. After all what German wants to brag about the honor
his relatives had infighting for the Hitler regime or being a guard
at one of the concentration camps.That is some heritage!
Just as we are offended by that Nazi swastika and what it
represents we should also be appalled and offended that the ideas
of white supremacy that were and are promoted by the Confederacy
and the Confederate flag should bring equal disgust.The ideology is
nearly the same.
You can't romanticize away the history and facts connected to
the swastika without not believing the atrocities committed by the
people who wore it and had it on their flag.
Mr. Nielsen you can pretend that the swastika had nothing to do
with Hitler or the concentration camps but that does not make it
so.
Mr. Nielsen you can try and convince yourself that the
Confederate flag had nothing to do with slavery, murder,
segregation, terror and the denial ofthe basic civil rights of
Americans but that does not negate the historical facts.
Mr. Nielsen you saying that this flag has nothing to do with
slavery or the denial of civil rights may work in the minds of
people who have no concept of historical facts or who want to
rewrite history.
Mr. Nielsen you can use cognitive dissonance and try to deny
these many historical facts.You can try to paint over the facts
with fictional accounts of what you think the flag represents.You
can try to use other silly examples you find disgusting trying to
deflect the pain, horror and misery those this flag spewed on tens
of millions of other citizens.
Mr. Nielsen you can turn your mind off to all these facts and
still believe that flag does not stand for an ideology that
legitimized slavery or that it was used to promote inequality but
it does not change history.You can turn a blind eye or filter out
the mountain of evidence that prove your claims are in direct
contradiction to the truths surrounding that flag.
The fact is that Americans have been discriminated against
murdered or denied basic civil rights by people who rallied and
continue to rallyaround the very same flag and the ideology it
represents.
This ideology of white supremacy may have never touched YOU or
YOUR family but it does not take away thereality that the injustice
this flag represents has been inflicted upon tens of millions of
others over the long history of the Confederacy and the flag.From
the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement that flag has been waved
in support of everything our constitution and a democracy stands
against.
This flag was used in defiance against President Truman as he
integrated the military.
It was waved at political rallies as supporters of Jim Crow
broke ranks creating a third party supporting segregation.
It was waved in the face Attorney General Robert Kennedy and on
the path to the Governors mansion to demand the Governor must
comply with the laws of our Constitution.
It was waved as school children as young as 5 and 6 years old
tried to go to a school right in their own neighborhood.
It was raised on a flagpole after hearing about the
assassination of Martin Luther King and President Kennedy.
The flag belongs in a museum not on the back of a fire truck
celebrating the 4th of July.
That flag was created as a result of secession of the Southern
states from the Union. It was designed to validate the support of
the institution of slavery and white supremacy. It was born out of
treason.
That very same Confederateflag wanted to destroy the Union and
the America Flag. It was the flag of those whose ideology prompted
the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and other leaders from Martin
LutherKing to the poor souls in Charleston who lovingly let their
killer sit among them before he executed them for one thing .....
the color of their skin.
Empty Chair Fantasy
Mr. Nielsen saying the Confederate flag doesn't represent
slavery or these other evils would be like putting an empty chair
on a stage and creatinga dialogue with a make believe person in
that chair painting your make believe opponent anyway you want. It
is a fantasy just like the idea that theConfederate flag had
nothing to do with treason, slavery, the KKK, murder, segregation,
and the denial of civil rights based on the color of peoples
skin.
A radical who stood for and believed in the values and symbolic
meaning of that Confederate Flag assassinated Abraham Lincoln, the
father of the Republican Party. John Wilkes Booth saw Lincoln as a
tyrant because Lincoln had the audacity to want to abolish
slavery.
John Wilkes Booth
After listening to a speech by Lincoln after the South had
surrendered Booth uttered these words, That means nigger
citizenship. Now by God, Ill put him through. That is the last
speech he will ever give.
The assassination of Lincoln was an attempt to revive the
Confederate cause.Booth is hero to the KKK, Loy Mauch and the long
line of segregationist!
Pretending that flag represents some fictional characters from
the "Dukes of Hazzard" or some other silly ideas about Rednecks or
Southern heritage is denying the facts left to us all.
The very words of thosewho designed the flag, who seceded under
its banner, who terrorized people for over a hundred years, did so
because of the ideology the flag symbolizes. They blatantly thumbed
theirnose at our Constitution and the civil rights of all American
citizens.Pretending none of this ever happened and trying to
rewrite history proclaiming that this flag represents something it
never has is disingenuous to say the least.
To ask any American to see that flag differently who has read
about the history of that same flag is offensive. To ask any person
who has been subjugated to the violence and humiliation of what
that flag represents would be like asking a soldier of WWII or a
Jewish survivor of the Holocaust not to see the swastika for what
it represented. It is offensive.
Ask any Holocaust survivor or their ancestors if they think the
swastika is a good luck symbol.It is a ridiculous claim and who
wouldnt be embarrassed to make such a claim about that swastika
symbol with the mountain of history left to us about that symbol of
the Nazis and their warped ideology.
So too is claiming that the Confederate flag is about pride or
heritage.Who can take pride in the institution of slavery and
committing treason to fight a war to protect and try to expand
it?Who can be proud of a heritage that stood in defiance of
integration and civil rights in this country from the late 1940s to
the civil rights era? I am embarrassed for them.Mr. Nielsen to try
to deny that all of this took place as you place a Confederate flag
on the fire truck if offensive and laughable.
Suppressing History for Southern Comfort
Mr. Nielsen you are using cognitive dissonance to comfort
yourself closing your mind to the historical documents and facts
available to grade school children that proves just the opposite of
your claims.
Mr. Nielsen you can try and create some fluffy fantasy and
fictional opinion that you want to believe the flag is about.
However history and facts reveal to anyone willing to open their
mind what that flag and its ideology represented in 1863, in 1963
and what it represents today because it hasnt changed. It was born
as a result of the ideology of white supremacy and remains so.Again
put it in a museum and not on fire trucks or on public governmental
property.
As Americans the Confederate flag has never stood for liberty
and justice for all no matter how long you say it does or how hard
you want to believe it does Mr. Nielsen.
You dont have to take my word for it nor would I want you to.
Read for yourself the words of those who founded the Confederacy,
created the flag and believed segregation and the denial of civil
rights to fellow Americans was heavenly ordained.
Mr. Nielsen I fear you are a victim of the bumper sticker
society.If your are you wont be able to grasp this history by just
reading bumper stickers or living in the one-liner bubble.You cant
gain a working knowledge of that history by forming opinions using
confirmation bias. Nit-picking a fact here or there to build your
opinions on while closing your eyes to or denying all the other
facts.
Even sadder Mr. Nielsen is you probably dont care what the
history is or what the mountain of evidence reveals to you. In the
end you will hang onto your warped opinions and beliefs just like
those Southern leaders who have fallen on the wrong side of history
since the 1860s.
You will be like Alexander Stevens, Vice President of the
Confederacy, who told his fellow Confederates that those who didnt
believe in the institution of slavery had a species of insanity.
Stevens stated their fanaticism springs from an aberration of the
mind because of a defect in their reasoning.
Like you Mr. Nielsen all Alexander Stevens was saying was people
who didnt agree with him were being controlled by political
correctness.
Sadly you will walk away still not believing your lying eyes and
all the evidence before you because you want to find comfort in
what you believe about that flag, your bumper sticker opinions and
the one liner bubble you live in.
Being deaf and blind to the history and facts you will cling to
your concept of that flag from a fictional show like The Dukes of
Hazzard.
You will rely on the pompous claims of men like Ted Nugent over
the President of the Confederacy concerning the meaning of that
flag.You will take Kid Rocks opinion over the very designer of the
flags stated and recorded reason for the design of that flag.
You will put that empty chair on the stage and create whatever
you want about the fictional subject you place in that chair.
This is exactly what you did in the first place Mr. Nielsen. You
placed the flag on your fire true like an empty chair on a stage
and created your own fictional history about what that flag stands
for in your mind.
You created a whole scenario based on your fantasy about
political correctness. You created a fictional account to comfort
your mind that this Confederate flag had nothing to do with
slavery.
You live in a bubble where you have the audacity to fly a
Confederate flag and then say you see all people as equal.That is
preposterous and offensive Mr. Nielsen to anyone who has an ounce
of objectivity and understanding about the history of this
country.
Even more disturbing is you convince yourself you are right and
cannot hear the facts screaming at you from the outside of your
bubble of silence that insulates you from these facts.
In the end you see those outside your bubble like those Southern
leaders did. They pointed at the evolving and progressing society
outside of their ideological bubble as the mentally ill or into
days understanding the PC crowd.
Facts are discarded and replaced with what you choose to believe
about that flag on that chair.Your opinion about that flag in your
mind rejects all facts or statistics dismissing them as some type
of political correct propaganda.
What you feel about that flag erases the very history that is
part of the fabric of this nation that you try to deny or refuse to
accept in your bubble.
Living in your bumper sticker bubble it then becomes easy to
swallow whatever opinion you choose to believe never examining the
many complexities of any issue. Never grasping or understanding the
history of anything you allow history to be rewritten for you. Then
one day you embarrass yourself by putting this flag on a fire truck
claiming it doesnt have anything to do with slavery.Division and
Secession
However I do want to thank you Mr. Brian Nielsen for giving me
an opportunity and perfect example of what divides this
country.What divides people is how they choose to view facts and
often how they reframe them.What divides people is the opinions
created by people in viewing the mountain of evidence before
them.
We can choose to be like Mr. Nielsen and create our own beliefs
about that flag.We can try and comfort ourselves that the flag
doesnt really represent what history reveals it plainly does.
If we do that then we have already created a divisio