Rather than keep going back and editing previous posts on the subject, I’m going to keep rewriting new ones, until I get it more right.
Driving by a Confederate battle flag with my black teenage nephew one day, he says “what does it mean?” To which I reply, “it means we’re in The South.” I come from Detroit. I think many people from Detroit would identify with a strong sense of regional pride.
My understanding is that Florida is part of the United States. In our country’s history, there was a period of time where it was also considered part of the Confederate States. The official flag of the Confederate States of America stood for a political ideology. The battle flag stood for a battlefield distinction between American soldiers fighting on one side, or the other. The political flag, no bones about it, stood for some unsavory things. The battle flag stood for American soldiers defending what they saw as their soil.
I’m not going to be the one to dishonour an American soldier who fought on his own soil. Without looking it up, I’d wager very few of the American soldiers who fought under the Battle Flag were slaveholders. If you’re opposed to slavery, maybe you should direct your anger at the political flag. Me, I’m a damn yankee, but I say let the battle flag fly free and proud.
