Confederate Flag Hysteria

I don't get it. For hundreds of years, the Confederate flag has flown over state houses and hung in the back of pickup truck windows. Suddenly, a mentally ill person posts photos of himself with the flag and public people and companies are shunning it. Why did it take a tragedy? Well, you know, beyond the whole slavery thing. 

Relevant news story: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/us/south-carolina-nikki-haley-confederate-flag.html?referrer=

I'm not saying the flag is good or bad. Is it appropriate as a state symbol? I'm going to say no. Can Civil War re-enactments display it? Sure. Should it be used as a drape for a coffin? (Yes, it happened. I couldn't make that up.) NO. 

People are now saying roads should be renamed. Statues of historical figures removed. Where does it end? We can't erase that part of America's history. It was a different time, and one we shouldn't forget. Maybe even one we should learn more about. You might start here: http://www.history.com/news/5-things-you-may-not-know-about-lincoln-slavery-and-emancipation. People can change their beliefs more than once in their lifetimes. Maybe a lot of people still need to. 

But here's the thing, I think the people who are going to cry out about Walmart removing the flag from its stores won't be the Civil War enthusiasts; it will be the rednecks who see it as an anti-African American or "Southern" symbol. The good ol' boys who claim Uncle Sam will pry their shotguns from their cold, dead hands. The people that have beliefs, ingrained for generations, that won't change whether they can buy a flag at Walmart or not. The people who prefer to think of themselves as better than others. The people who hate. 

The recent news stories of Caitlyn Jenner spurred a flurry of comments and memes on social media. Sadly, many of them did not show acceptance or love for a fellow human. "God doesn't make mistakes!" one poster insisted. I think the mothers of stillborn babies would like to have a word with you about how life works. Science is far from understanding how the human body works, much less the brain. How do we know things aren't working for Caitlyn exactly as planned? 

At my work, I meet people from all over the world. As part of my introduction, I explain I live in a town named Boonville. It gets a laugh. Really, Boonville. But one day, a Asian man stopped me to chat and said he had been to Boonville. My Boonville. I was speechless. It was in his college days, and he worked for a book company. The company dumped a pair of students in a town, and they went door-to-door selling books. The man smiled as he recalled the number of shotguns he encountered that day. Even more the number of ignorant people making racist remarks to his companion about him because they assumed he didn't speak English. I was mortified. He, unbelievably -and sadly- was unfazed. 

No, those people aren't going to change, and I'm certain this isn't the only small town with this problem. When will we learn that all of us are created equal? When will humans see each other as brothers? Do we really think destroying Confederate symbols will make the U.S. a better place? 

I think that isn't even a step toward where we need to be. I can only hope that the children raised in these small towns have exposure to more open thinking - that they see blacks, Asians, Muslims, Jews, gays, and transgender people as humans. Just like them. Just. Like. Them. Because that's the only thing that's going to fix the problem of hate.