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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Boomer with Attitude / News Joe Wilson ally spouts Confederate flag b.s.
Posted By John Grooms on Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 1:35 PM
Rep. Steve King of Iowa, who is urging his fellow Republicans in Congress to sign a petition supporting Rep. Joe Wilson, today defended the South Carolina congressman’s vote in favor of flying the Confederate battleflag over the state capitol in Columbia (Wilson was one of only seven GOP reps who contradicted their party leadership and voted to continue flying the flag). King spoke of Wilson on FoxNews, where he said that “Being a son of the South puts you in a different position when it comes to the Confederate flag. It means something entirely different to the people who have ancestors who fought in the Civil War [for] the South.” WHOA! WHOA! What?!
Let’s get this straight: Steve King says that if you had ancestors who fought for the South, you thought flying the Confederate flag on the state capitol was a good idea? Well, let me be the first white male Southerner to say that King is completely full of it. I couldn’t begin to count the number of South Carolinians — not to mention other Southerners — I know personally who opposed flying the Confederate battleflag in Columbia. I’m talking about people with deep roots in the South; I don ‘t know how many of them had ancestors who fought for the Confederacy, but if they’re like most white Southerners, it’s probably most of them. For one, my great-great-grandfather on my father’s side was a scout for Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, and lo and behold, I thought flying the flag on the S.C. capitol was a terrible idea. Here’s why: the state only began flying the flag over the capitol in 1962 as a big, public “screw you” to the civil rights movement — you can look it up — just as that symbol was revived all over the South in those times for the same reason. The Confederate battleflag was used then as the power-wielding good ole boys' message that they ran the South, by God. After major civil rights laws were enacted over the good ole boys’ objections, the flag became a sign of resistance to equality for blacks. And that’s what it has remained up to and including today no matter how many times some white Southerners say they “love the flag” because it’s “about heritage.” Which is bullshit — if you want to honor that part of your heritage, then fly the actual Confederate “national” flag, instead of a battleflag that had largely been forgotten until the 1960s — and which automatically alienates a large part of the population. Oh, I forgot. Pissing off people is the whole point of displaying the flag.
Here’s Steve King’s appearance on FoxNews.
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