[PornoDoggy]

I don't know why I bother, but ...

I wonder how people would react if any state in the nation with a strong Germanic population decided to adopt a state flag with a swatztika as part of it? After all, the Nazi era was only 30 years or so, and it has it's roots in German mythology.

Yes - I know the example is extreme - at least, it's going to seem extreme to some white folks in denial, and it will be portrayed as extreme by folks who either don't have or don't want to use a little simple common sense. This arguement doesn't have a fucking thing to do with the Civil War, no matter how hard try to put it into those terms.

I come from a border state, and there were more rebels than Yankees on my mother's side of the family, including folks who rode with Quantril. My father's great-grandfather was part of the militia that protected the Armory in St. Louis and kept Missouri in the Union. I've heard every fucking argument possible about this question.

My Southern friends proclaiming their heritage seem to want to forget what that flag has been used for over the last 70-80 years. It's all well and good to recall the glories of the confederacy - unfortunately, like the mystic origins of the Swatstika in ancient German mythology, it's been more than obscured by recent events.

Most of the states that include the stars and bars in their state flags did so in the 40s and 50s - in response to efforts to desegregate. When most people today see the confederate flag they see George Wallace standing on the schoolhouse steps. They hear Trent Lott's hero proclaiming that desegregation will have to be imposed on the South. They think of Bull Connor and church bombers and the KKK and the White Citizens Councils, "night riders" and militias.

Even in the most begnin analysis, all the historical arguements regarding "heritage" leave out the fact that the flag has been something other than what it originally was.