WhatFinger


Eliminating all things Southern

Two Sides to Every Story Doesn't Apply to Confederate Flags



Leftists and grievance groups now feel that the time is ripe to radically alter society. Their two top "justifications" for eliminating the existing society are the 'legacy of slavery' and Christian "convictions" that inhibit progress; progress as defined by Mr. Obama and the Left. The strategy the Left is using to eliminate aspects of American society is the same strategy that has been so successful in eliminating all things Southern.
The Left's tactical reasoning is, if a substantial segment of society can be made to believe that a replica of a Confederate flag can motivate a mentally-troubled, drug-addled teen to commit murder, then it will be easy to convince the public that every single Southern custom must be eliminated. If the South's past can be eliminated, then those same tactics will be employed against American customs that stand in the way of Leftist goals. Hyped news media reports have led many to assume that there is a massive public reaction against all things Southern. But public opinion polls reveal just the opposite - the majority feels that the Confederate flag represents heritage rather than hate. So there has been a serious misreading of public attitudes by media. This lack of discernment by media can be illustrated by a Birmingham News column regarding a poll on the Confederate flag. That the majority considered the flag to represent heritage, prompted the Birmingham News to describe the poll as "America's surprising response." It may be surprising to cloistered journalists who have little or no contact with "real people"; people outside of their editorial offices. But, contrary to what these media types think, many Americans are capable of thinking for themselves, not easily manipulated by the press. Not only is the public no longer taken in by media reports, very few still believe media reports. Of course, there is a segment of society that has been taken in by the Left-leaning media. This is illustrated by video interviews with residents of the District of Columbia. These residents stated that, because George Washington owned slaves, DC should not be named after him. For the same reason, they also said that the Jefferson Memorial should be taken down and the American flag should be replaced. One angry resident stated: "... anything that relates to slavery, take it off."

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Eliminating "anything that relates to slavery" will be quite an undertaking. Those who have researched slavery claim that it originated approximately 11,000 years ago, existed all over the world with members of all races being enslaved at one time or another, and was considered legal until roughly 200 years ago. Most of our early presidents owned slaves. So, eliminating "anything that relates to slavery" would not only require that Washington be renamed, but also "sanitized" names must be found for thousands of cities, counties, schools, colleges, buildings, highways, and more, all across the land. Lest you think that the vacuous responses on these videos are confined to a few uninformed individuals, be aware that studies by reputable organizations demonstrate that a substantial segment of the American population is essentially clueless about their country. Not only is their grasp of American history and government functions limited, they simply don't comprehend important facts that were considered essential knowledge by prior generations. Today's groundswell of anti-Americanism has been fostered by Leftist politicos aided and abetted by the mainstream media and academia. From an early age, students are taught versions of history, and other subjects, that lead them to believe that existing society is so flawed that it must be replaced. It is intensely disconcerting to listen to the radical aversion to American traditions and customs as expressed by students. Their derision of their country is a reflection of academia's "hate America" indoctrination, and is the main reason for the increase in parents choosing to home-school their children. For some time, the South has been under attack by career race-baiters, like Al Sharpton and Barack Obama, but lately, even many Southern newspapers have become fawning sycophants for the campaign to remove Confederate symbols. Not surprisingly, Southern politicos have also begun attacking Confederate symbols - primarily as a way of pandering to voting blocs. One of the most shameful exploitations is currently being conducted by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. Like his sister Mary, Mitch Landrieu has neither ethics nor integrity. Both are subservient to whatever political trend they think will benefit their careers. In Mary Landrieu's case, she could no longer fool enough of her constituents throughout the State to get reelected. Mitch may survive, because a substantial portion of New Orleans voters are extreme Leftist Democrats, who share Barack Obama's goal of leveling society and redistributing wealth. But their immediate objective is purging New Orleans of anything that might reflect favorably on the Confederacy. At a recent City Council meeting, Mayor Landrieu called for the elimination of all Confederate memorabilia throughout New Orleans, beginning with the removal of the century old statue of Robert E. Lee. This council meeting was dominated by the City's black population, and those few whites, courageous enough to attend, were often shouted down when they tried to offer objections. Rather than try to calm these restless citizens, Mayor Landrieu kept them stirred up. A few comments from this City Council meeting will illustrate the mindset of attendees. After espousing the standard clichés about white racism, one speaker said: "We haven't had enough talk about racism in this country." Astounding! For the last half-century, and longer, "racism" has been the number one topic of politicos, do-gooders, race-baiters, and journalists. And, the definition of what constitutes racism has been so drastically expanded that it now covers almost anything white folks might say about race. In a City Council meeting that took place in July of 2015, one speaker actually declared: "No more auction block for me!" Obviously, the speaker knows that slavery ended over a century ago, but bringing up the "legacy of slavery" is a fairly common and successful ploy, frequently employed in today's tiresome "politics of guilt." Arguing against monuments for Robert E. Lee and other Confederates, one speaker claimed that it is like: "...paying homage to these people who committed genocide." During the decades of the civil rights era, we have often heard the use of slaves in Southern states compared with the holocaust in Nazi Germany. And the word "genocide" is often employed, primarily for its malevolent implications rather than its actual meaning. One final statement from this City Council meeting - and I'm not making this up. After adamantly insisting that anything relating to the Confederacy must be eliminated, another speaker demanded that monuments be erected for those early Africans who "pulled whites out of caves" and led them to civilization. This statement doesn't require a response. We know from past experience, that the good feelings resulting from eliminating an offensive "symbol" only last a short while. Very soon the restlessness recurs and can only be relieved by demanding that some other offensive "symbol" be trashed. This will happen in New Orleans, in fact we are seeing signs of it already. And don't expect the City's newspaper, the Times Picayune, to offer any objections when additional sites are being targeted for removal. There is a demand that the fleur-de-lis, the symbol on the flag of New Orleans, must be trashed. This emblem, representing the lily, is associated with heraldry throughout Europe. It is also associated with the French heritage of Louisiana and was prominently displayed during the years of slavery. As justification for the scrapping of the fleur-de-lis, an African slave historian maintains that slaves suffered cruel treatment when the symbol was prominent throughout the State. But a Tulane professor asks: "Where do you stop? Do you get rid of all symbols?" Probably the most bizarre and cold-hearted Confederate cleansing action is the Memphis City Council's demand that the century old graves of a Confederate officer and his wife be dug up and their remains relocated somewhere outside of the City. Metairie Cemetery and other cemeteries in New Orleans also contain burial plots of Confederate officers, so we can expect Mayor Landrieu and the City Council to demand that these century old corpses be disinterred from their tombs and taken out of New Orleans. Like Memphis, New Orleans will use the old racism ploy to justify the desecration of burial crypts. We can expect demands for the removal of the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson located prominently in the French Quarter beside the St Louis Cathedral. Based on the raucous City Council meeting, Jackson's ownership of slaves would seem to be more important that his military success in the Battle of New Orleans, that essentially brought an end to the British assault on America during the War of 1812. Next in line for elimination would be the French Quarter statue of Sieur de Bienville. Essentially, Bienville's thoroughgoing efforts established New Orleans in the early 1700s. But Bienville owned slaves. New Orleans is one of the nation's worst cities in terms of crime - it is one of the top ten cities for murders - but the Mayor, the City Council, and the Times Picayune seem to be more concerned about eliminating Confederate symbols than reducing crime. So the statue of Robert E. Lee will come down as the City's crime rate goes up. Much to the chagrin of the Left-leaning media, a backlash to the trashing of Confederate symbols is developing, not just in the South but throughout the nation. And media's extremism is actually helping the backlash to grow. An example is a outlandish statement from the magazine, Salon: "... displaying the Confederate flag anywhere is an act of hate. It should be recognized as such, and punished as a hate crime." Yes, you read that correctly - if you display the flag "anywhere" - in your bedroom, in your basement, on your car bumper - you might be charged with committing a hate crime. Totalitarianism has arrived! I don't think the hyper-emotionalism that motivated the trashing of the Confederate flag can be sustained - it was too mercurial. And those promoting this cultural cleansing should recall the phrase: "Winning the battle and losing the war." The excitement of the victory over the flag will presently fade, but the extreme ill-will generated by news media and black activists won't go away anytime soon .


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Gail Jarvis -- Bio and Archives

Gail Jarvis is a Coastal Georgia based freelance writer. Following a career as a CPA/business consultant, Mr. Jarvis now critiques the establishment’s selective and misleading reporting of current events and history. Gail can be reached at: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)


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