It’s been snowing off and on all week in northern New England, piling on top of the accumulated drifts and mounds. We shovel our way to the street, then the city plow comes along and pushes it all back in, heavier than before. Rooftop shoveling is a popular pastime for the anxious homeowner; the snowpack up there is getting deep, forecasters are predicting a thaw – if it all suddenly turns to slush, well, the roof might just start leaking. Better to get up there with a shovel now than to be running around with pots and pans and regret next week.
The groundhog says we’re getting another six weeks of winter and many people who live in and love the north start thinking it might be nice to slip away for a few days to somewhere below the Mason-Dixon line, where nothing that requires shoveling falls from the sky. In the past few years, thoughts of sunshine and balmy air have been tempered by the debate about the flags that float on those soft, southern breezes.
Last year, South Carolina took the Confederate battle flag from the statehouse dome and put it elsewhere on the capitol grounds. Georgia is in the process of reducing the Confederate presence on its flag and Mississippi is planning a referendum on its banner. Even as state officials, some of them cursing and clawing, demote the emblem of a 135-year-old lost cause, you can frequently see Confederate flags flying over private property and decorating automobile bumpers.
Many people find that offensive, particularly African-Americans, who see that flag as symbol of oppression. The folks who support and display the flag see it differently. They see the display of the Confederate flag as evidence of pride in their southern heritage. They see that flag as a symbol of southern culture and history and a way of life.
Beyond the mild winter climate, there is much to like about the south. The food, for example. Candied yams, black-eyed peas, collard greens, fried okra, skillet cornbread, pan-fried chicken, Brunswick stew and a dozen varieties of barbecue. While you’re eating, you can listen to jazz, blues, country, western, bluegrass or gospel – all of which have roots in the south. Sit on the front porch and visit with a mint julep in your hand, or a sweaty glass of lemonade, gaze out at the palmetto trees, or sweet gum or live oaks with beards of Spanish moss, the original flag of the south.
Think of all that, and more. It’s all great stuff, it’s all southern and it’s all well worth being proud of. So why not select any of that as a symbol of southern heritage? Why cling to a blood-red rag that represents not the best of southern culture, but the worst?
Some folks in the pro-flag camp call the Civil War, “The War of Northern Aggression,” but really, it was just about treason. Some people argue that the war wasn’t about slavery, it was about the political philosophy of states’ rights. Right to do what? Keep slaves, that’s what.
German history and heritage and culture are all wonderful things too, but most Germans are smart enough to keep the Beethoven and lose the swastika.
The south’s history of slavery and rebellion and Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan are all worth remembering, but only as cautionary tales, lest we repeat our foolish mistakes.
Why should we sacrifice so much good heritage to concentrate on the bad?
American Heritage
It’s been snowing off and on all week in northern New England, piling on top of the accumulated drifts and mounds. We shovel our way to the street, then the city plow comes along and pushes it all back in, heavier than before. Rooftop shoveling is a popular pastime for the anxious homeowner; the snowpack up there is getting deep, forecasters are predicting a thaw – if it all suddenly turns to slush, well, the roof might just start leaking. Better to get up there with a shovel now than to be running around with pots and pans and regret next week.
The groundhog says we’re getting another six weeks of winter and many people who live in and love the north start thinking it might be nice to slip away for a few days to somewhere below the Mason-Dixon line, where nothing that requires shoveling falls from the sky. In the past few years, thoughts of sunshine and balmy air have been tempered by the debate about the flags that float on those soft, southern breezes.
Last year, South Carolina took the Confederate battle flag from the statehouse dome and put it elsewhere on the capitol grounds. Georgia is in the process of reducing the Confederate presence on its flag and Mississippi is planning a referendum on its banner. Even as state officials, some of them cursing and clawing, demote the emblem of a 135-year-old lost cause, you can frequently see Confederate flags flying over private property and decorating automobile bumpers.
Many people find that offensive, particularly African-Americans, who see that flag as symbol of oppression. The folks who support and display the flag see it differently. They see the display of the Confederate flag as evidence of pride in their southern heritage. They see that flag as a symbol of southern culture and history and a way of life.
Beyond the mild winter climate, there is much to like about the south. The food, for example. Candied yams, black-eyed peas, collard greens, fried okra, skillet cornbread, pan-fried chicken, Brunswick stew and a dozen varieties of barbecue. While you’re eating, you can listen to jazz, blues, country, western, bluegrass or gospel – all of which have roots in the south. Sit on the front porch and visit with a mint julep in your hand, or a sweaty glass of lemonade, gaze out at the palmetto trees, or sweet gum or live oaks with beards of Spanish moss, the original flag of the south.
Think of all that, and more. It’s all great stuff, it’s all southern and it’s all well worth being proud of. So why not select any of that as a symbol of southern heritage? Why cling to a blood-red rag that represents not the best of southern culture, but the worst?
Some folks in the pro-flag camp call the Civil War, “The War of Northern Aggression,” but really, it was just about treason. Some people argue that the war wasn’t about slavery, it was about the political philosophy of states’ rights. Right to do what? Keep slaves, that’s what.
German history and heritage and culture are all wonderful things too, but most Germans are smart enough to keep the Beethoven and lose the swastika.
The south’s history of slavery and rebellion and Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan are all worth remembering, but only as cautionary tales, lest we repeat our foolish mistakes.
Why should we sacrifice so much good heritage to concentrate on the bad?