HERITAGE NOT HATE?

Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson look down on a confrontation between Confederate battle flag waivers and protesters

Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park has a 90-foot tall sculpture of Confederate heroes Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, each on horseback, carved into the side of Stone Mountain. The carving takes up three acres of the mountain side.

On Saturday, hundreds of confederate flag waving people showed up at the park for an all-day “Heritage Not Hate” rally in support of the Confederate battle flag. People from all over the South attended the rally. Many wore T-shirts depicting the flag. Many also wore Confederate flag bandanas.

At midday a small group of protester showed up and started shouting obscenities at the Confederate flag supporters. The cops had to step in to prevent the flag supporters from kicking the shit out of the protesters.

Is the Confederate battle flag a symbol of heritage or a symbol of hate? President Obama has referred to the flag as “a reminder of systemic oppression and racial subjugation” and has called for its removal from public display. A majority of Americans feel the same way.

However, many Southerners feel that, contrary to being a symbol of hate, the Confederate flag represents a proud symbol of their heritage.

To me it represents both. Were it not for the fact that the flag has been hijacked by the KKK and other white supremacist hate groups, I would tell the protesters to go to hell. Around 250,000 Confederate soldiers died under that flag and many more suffered amputations and other war wounds. For that reason, the Confederate battle flag deserves to be honored, not despised. By the way, those same hate groups not only wave the Confederate flag, but they wave the American flag too.

So, which is it … heritage or hate?