I get it now.
To a certain extent, I always did. But I felt very uncomfortable entertaining the thought of joining the protest myself.
I still do, honestly. The thought of sitting during the National Anthem makes me feel sad. But that's what I'll be doing until further notice. I understand where Colin Kaepernick and many others are coming from.
When Kaepernick began his protest in August of 2016, my immediate reaction was to think it was a bold move, yet one that would garner too much negative attention to be worth the while.
My dissatisfaction with America's current political environment runs much deeper than outrage over police brutality and racial profiling. I can't believe that it's the year 2017 and this is even necessary, but I'm going to write several paragraphs to explain why the Confederacy and it's symbols are bad (and I'll interject a few other problems too).
Robert E. Lee was a loser. The Confederacy committed treason by declaring war on the federal government. They did so because they wanted to keep slaves and feared their economy would crash without the forced, unpaid labor. Their slaves were kidnapped from Africa. The slaves were all black, and were not given a shred of human dignity. Lee was a traitor. He was a coward. He lost the war--and he deserved to lose the war.
And he doesn't deserve a fucking participation trophy for it.
The hero of the southern states has statues erected in his name; roads and buildings bearing his likeness; and schools, counties, and naval ships are named in his honor. The leader of the racist, treasonous, rebellion against the USA should not be erased from history--that is something that only Republicans seem to be fearing, even though no Democrat I'm aware of is pushing the idea that the Civil War never happened. That said, Lee, and the emblem of the South, deserve nothing but rebuke.
How could anybody who calls their self a "patriot" also support a person and/or flag that is associated with the most embarrassing and immoral era of this country's history? You can't be both a patriotic American and a Confederate or Nazi sympathizer. You can't proudly display your Stars and Stripes, Old Glory herself, on Independence Day and at the same time stick up for somebody who wants a Robert Lee monument on public land.
The patriotic thing to do would be to exercise my first amendment rights to protest an obvious social inequality and injustice. The anti-American thing to do would be to build or support statues or flags of America's backstabbing enemy.
Oh, you're certainly free to pay your tribute to Lee or fly the traitor's flag. That's your freedom of speech and I would never take that away from you. But it's my freedom of speech to tell you exactly how I feel about your doing so: You are an absolute piece of garbage if you like Robert Lee or the Confederate flag. If you like backstabbers like Robert E. Lee, you're not a patriot. You're a fucking loser, just like Lee. Monuments built to "honor" Lee on public land and/or with public tax dollars should be torn down (actually, they never should have been built in the first place)--and if you don't understand why it would be awkward for the United States of America to build idols to honor a person who betrayed it in the name of slavery, then you're the exact reason why I no longer respect symbols of America.
Lee believed, like most of his Southern brethren, that God ordained slavery in the Bible. He wasn't wrong about that. The South used biblical scripture to defend their views on slavery. This fact needs mentioning because it is so often the case that some of the most morally despicable acts throughout history were committed by those who believed they not only acted with divine permission; but the acts were done on divine commandment. It's not clear to me which was the case with Robert Lee and the Confederacy, but it is clear that they believed that if slavery were abolished, they'd be disobeying God's orders as given in the Bible.
There was a time that I could gaze at the American flag and associate it with things that were dear to me. Some of those things I still associate with the flag, but one of those things is certainly not the American military or the nation's active and retired soldiers. I shall not delve much deeper into this particular topic in this space, but I will say that at some time in my life I began to completely disassociate the flag with the military. So I do not believe in any way that sitting for a national anthem is disrespecting veterans. This isn't about them. For the most part, I do respect many of our nation's veterans, and I don't blame them for any of the current problems. If you tell me that a lack of respect for the flag equals a lack of respect for veterans, then I'm afraid you have completely missed the entire point. Finish reading this blog, then re-read it again. If you still don't understand, then that's ok. But don't reply to me with comments concerning the military or veterans, because you are clueless (probably clueless enough to think the Confederate flag is much different than the Nazi swastika--because the Nazis subjugated a class of people as inferior... and the South... well, they subjugated a class of people as inferior).
The American flag now seems to me to stand for ideologies that are in direct opposition to my core beliefs and moral compass. I believe in equality. I look at an American flag and I think about how much Americans enjoy privilege. I want every American to have a great education. Too many other Americans want every American to have a gun (oh, except blacks and Muslims. That would be equality, which we don't like here). I believe we all have the right to healthcare. It seems to me too many Americans (including our current president) couldn't give a single shit about anybody's health unless it's their own or a member of their immediate family. Not all of us are this way, but when I look at a flag, I'm reminded of more problems than pride.
Damn it, we are obsessed with privilege here. "God bless America" is supposed to be a good thing to say, and a lot of people say it! It disgusts me. Not only because of the obvious reason, such as that I'm an atheist who desires distance from all religious phrases and practices, but because, if there were a god, I would NEVER ask that he bless America. I'd ask that he end world hunger, or cure childhood cancer. I'd ask him to treat every citizen of every country equally. America doesn't deserve blessings--especially given our suspiciously high number of people sympathizing with Confederate rebels, the KKK, and neo-Nazis, and a president who refuses to distance himself from such people, demand that they stop supporting him, and declare that he does not affirm their messages. I can't even imagine a group of people with KKK garb rallying to get votes for Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, Ben Carson, or Hillary Clinton! They all endorse Donald Trump! Every single one of them! And, he doesn't seem to mind--he's even said "a few of them are good people."
Well-educated, healthy Americans would seem to me to be a worthy goal. I think that's something to be proud of. Why are Republicans so obsessed with outrageous military spending and unlimited access to guns for protection if they aren't willing to properly care for the citizens they wish to protect?
To a certain extent, I always did. But I felt very uncomfortable entertaining the thought of joining the protest myself.
I still do, honestly. The thought of sitting during the National Anthem makes me feel sad. But that's what I'll be doing until further notice. I understand where Colin Kaepernick and many others are coming from.
When Kaepernick began his protest in August of 2016, my immediate reaction was to think it was a bold move, yet one that would garner too much negative attention to be worth the while.
My dissatisfaction with America's current political environment runs much deeper than outrage over police brutality and racial profiling. I can't believe that it's the year 2017 and this is even necessary, but I'm going to write several paragraphs to explain why the Confederacy and it's symbols are bad (and I'll interject a few other problems too).
And he doesn't deserve a fucking participation trophy for it.
The hero of the southern states has statues erected in his name; roads and buildings bearing his likeness; and schools, counties, and naval ships are named in his honor. The leader of the racist, treasonous, rebellion against the USA should not be erased from history--that is something that only Republicans seem to be fearing, even though no Democrat I'm aware of is pushing the idea that the Civil War never happened. That said, Lee, and the emblem of the South, deserve nothing but rebuke.
How could anybody who calls their self a "patriot" also support a person and/or flag that is associated with the most embarrassing and immoral era of this country's history? You can't be both a patriotic American and a Confederate or Nazi sympathizer. You can't proudly display your Stars and Stripes, Old Glory herself, on Independence Day and at the same time stick up for somebody who wants a Robert Lee monument on public land.
The patriotic thing to do would be to exercise my first amendment rights to protest an obvious social inequality and injustice. The anti-American thing to do would be to build or support statues or flags of America's backstabbing enemy.
Oh, you're certainly free to pay your tribute to Lee or fly the traitor's flag. That's your freedom of speech and I would never take that away from you. But it's my freedom of speech to tell you exactly how I feel about your doing so: You are an absolute piece of garbage if you like Robert Lee or the Confederate flag. If you like backstabbers like Robert E. Lee, you're not a patriot. You're a fucking loser, just like Lee. Monuments built to "honor" Lee on public land and/or with public tax dollars should be torn down (actually, they never should have been built in the first place)--and if you don't understand why it would be awkward for the United States of America to build idols to honor a person who betrayed it in the name of slavery, then you're the exact reason why I no longer respect symbols of America.
There was a time that I could gaze at the American flag and associate it with things that were dear to me. Some of those things I still associate with the flag, but one of those things is certainly not the American military or the nation's active and retired soldiers. I shall not delve much deeper into this particular topic in this space, but I will say that at some time in my life I began to completely disassociate the flag with the military. So I do not believe in any way that sitting for a national anthem is disrespecting veterans. This isn't about them. For the most part, I do respect many of our nation's veterans, and I don't blame them for any of the current problems. If you tell me that a lack of respect for the flag equals a lack of respect for veterans, then I'm afraid you have completely missed the entire point. Finish reading this blog, then re-read it again. If you still don't understand, then that's ok. But don't reply to me with comments concerning the military or veterans, because you are clueless (probably clueless enough to think the Confederate flag is much different than the Nazi swastika--because the Nazis subjugated a class of people as inferior... and the South... well, they subjugated a class of people as inferior).
The American flag now seems to me to stand for ideologies that are in direct opposition to my core beliefs and moral compass. I believe in equality. I look at an American flag and I think about how much Americans enjoy privilege. I want every American to have a great education. Too many other Americans want every American to have a gun (oh, except blacks and Muslims. That would be equality, which we don't like here). I believe we all have the right to healthcare. It seems to me too many Americans (including our current president) couldn't give a single shit about anybody's health unless it's their own or a member of their immediate family. Not all of us are this way, but when I look at a flag, I'm reminded of more problems than pride.
Damn it, we are obsessed with privilege here. "God bless America" is supposed to be a good thing to say, and a lot of people say it! It disgusts me. Not only because of the obvious reason, such as that I'm an atheist who desires distance from all religious phrases and practices, but because, if there were a god, I would NEVER ask that he bless America. I'd ask that he end world hunger, or cure childhood cancer. I'd ask him to treat every citizen of every country equally. America doesn't deserve blessings--especially given our suspiciously high number of people sympathizing with Confederate rebels, the KKK, and neo-Nazis, and a president who refuses to distance himself from such people, demand that they stop supporting him, and declare that he does not affirm their messages. I can't even imagine a group of people with KKK garb rallying to get votes for Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, Ben Carson, or Hillary Clinton! They all endorse Donald Trump! Every single one of them! And, he doesn't seem to mind--he's even said "a few of them are good people."
Well-educated, healthy Americans would seem to me to be a worthy goal. I think that's something to be proud of. Why are Republicans so obsessed with outrageous military spending and unlimited access to guns for protection if they aren't willing to properly care for the citizens they wish to protect?
I would be very curious to try a social experiment. Picture an open, semi-crowded area, perhaps a park. Picture that I tap you on the shoulder and shout "Hey! That guy is getting beat up!" You look behind you and notice a guy being held down by another man. One guy is delivering kicks to the defenseless guy's face, and a third person puts his hand in the guy's pocket and runs away with his wallet. Let's hypothetically assume that just by looking at this occurrence, you can tell that the guy being held down, robbed, and kicked is a victim and didn't do anything to "deserve" a punishment of any kind. At the same time you put all this together, somebody else re-directs your attention to a man burning the American flag.
 |
| Whoever made this meme thinks flags are more important than people |
Which direction do you move? Which situation offends you most? Do you want to intercede and help the victim of violence, or do you want to argue with (and possibly harm) the guy burning the flag?
This shouldn't be a difficult decision and there actually IS a right and a wrong answer, but I have a feeling too many Americans will struggle to answer this question, or will answer incorrectly.
I heard somebody on the radio the other day say that stuff never gets done or changes around here until it starts pissing off white men. It's time white men start doing something about the problem rather than pretend the problem isn't there.
Flags don't have rights. People do. Flags are emblems for ideas, and ideas don't deserve respect until it is earned. People deserve respect, but ideas? Ideas deserve to be critiqued, analyzed, questioned, and if they pass muster, they just might earn my respect. There are too many people in American who care more about flags than people; and that is why I am disgusted by their symbol.
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