Booker Rising On The Confederate Flag

The question of how the Civil War should be remembered remains a political and cultural bombshell in the South, with the controversy over whether South Carolina should reinstitute flying the Confederate flag over its state capitol. Even presidential candidates are pandering on the issue.

"You don't want anyone from out of state comin' down and telling you what to do with your flag", said former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a conservative Republican. "In fact, if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag we'd tell them where to put the pole."

Opponents of Confederate symbols say they represent slavery and racism, and have even threatened economic boycotts at times. Supporters say attempts to eliminate them from state flags is "modern-day McCarthyism" on Confederate heritage.

A few years ago, I railed against the Confederate flag and it even attracted attention from the Dallas Morning News....generating hate e-mail to me. However, I'll take on Mr. Huckabee's statement and say it again: "Your" flag should be the American flag, not the traitorous Confederate flag. "Southern pride" here translates into racist Southern pride, for these symbols represent slavery, degradation, and un-Americanism. Most blacks are Southerners, yet very few are down with the flag. To flag lovers: you lost the Civil War - get over it already! The Civil War killed 617,000 folks, and the South illegally tried to secede from the United States. This flag is no different than the Nazi flag - that of a vanquished totalitarian entity that USA thankfully put out to pasture. Yet supporters want to fly this traitorous flag equal to that of the U.S. flag over a state capitol. While not as strong about it as I am, at least Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee are not rallying around this traitorous flag as is Mr. Huckabee.

Some of these same Confederate flag lovers rails against multiculturalism's identity politics, but the Confederates (who later became Jim Crowists) originated the concept. The only flag that should get big ups is the U.S. flag.