Why do I like James Martin over at Virginia Progressive? Because of comments like this, in response to Vince Thoms defense of the flying the Confederate battle flag:
Vince at Too Conservative says of the Confederate Flag, “People died defending the flag.”
People died defending the swastika… Should they fly that proudly over Germany?
Heh.
Yes, I know the history of the Confederate flag. That history will always be a dual one. It was a defense of the indefensible that trampled states rights in its wake.
I remember an occasion where someone asked me to wear a Confederate flag lapel sticker. I instantly refused, and the gentleman was shocked. Forced to explain, I told him that no true Southerner would wear the emblem of the Confederacy.
Virginia is my home — Mother of Presidents and the Old Dominion herself. If one truly believed in “states rights”, then wear your state seal.
I fly the Virginia flag from my home proudly. Its past lives into the present. The Confederate battle flag is a reminder of noble ideas (states rights) being used for ignoble ends (the preservation of slavery).
That our forefathers did not have the moral courage to end slavery in the South should be a stark reminder to those who compromise on the moral questions of today. I wonder what symbols and ideas we will consider relics tomorrow?