2003-10-30T13:26:13Z2003-10-30T13:26:13ZWhat they said2003-11-06T00:59:39Z<p>Steven Taylor, <a href="http://www.poliblogger.com/poliblog/archives/001905.html" title="Flag Politics">here</a> and <a href="http://www.poliblogger.com/poliblog/archives/001906.html" title="More Flag Politics">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.matthewstinson.com/blog/archives/000924.html" title="Not my flag">Matthew Stinson</a> both do me the favor of explaining why I’m not a huge fan of the <del>Stars and Bars</del> Southern Cross. Steven says it far more eloquently than I could:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My question to those who are adamantly in favor of the flag: why? What does it uniquely mean to you about your Southern heritage? And even if it means something dear to your heart, isn’t whatever it is you wish to extol being tainted by what the flag signifies to others?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I think a lot of white Southerners do, deep down, recognize that; hence why I often hear comments like “the blacks are just <em>pretending</em> they’re offended by the flag” or “I know <em>one black guy</em> who isn’t offended, so I really don’t think blacks in general are.” So I think the key to change here is not necessarily to get whites to change their views about the flag, but rather to convince them that blacks’ views on the flag are genuinely-held, rather than a fabrication of the <span class="caps">NAACP</span> and the <span class="caps">SCLC</span> and professional race-baiters like Al Sharpton.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, if you’re not entirely sick of the gubernatorial campaign, you can <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-confederate-flag-campaigns,0,2034440.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlineson">read this Emily Wagster Pettus piece</a> on the Rebel flag’s role in the gubernatorial race. And, as a special bonus, <a href="http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0310/30/m03c.html">Amy Tuck finally signed that affidavit saying she’d never had an abortion</a> (no, don’t ask… I don’t even pretend to understand what that’s all about).</p>
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