I am posting this article because I find that most people are first, very uneducated on history (even those who have been to college), and two, because most people have a very short attention span and don't really pay that much attention to current events, or even remember them some years later.
I was born in SC in 1960. My family settled here in Orangeburg District in the 1720's, given a grant of land by King George.
Let's just say my roots here run deep.
Because of my age, I still have memories of the civil rights battles in the 1960s and of desegregation. Many on this board don't.
And while many on this board know well the wrongs of segregation and laws which did not offer equal opportunity to blacks, they also don't really know much of the race riots during that time, resulting in injuries to people and private property, which were also wrong.
Thank goodness the Civil Rights laws were passed, segregation ended, and the country moved forward.
For the better part of 25 years, into the 1990s, civil rights were pretty much a thing that were thought of in past tense. The NAACP was off the map, becoming an increasingly meaningless and shrinking organization. The civil rights battles were won. There was nothing left to fight for, and the NAACP was moving into oblivion.
Then, something even worse happened. The president of the NAACP stole millions from the organization, giving it a black eye in the public's perception.
The organization was in crisis. It was on the verge of not even existing. Something had to be done. There had to be something to fight for. An enemy was needed. Something to give the organization credence, to raise membership, and most importantly, to raise money.
At a national organization meeting, the idea was proposed to begin an assault on the Confederate Battle Flag. No, this battle wouldn't do a single thing to help the black population. But it WOULD raise awareness of the organization; it would play on white guilt, which was fed by decades of teaching from history books written in the north. And occassionally, the northern-based Klan would use it, and that could be used as proof that the flag and racism are linked.
Just pay no attention to the fact that the Klan's tiny organization is based in the north, that most of it's members are in the north, and that it is the US flag, NOT the CBF, that is on their webpage and is officially at their meetings. The liberal media loves controversy, hates the South, and will feed this frenzy.
And they did.
As the issue escalated in the late 1990s and early 2000s, at first, there was a feeling of disbelief among most of the public. What is this going to do to help blacks, who experience higher dropout rates in school, much higher rates of birth outside of marriage, and poverty? Nothing, of course. Why would the NAACP pursue an issue that does absolutely NOTHING to help a black community that so desperately needs help?
Money, of course.
Because of the ridiculousness of it all, and because I do know my history better than 98% of the general populous, an because I was very politically active, I became involved in the fight to keep the flag on the dome.
The bias of the media at events was CLEARLY obvious. They would go OUT OF THEIR WAY at flag rallies to pick out the most redneck looking guy in the crowd and put his face on TV. College professors and professionals wearing suits were avoided at all costs. Those who spoke clearly and intelligently on the history of the war and who denigrated the racist Klan were never, ever shown.
I talked to more than one member of the press. It was very clear that they had an agenda, and they were going to go out of their way to achieve their ends.
Now, there will be those who read this who still say " that guy is a racist", and I have had one person call me that on this board.
If that is what you believe, you don't know me at all. I go to THE most culturally mixed church in the upstate, and the woman I plan to marry has two adopted mixed race kids.
You know, the evil Adolf Hitler is credited with saying that if you tell a lie often enough, the lie will become the truth. It's call brainwashing.
Turns out, he was right.
I was born in SC in 1960. My family settled here in Orangeburg District in the 1720's, given a grant of land by King George.
Let's just say my roots here run deep.
Because of my age, I still have memories of the civil rights battles in the 1960s and of desegregation. Many on this board don't.
And while many on this board know well the wrongs of segregation and laws which did not offer equal opportunity to blacks, they also don't really know much of the race riots during that time, resulting in injuries to people and private property, which were also wrong.
Thank goodness the Civil Rights laws were passed, segregation ended, and the country moved forward.
For the better part of 25 years, into the 1990s, civil rights were pretty much a thing that were thought of in past tense. The NAACP was off the map, becoming an increasingly meaningless and shrinking organization. The civil rights battles were won. There was nothing left to fight for, and the NAACP was moving into oblivion.
Then, something even worse happened. The president of the NAACP stole millions from the organization, giving it a black eye in the public's perception.
The organization was in crisis. It was on the verge of not even existing. Something had to be done. There had to be something to fight for. An enemy was needed. Something to give the organization credence, to raise membership, and most importantly, to raise money.
At a national organization meeting, the idea was proposed to begin an assault on the Confederate Battle Flag. No, this battle wouldn't do a single thing to help the black population. But it WOULD raise awareness of the organization; it would play on white guilt, which was fed by decades of teaching from history books written in the north. And occassionally, the northern-based Klan would use it, and that could be used as proof that the flag and racism are linked.
Just pay no attention to the fact that the Klan's tiny organization is based in the north, that most of it's members are in the north, and that it is the US flag, NOT the CBF, that is on their webpage and is officially at their meetings. The liberal media loves controversy, hates the South, and will feed this frenzy.
And they did.
As the issue escalated in the late 1990s and early 2000s, at first, there was a feeling of disbelief among most of the public. What is this going to do to help blacks, who experience higher dropout rates in school, much higher rates of birth outside of marriage, and poverty? Nothing, of course. Why would the NAACP pursue an issue that does absolutely NOTHING to help a black community that so desperately needs help?
Money, of course.
Because of the ridiculousness of it all, and because I do know my history better than 98% of the general populous, an because I was very politically active, I became involved in the fight to keep the flag on the dome.
The bias of the media at events was CLEARLY obvious. They would go OUT OF THEIR WAY at flag rallies to pick out the most redneck looking guy in the crowd and put his face on TV. College professors and professionals wearing suits were avoided at all costs. Those who spoke clearly and intelligently on the history of the war and who denigrated the racist Klan were never, ever shown.
I talked to more than one member of the press. It was very clear that they had an agenda, and they were going to go out of their way to achieve their ends.
Now, there will be those who read this who still say " that guy is a racist", and I have had one person call me that on this board.
If that is what you believe, you don't know me at all. I go to THE most culturally mixed church in the upstate, and the woman I plan to marry has two adopted mixed race kids.
You know, the evil Adolf Hitler is credited with saying that if you tell a lie often enough, the lie will become the truth. It's call brainwashing.
Turns out, he was right.