A quote attributed to Edmund Burke is “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Borrowing that thought, All that is necessary for our Southern culture and heritage to be destroyed is for good men to do nothing. Every time we choose to not wear a tie with a confederate symbol to avoid “offending” someone, every time we decide to not display the Confederate flag in an appropriate and respectful manner so as to not upset the neighbors, and every time we fail to speak out when The South is attacked, we lose just a bit more of our proud heritage.
If good Southern men will not identify and align themselves with Southern heritage and culture, then all that is left are those who misrepresent and degrade our heritage. We should all strive to have a good reputation in the community. By clearly identifying ourselves with Southern heritage and culture, we increase the honor and good will associated with The South. By avoiding Southern association, we abandon the reputation of our heritage to those who drag the Confederate flag through the mud for their own self-interest.
Every time someone comes in contact with a Southern gentleman wearing a Confederate tie or lapel pin, someone’s attitude is changed. Every time someone passes a well-kept house with a Stainless Banner or Third National flag waving in the breeze, someone’s attitude is changed. Do your part to promote the image of The South. Don’t be one of the “good men who did nothing”.
Good post. Very good.
Sadly, many Southerners today are ashamed of their heritage – or more precisely, cowed by those who have illegitimately defamed that heritage. In short, they have forgotten the old saw about “sticks and stones” and have fallen victim to “names” that cannot, as yet, hurt.
Yet, as more and more folks bow to political correctness, its adherents find the power to turn “names” into “sticks and stones” by passing into law such monstrosities as the concept of “hate speech” and “hate crimes”. Naturally, defense of the South and its heritage – no matter from whom – is immediately considered a “hate crime” because it is automatically adjudged as “racist” in origin. The concept of racism is yet another Marxist strategy designed to sow discord and validate the politics of victimization and class/race envy.
There are two main reasons why Southerners acquiesce to this tactic. The first is simple cowardice. The individual KNOWS better, but has not got the intestinal fortitude to go against the cultural “grain”. He wants to be “accepted”. This is the child who in high school fears to do anything that might attract the wrath of the “cool kids” and thus be considered a “social loser”. Frankly, this type of individual is no loss to the cause but, interestingly, neither is he accepted by the enemies of the South despite his craven attempts to garner their good opinion.
I am reminded of so many Southern military men who – often for good reasons – abandoned the South and fought for the Union. NONE of them was ever accepted. Men like General George Thomas – perhaps the best general in the War – were bypassed and shut out of the historical narrative of the struggle in favor of pedestrian “warriors” like Custer and Sheridan. J.E.B. Stuart’s father in law, Philip St. George Cooke, soon found himself a footnote in the War. Captain Frederick Benteen, a Southerner who saved the remnants of Custer’s command at Little Bighorn, was a miserable malcontent during and after the War because he realized that his military career was circumscribed by the location of his birth. No, there is no hope in appeasement, only shame and mortification.
The other category is that of the ignorant – those who have fallen prey to the enemy’s lies about Southern history and heritage. These folks – having heard these lies from childhood – believe that their ancestors WERE “slavers and traitors”, that they fought to destroy the Union and retain the institution of slavery and that they deserved whatever misfortune fell upon the South in its unrepentant wickedness. Of course, they are wrong but here again, there are two types: those who, having been exposed to the facts and the truth seek further knowledge and those who “don’t want to hear it”. The former often become strong defenders of the South while the latter are apathetic and can’t be bothered or, in the alternative, immediately migrate to the first type noted above.
The whole point of this matter is simply that there is NO “safe” position, no place that an individual can go that permits him to avoid “taking sides”. Even the ATTEMPT to do so places one in the enemy camp because silence arising from apathy or silence arising from fear is still silence. Right now, many folks believe that given the tenor of the times, this is a “small potatoes” issue; that it doesn’t really matter and that there are far more momentous matters to which we must attend rather than worry about the ongoing cultural genocide being waged against the South and Southerners – but they are wrong. For the war that this culture is making on the South and Southerners is nothing less than a major strategy in the war being waged against Western Civilization and our liberties and it’s being waged by those who wish to destroy the one and end the other. To believe that resistance to the attack on the South is unimportant is to believe that the removal of a cancer while it is yet small is also unimportant.
Of course, this malignancy is no longer “small”. We have gotten to the point at which the mere display of Southern symbols promotes an active (and negative) response by the organs of power in the society whether in our schools our workplaces or in public places. Our children are punished for wearing a piece of clothing which depicts the battle flag. Employees are not permitted to park at the work site if their vehicle should display the flag. Symbols of far more hateful and violent movements are accepted, even approved. But the Christian Cross of St. Andrew is abused and banished. And this will continue for as long as the good folks of the South are willing to put up with it. For one of the things that we all SHOULD have learned from history is that appeasers never win – or survive – while the courageous, even in defeat, are praiseworthy.
Dear Sirs,
The question is, who has the privilege of properly displaying (using the Flag Code of the United States as a guide) the symbols of the Confederacy today? Is it for anyone who generally believes in and strives to adhere to the traditional values of the South? Or, is the privilege reserved for Southerners?
Thank you.
I firmly believe that the symbols of the Confederacy are for respectful use by “anyone who believes in and strives to adhere to the traditional values of The South.” (very well stated, sir)
• If the CSA were in effect today, there would be movement across the borders by those who align themselves with Southern principles.
• In the 1990’s the Confederate flag was displayed by some of the freedom and independence movements in Europe. They didn’t have Southern roots, yet they are a kindred spirit. They are more Southern than many who live here but reject Southern heritage and culture.
Dear Sirs,
I ordered three miniature Bonnie Blue flags, two for yours truly, and one for my Christian colleague from Georgia. Yours truly, has seen a Confederate symbol displayed properly only once in New Jersey, the Navy Jack as a front license plate on an out-of-state pickup truck. A few of us stand with you, even here.
A New Jersey Copperhead
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