Tag Archives: Confederate flag

national news

Attention turns to Confederate flag

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Just as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas is able legally to deny issuing motor vehicle license plates depicting the Confederate flag, the issue of flying the flag in South Carolina has emerged to become a central discussion topic.

The Confederate flag flies in front of the state capitol in Columbia, S.C. But over on the Atlantic Coast, in Charleston, a young man this week opened fire in a predominantly black church, killing nine worshipers in a horrifying massacre.

Dylann Roof admitted to committing the crime today in court, so we can take away the “alleged” description of the person who did the terrible deed.

Why? The young man is a raving racist, according to those who know him.

Thus, we get back to the issue of the rebel flag. What does it represent? To many Americans, it symbolizes hatred. It flies at Ku Klux Klan rallies, where Americans proclaim their “pride” in a movement that enslaved other Americans.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/take-down-the-confederate-flag-now/396290/?utm_source=SFTwitter

The flag should come down. It shouldn’t fly on the South Carolina’s capitol grounds. It should be put away, never to be seen in public.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has it within her power to remove the flag. She should act.

Think about this, too: Charleston was where the Confederate States of America fired the first shots that ignited the Civil War. They bombarded Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor and thus began the bloodiest war in American history. Why? Because the Confederate states had seceded from the Union because they claimed that as individual states, they had the power to own slaves.

The flag symbolizes hatred, the kind of hatred that prompted Dylann Roof to attack people — in a place of worship.

Bring it down, Gov. Haley.

 

 

legal news

Court says Texas can ban Confederate flag

Did hell freeze over when I wasn’t paying enough attention to what was happening down below?

I’m trying to figure out what happened today at the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that Texas indeed can prohibit people from displaying the Confederate flag on their motor vehicle license plates.

What’s more, one of the court’s more rigid conservatives, Justice Clarence Thomas, joined the majority in upholding the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles policy allowing the ban.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/245401-justice-thomas-sides-with-liberals-in-blocking-confederate-license

Great day in the morning!

The court has ruled correctly.

The Texas Sons of Confederate Veterans had brought the case to court after the DMV denied its request, with the backing of then-Gov. Rick Perry. The group contended it was a “free speech” issue, that it was allowed by the Constitution to make its statement of pride in the Confederacy.

Other Texans, though, objected mightily. Imagine that. The Confederate States of America seceded from the United States of America in 1861, declared war on the Union, launched the Civil War that killed 600,000 Americans. And why?

Because those states wanted the right to allow their residents to own slaves.

The Confederate flag in question has become a symbol for hate groups ever since. Go to a Klan rally and you’ll see the flag flying.

That is what drew the objection.

Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, who wrote the opinion, said issuance of specialty plates is a form of “government speech,” not individual speech. Thus, government reserves the right to reject requests such as the one that came from the Texas Sons of Confederate Veterans.

So, the state will get to keep making decisions on how folk can adorn their motor vehicle license plates. And if the DMV deems a particular symbol to be hateful in the eyes of Texans, then it won’t be found on our public streets and highways.

 

State news

Honor end of Civil War by not honoring it

Think of the term “Civil War.” Is there a greater oxymoron in the English language than that?

War, by definition, is hardly “civil,” if you go by one definition explained in most dictionaries.

And yet, as R.G. Ratliffe notes in his latest Texas Monthly blog, Texas keeps resurrecting memories of the Civil War. He notes as well that the state is going commemorate a sesquicentennial on April 9, which is the 150th year since Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to U.S. Army Gen. U.S. Grant at Appomattox, Va.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/civil-war-ended-150-years-ago-lets-move

So … let’s get over it, shall we?

The most notorious remembrance of the Civil War is the case that’s being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court to display the Stars and Bars on Texas license plates. The Sons of Confederate Veterans says the flag merely honors Southern heritage. Many of us think otherwise. It’s a symbol of bloody, gruesome conflict. It’s also a symbol, in many eyes, of slave ownership — which offends the millions of African-Americans, not to mention many more millions of whites, who live in Texas.

The upcoming sesquicentennial provides a good time for Texans to put this war behind us.

Texas was on the losing side of this conflict, which killed more than 600,000 Americans. Texas seceded from the Union and sought to join a new nation founded on the notion that “states’ rights” trumped federal law. Texans went to war against the United States of America, thus committing a serious act of treason against the nation.

Do we really want to keep reminding ourselves of this?

I hope not.

The Civil War is over. Done. History.

Let’s allow our children and grandchildren to study it in school, discuss it among themselves and with their teachers and parents. Let us cease reliving it.

State news

Gov. Abbott must act as AG Abbott did on rebel plates

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott no doubt casts himself as a man of high principle.

Well, here’s his chance to demonstrate it. He can ensure that the state does not issue motor vehicle license plates that carry the Confederate flag on them.

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2015/01/texas-faces-a-serious-confederacy-conundrum.html/

He should take the argument to the Supreme Court of the United States and argue the same thing he did while he served as Texas attorney general. The plates are offensive to a significant number of Texans and they should not celebrate Confederate Heroes Day. Period.

As the blogger Tod Robberson points out on the link attached to this post, the plates would “honor” individuals who became enemies of the United States of America by fighting to defeat the Union during the Civil War.

Robberson writes: “It shouldn’t matter whether it’s a visible symbol on a license plate or the in-your-face knowledge — especially among African American taxpayers of the state — that Texans have to pay state employees for the day off to commemorate people who were enemies of the United States and who fought for the right to preserve slavery. It’s offensive either way to a huge number of people.”

I will add that African-Americans comprise about 12.5 percent of the state’s population, or about 3 million people.

Gov. Abbott is the same man who served as attorney general. He was right to oppose the issuance of the plates before — as was then-Gov. Rick Perry. The new governor should follow suit and not allow these license plates on Texans’ motor vehicles.