Re: Confederate Flag
The father or the son?
https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=RwMGAAAAIBAJ&pg=7182,6238795&hl=en
Either way, that seems to be your personal bugaboo to battle.
I appreciate your effort, I do. But that isn't documentation and it is from a paper printed in 1922.
Forrest represents nothing personal to me. I happened to have read books about him over the years. I suppose most people who are truly interested in the War Between the States have a favorite general/leader/battle or two. Forrest interested me for a number of reasons. He was a very complex man, brilliant in many ways, though not particularly educated. Depending on what you read Forrest was either a saint or the devil himself. Of course he was neither.
I have lurked on a number of flag hysteria threads on DP. I have said very little and in fact I don't intend to say much at all. I brought Forrest up as I've seen him mentioned a few times by people who have attempted to demonize the South in general, past and present. In their haste to label all things Southern as trash and worthless; in their hysteria to denigrate Southern people as racist morons and treasonous bastards, many here - and frankly several people I thought I new better - have based their sweeping accusations and blatant untruths on willful ignorance and lies. Forrest was an easy example in making my point.
The battle flag threads are waaaaaaaaaaaay off topic. People have lost it. The threads went quickly from a discussion of racism to "gotcha". You might check your own posts in that regard.
DP has seen its share of racists, Nazis, KKK sympathizers and white supremacists but you know what? DP has seen a comparatively scant response to racists posting here and the like! That's right. You can go back and search till your heart's content.
The flag hysteria was originally about the Confederate battle flag and its use by racists. The topic itself wasn't about racism per say. In the past we have seen that while racism expressed here is not welcomed by many on DP, it certainly isn't a hot topic. Expressing one's disgust for the Confederate battle flag on DP is tantamount to putting a yellow ribbon decal on your car bumper during Desert Storm. It makes some people feel as if they are doing something without actually doing anything. No sacrifice, no real commitment involved just a little social/political masturbation to make shallow people feel good for a minute.
Racism is wrong and it is ugly because it is based in hate. I see few people involved in flag hysteria actually discussing solutions to racism. Ironically black people and brown people and all people who are non-white, all people who are discriminated against are getting shat upon once again as the subject has been diverted, often via the expression of hatred, I might add.
So no, it wasn't (isn't) about Forrest or Southern culture or who won the war. It's not about "gotcha" and you have no idea how ****ing tired I am of "gotcha" on DP. It is about ending racism and discrimination in America. But that topic can't really be discussed on DP for more that 10 posts before it devolves into mindless drivel.