Part 3- The Confederate Flag- Should It Still Fly?

Part 3 - Wrap it Up I'll Take It..

Who owns history? Who dictates Truth?

As for the Confederate Flag used as a symbol-

I am a musician. I was raised in the South. I consider myself proud to be a Southerner. I KNOW where my musical influences come from. Rock n’ roll comes DIRECTLY from the Blues. The Blues comes from incredibly talented black musicians, mostly from the South. This music was invented by the sons and daughters of slaves. I revere these artists. I am delivered, artistically, and spiritually through music as a result of their suffering and their vision and their perseverance.

Guess what? So are any of you who consider yourselves fans of “Southern” Rock.

I understand this and most of our “Southern” Rock heroes understand this. Most musicians know who they have to thank for those incredible guitar licks.
It was Lynyrd Skynyrd who wrote the song “Curtis Lowe’.
And just what was the message of that song?

Hey- in case you haven’t been paying attention- THE SOUTH ROSE AGAIN.
It rose again through literature, art, film and MOST importantly -through MUSIC.
Hey..the music of the SOUTH changed the entire WORLD.

R.E.M are from Athens Georgia. So are The B-52’s. I knew the B-52’s. They all had Southern accents. Dang, I watched Keith Strickland and Ricky Wilson eat Sweet potato pie and fried okra.

Why are they not considered “Southern” Rock? Is it that Flag thing?

Dig this. James Brown was a Southerner. Little Richard was a Southerner. Howlin’ Wolf was a Southerner. The Allman Brothers, who are credited as being the originators of “Southern” Rock were an integrated band, AND Southerners.(by the way- you will never see a Confederate Flag flown behind The Allman Brothers Band.) So was Booker T and The MGs. So was Muddy Waters.
Aw shucks, so was Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis.

That Confederate flag being hung behind some “Southern” Rock bands is disingenuous for this reason. It’s an abysmal abuse of a symbol. It’s a marketing device that fosters a culture of division.

How do you honor your ancestors by degrading the very population who, in point of fact, gave you the driving rhythms you use to rock the world?

How would you feel about Old Glory being used to sell breast implants? Toast? Baby formula?
A good stout toilet? Chicken feed? Erectile dysfunction pills?

And what the HELL does that have to do with those who died in battle to preserve a nation?

Such are the uses of symbols as myth..and myths created and used as comfort for the desperate and terminally insecure.

Ol’ Bill Clinton, a Southerner, once said,

“ It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you ANSWER to.”

See?

There are museums to house artifacts of history, proud or otherwise. For those who march around in circles shouting about the injustice of the striking of the Confederate Flag from a PUBLIC institution, paid for by the taxpayers of THE UNITED STATES, I respectfully ask you to please march into your back yard and plant your flag of eternal resistance (to evolution?) there.

Put a Confederate decal on your rear windshield. No one will stop you.

Put a nice over sized Stars N Bars tapestry over your living room couch.(Most of these are made in China.) Wear a sporty tee-shirt bearing the emblem of your pride. Put the Confederate flag on your favorite fishing hat. Get Confederate golf clubs and matching cleats. Go on a double date wearing matching flags. Who knows? It could enhance your sex appeal.
This is your individual right. You can use your Individual Tax Return to purchase these items.
Look in the mirror and smile. It’s O.K.
Hell, Y’all look mighty sharp.
Ain’t The United States Constitution grand?
Uh-huh. Sho nuff. There is will always be something magnetic and romantic in lost causes.
Fact is, in one way or another, there’s a rebel inside us all.

Damnation-after all- we’re a nation conceived in rebellion, right? Hell Yeah! Yee-haw!

Lets HEAR that Rebel YELL!

But bear this in mind my Southern Brothers and Sisters: to MOST of your fellow countrymen, no matter WHAT their race, or WHAT state they are from; when they see the Stars and Bars flapping in the breeze above your house, the first words that come to mind Are Not

FREEDOM, JUSTICE OR EQUALITY.

Can you say the same for Old Glory, bubba?