Having thought about why the flag remark bothered me so much, I think it comes down to the following. While this may not be the case across the entire South, in my section of it at least, the Confederate flag has largely been removed from polite conversation, not unlike the N-word. You still see a few here and there, but nothing like you did when I was a kid. In 2003, Jesse Helms would no longer easily be able to ride overtly racist appeals to electoral victory, and that's a huge step forward.
So when I hear Dean say that he wants to be the candidate for guys sporting the Stars and Bars I want to scream, "For the love of god, don't go encouraging them!"
I understand what you're saying, but I have to note that I live in Athens, Ga., one of the more liberal places in the South, and I see Confederate flags all the time around here, mostly on UGA students' SUVs. Granted, there are a lot -- quite a lot -- fewer of them around than when I was a kid (grew up in North Georgia), but I still see them all the time. I see them on the drive to Atlanta. I see them when I go up to the mountains. I see them in downtown Athens. A local bar, in fact, which caters to students, got some press recently when it opened because it's called something like General Beauregard's, and is festooned with the Confederate battle flag.
I would certainly like to fergit, but hell, no, they ain't. It's going to take a long, long time, unfortunately.
Hmm. Well, I'm in the RTP area of North Carolina, which is possibly the only area of the South that is reliably to the left of Athens. Maybe my experience is less representative than I'd like to believe. But, as you say, the flag is far, far less apparent than it was twenty years ago, when you could see it everywhere.
Having thought about why the flag remark bothered me so much, I think it comes down to the following. While this may not be the case across the entire South, in my section of it at least, the Confederate flag has largely been removed from polite conversation, not unlike the N-word. You still see a few here and there, but nothing like you did when I was a kid. In 2003, Jesse Helms would no longer easily be able to ride overtly racist appeals to electoral victory, and that's a huge step forward.
So when I hear Dean say that he wants to be the candidate for guys sporting the Stars and Bars I want to scream, "For the love of god, don't go encouraging them!"
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-11-03 2:28 PM
I understand what you're saying, but I have to note that I live in Athens, Ga., one of the more liberal places in the South, and I see Confederate flags all the time around here, mostly on UGA students' SUVs. Granted, there are a lot -- quite a lot -- fewer of them around than when I was a kid (grew up in North Georgia), but I still see them all the time. I see them on the drive to Atlanta. I see them when I go up to the mountains. I see them in downtown Athens. A local bar, in fact, which caters to students, got some press recently when it opened because it's called something like General Beauregard's, and is festooned with the Confederate battle flag.
I would certainly like to fergit, but hell, no, they ain't. It's going to take a long, long time, unfortunately.
Posted by guest | Link to this comment | 11-11-03 3:44 PM
Hmm. Well, I'm in the RTP area of North Carolina, which is possibly the only area of the South that is reliably to the left of Athens. Maybe my experience is less representative than I'd like to believe. But, as you say, the flag is far, far less apparent than it was twenty years ago, when you could see it everywhere.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-12-03 7:56 AM