Every
meme I have looked at in the past two weeks has been about the confederate
flag. I’ve heard so many arguments on both
sides of the issue that my mind feels convoluted and overwhelmed. Some of the arguments I’ve heard have been
well thought out, articulated and intellectual. They’re strong arguments because they make
good, solid points. Other arguments I’ve
heard have been utterly ridiculous and weak.
They make no sense and it’s alarming that someone is using them,
thinking that they have a solid point.
I’ve been trying to figure out how I feel on the issue and while I do have some thoughts, I am mostly left with a lot of questions. I do not think that this issue is as black and white as many people are making it out to be. I think this issue is very gray, much grayer than many would like to imagine. Then again, I think racism in general is much grayer than many would like to imagine.
The meme that I saw earlier today that really got me thinking was a meme that I felt fell into the weak category field of arguments. It was a meme that suggested that a bakery who would be forced to bake a cake for a homosexual wedding should also in turn be forced to bake a cake of a confederate flag. I put that idea into serious question and thought out some plausible scenarios.
Customer: I would like a cake for my son and his husband’s wedding please
Bakery owner: I’m sorry, I cannot do that for I believe homosexuality is wrong based on my belief system.
I would only hope that if a bakery owner based his/her reaction to a customer wanting a cake for a homosexual wedding on his/her beliefs as a Christian that a similar reaction would be in place for the person wanting the confederate flag cake.
Customer: I would like a cake for my black neighbor that recently moved into what used to be a perfectly fine all white neighborhood, to give him the incentive that we don’t appreciate his kind round here.
Bakery Owner: I’m sorry, I cannot do that for that goes against what I believe as a Christian.
Yet, as I picture this scenario in my mind, I realize that while there is truth to what I imagine, it is not 100% truth. There are people in the world that would want a confederate flag cake for that very reason, but not everyone who would want a confederate flag cake would want it for that reason.
Customer: I would like a confederate flag cake please. I’m not racist by the way. I just want the confederate flag to celebrate with all of my friends, who happen to be all white and for the record Non-Jewish.
At one time I would have considered such a statement to have been an outright lie of an individual who was clearly a racist but did not want to be labeled as one. I would have thought this because again there are a lot of examples of people in the world who are just like that. Yet, not everyone is.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there truly are people out there in the world, who are not racist and who are not white supremacist who keep and bear the Confederate flag. They truly display the confederate flag for its historical reference and heritage. Some may even display it simply because they like the look of it. Those types of people do exist and when weighing my thoughts on the issue, I must consider them.
In some ways it all reminds me of the issue with Pit bulls. There are many people that are against the ownership of Pit bulls and believe that no person should be allowed to own the animal. They vote for Pit Bull bans in communities. I have to ask myself, why do these people feel this way? Well the answer is unfortunately very simple. It’s because while there are people out there in this world that raise Pit bulls to be kind, loving, loyal dogs, there are unfortunately still many people out there in the world that raise them to be vicious, incredibly mean, killing machines. The Pit Bulls greatest enemy is not the mom with three little kids that thinks of the dog as a killer and votes for a ban, it is the wanna be bad boy/bad girl who buys a Pit Bull puppy and trains it to be a merciless killer.
That is where the history/heritage waivers of the Confederate flag have failed. If you are someone who is not a white supremacist or a racist that waves the confederate flag in honor of its historical and heritage reference, may I point out the obvious: You are in the minority of those who wave the flag. The Dylann Roof’s of the world who wave the flag as a symbolism of white supremacy and hatred for minorities, outnumber you. They outnumber you by a lot. Your frustration and anger with this issue shouldn’t be with the liberals and the blacks who look at the Confederate flag as a symbolism of hatred and evil, your frustration and anger should be with the white supremacist and racist who perverted the flag by proudly waiving it as a symbolism of white supremacy and hatred.
More questions remain. How do I feel about the Confederate flag being removed from government ran institutions. I feel good about that and agree with it. I agree with it because of what that flag has came to represent whether that is the true intention of the flag or not. To me and others taking down the flag is a representation for a movement of equality. It is a step in the right direction for the, “With Liberty and Justice For All” statement in the Pledge of Allegiance to finally feel like a true statement.
Yet, how do I feel about telling American citizens that they can’t waive the flag on their own property? Not as good, matter of fact not good at all. Is it because I believe strongly in the first amendment? Yes, in partial it is. Is it because I know that not all Confederate flag bearers are white supremacist and/or racist? Yes, that is also part of the reason. Yet the real reason is because I have to ask myself, what really does this accomplish? Does it truly help to eliminate racism? Does it suddenly make the man who hates all minorities and feels that America is HIS country because he’s white; have a sudden change of heart? I don’t think so. I personally feel that all it really does is create even more of a problem by not eliminating racism, but instead simply changes direct racism into indirect racism. From what I’ve seen and studied, indirect racism in many ways is a much more dangerous and complicated issue than direct racism.
Some people then ask me, if by continuing to allow someone to waive the Confederate flag, for whatever reasons, am I not therefore supporting or in the least at least tolerating racism? I can see that argument and think it’s a good, fair question. It’s one that I have thought about, slept on and still find myself wrestling with today. I don’t have the answer. I wish it were as simple as, “Ok, stop the stupid hatred for stupid reasons. We all bleed red people, let’s love one another” but it’s not.
Why do racist exist? I don’t know if we as a society ask this question enough. I think instead we ask ourselves, “Do racist people exist?” but we don’t examine the why enough. I think instead we dismiss the question with, “because they’re stupid” or something of the sort. Racism isn’t nearly as black and white as we seem to treat it.
A young man raised in a mostly white community grows up and is amongst whites nearly all of his young life. Then one day his father takes him to the store and he has an unfortunate incident with a person of color, who is very rude and mean to him. After the incident, the boy ask his father why was the man rude and mean to him and his father replies, “That’s just the way those people are.”
The man grows up to think that all people of color are like that mean, rude man in the store that day and holds that prejudice against all people of color he meets in person and views on television and radio. He gets a job at a place and has to work with a few people of color. He doesn’t like most of them, but as he begins to work with Jimmy, he finds out that Jimmy isn’t like the rest of them. Jimmy’s a good guy, smart, funny and friendly. He likes Jimmy.
Yet when he’s around his other racist buddies, who see a group of black people and make unfair racist statements about them, saying, “yeah, they’re all like that!” his response is, “Well, yeah, but not Jimmy. Jimmy isn’t like that. He’s a good one.”
The hope would be that the man’s experience with Jimmy would lead him to realize that all people of color are just like the white people he knows in his life. Some people of color are going to be like the mean, rude man in the store that day. Some people of color are going to be like Jimmy. Just like the white people the man knows in his life, some are really cool, nice, friendly people and others are complete jerks.
Yet that’s not how the man looks at it. The man looks at it as if almost all people of color are like the man in the store that day and that Jimmy just happens to be the one rare exception. I have to ask myself, where are we as a society failing this man? Where are we as a society failing to make this man make the realization that how people act and treat others is based on their content of character and not on the color of their skin? That is a question I think needs to be addressed. A question that needs to be addressed much more than the question of the Confederate flag. The Confederate Flag is a result of this issue and not a causation of it.
Questions need to keep being asked and issues need to continue being discussed. Feel free to agree with me or disagree with me but please do me a favor. If you disagree with anything that I’ve said, let’s discuss it. Tell me why you feel how you do and why. It does no good for you to just be angry with me for having an opposing opinion to yours. It does no good for you to just have your opinion and close mine off either. We can only grow by learning about one another and listening to each other. There are answers out there to these problems, and while disagreements will always exist, I do believe that we can come closer to moderation. Then again, maybe I’m wrong about that too.
I’ve been trying to figure out how I feel on the issue and while I do have some thoughts, I am mostly left with a lot of questions. I do not think that this issue is as black and white as many people are making it out to be. I think this issue is very gray, much grayer than many would like to imagine. Then again, I think racism in general is much grayer than many would like to imagine.
The meme that I saw earlier today that really got me thinking was a meme that I felt fell into the weak category field of arguments. It was a meme that suggested that a bakery who would be forced to bake a cake for a homosexual wedding should also in turn be forced to bake a cake of a confederate flag. I put that idea into serious question and thought out some plausible scenarios.
Customer: I would like a cake for my son and his husband’s wedding please
Bakery owner: I’m sorry, I cannot do that for I believe homosexuality is wrong based on my belief system.
I would only hope that if a bakery owner based his/her reaction to a customer wanting a cake for a homosexual wedding on his/her beliefs as a Christian that a similar reaction would be in place for the person wanting the confederate flag cake.
Customer: I would like a cake for my black neighbor that recently moved into what used to be a perfectly fine all white neighborhood, to give him the incentive that we don’t appreciate his kind round here.
Bakery Owner: I’m sorry, I cannot do that for that goes against what I believe as a Christian.
Yet, as I picture this scenario in my mind, I realize that while there is truth to what I imagine, it is not 100% truth. There are people in the world that would want a confederate flag cake for that very reason, but not everyone who would want a confederate flag cake would want it for that reason.
Customer: I would like a confederate flag cake please. I’m not racist by the way. I just want the confederate flag to celebrate with all of my friends, who happen to be all white and for the record Non-Jewish.
At one time I would have considered such a statement to have been an outright lie of an individual who was clearly a racist but did not want to be labeled as one. I would have thought this because again there are a lot of examples of people in the world who are just like that. Yet, not everyone is.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there truly are people out there in the world, who are not racist and who are not white supremacist who keep and bear the Confederate flag. They truly display the confederate flag for its historical reference and heritage. Some may even display it simply because they like the look of it. Those types of people do exist and when weighing my thoughts on the issue, I must consider them.
In some ways it all reminds me of the issue with Pit bulls. There are many people that are against the ownership of Pit bulls and believe that no person should be allowed to own the animal. They vote for Pit Bull bans in communities. I have to ask myself, why do these people feel this way? Well the answer is unfortunately very simple. It’s because while there are people out there in this world that raise Pit bulls to be kind, loving, loyal dogs, there are unfortunately still many people out there in the world that raise them to be vicious, incredibly mean, killing machines. The Pit Bulls greatest enemy is not the mom with three little kids that thinks of the dog as a killer and votes for a ban, it is the wanna be bad boy/bad girl who buys a Pit Bull puppy and trains it to be a merciless killer.
That is where the history/heritage waivers of the Confederate flag have failed. If you are someone who is not a white supremacist or a racist that waves the confederate flag in honor of its historical and heritage reference, may I point out the obvious: You are in the minority of those who wave the flag. The Dylann Roof’s of the world who wave the flag as a symbolism of white supremacy and hatred for minorities, outnumber you. They outnumber you by a lot. Your frustration and anger with this issue shouldn’t be with the liberals and the blacks who look at the Confederate flag as a symbolism of hatred and evil, your frustration and anger should be with the white supremacist and racist who perverted the flag by proudly waiving it as a symbolism of white supremacy and hatred.
More questions remain. How do I feel about the Confederate flag being removed from government ran institutions. I feel good about that and agree with it. I agree with it because of what that flag has came to represent whether that is the true intention of the flag or not. To me and others taking down the flag is a representation for a movement of equality. It is a step in the right direction for the, “With Liberty and Justice For All” statement in the Pledge of Allegiance to finally feel like a true statement.
Yet, how do I feel about telling American citizens that they can’t waive the flag on their own property? Not as good, matter of fact not good at all. Is it because I believe strongly in the first amendment? Yes, in partial it is. Is it because I know that not all Confederate flag bearers are white supremacist and/or racist? Yes, that is also part of the reason. Yet the real reason is because I have to ask myself, what really does this accomplish? Does it truly help to eliminate racism? Does it suddenly make the man who hates all minorities and feels that America is HIS country because he’s white; have a sudden change of heart? I don’t think so. I personally feel that all it really does is create even more of a problem by not eliminating racism, but instead simply changes direct racism into indirect racism. From what I’ve seen and studied, indirect racism in many ways is a much more dangerous and complicated issue than direct racism.
Some people then ask me, if by continuing to allow someone to waive the Confederate flag, for whatever reasons, am I not therefore supporting or in the least at least tolerating racism? I can see that argument and think it’s a good, fair question. It’s one that I have thought about, slept on and still find myself wrestling with today. I don’t have the answer. I wish it were as simple as, “Ok, stop the stupid hatred for stupid reasons. We all bleed red people, let’s love one another” but it’s not.
Why do racist exist? I don’t know if we as a society ask this question enough. I think instead we ask ourselves, “Do racist people exist?” but we don’t examine the why enough. I think instead we dismiss the question with, “because they’re stupid” or something of the sort. Racism isn’t nearly as black and white as we seem to treat it.
A young man raised in a mostly white community grows up and is amongst whites nearly all of his young life. Then one day his father takes him to the store and he has an unfortunate incident with a person of color, who is very rude and mean to him. After the incident, the boy ask his father why was the man rude and mean to him and his father replies, “That’s just the way those people are.”
The man grows up to think that all people of color are like that mean, rude man in the store that day and holds that prejudice against all people of color he meets in person and views on television and radio. He gets a job at a place and has to work with a few people of color. He doesn’t like most of them, but as he begins to work with Jimmy, he finds out that Jimmy isn’t like the rest of them. Jimmy’s a good guy, smart, funny and friendly. He likes Jimmy.
Yet when he’s around his other racist buddies, who see a group of black people and make unfair racist statements about them, saying, “yeah, they’re all like that!” his response is, “Well, yeah, but not Jimmy. Jimmy isn’t like that. He’s a good one.”
The hope would be that the man’s experience with Jimmy would lead him to realize that all people of color are just like the white people he knows in his life. Some people of color are going to be like the mean, rude man in the store that day. Some people of color are going to be like Jimmy. Just like the white people the man knows in his life, some are really cool, nice, friendly people and others are complete jerks.
Yet that’s not how the man looks at it. The man looks at it as if almost all people of color are like the man in the store that day and that Jimmy just happens to be the one rare exception. I have to ask myself, where are we as a society failing this man? Where are we as a society failing to make this man make the realization that how people act and treat others is based on their content of character and not on the color of their skin? That is a question I think needs to be addressed. A question that needs to be addressed much more than the question of the Confederate flag. The Confederate Flag is a result of this issue and not a causation of it.
Questions need to keep being asked and issues need to continue being discussed. Feel free to agree with me or disagree with me but please do me a favor. If you disagree with anything that I’ve said, let’s discuss it. Tell me why you feel how you do and why. It does no good for you to just be angry with me for having an opposing opinion to yours. It does no good for you to just have your opinion and close mine off either. We can only grow by learning about one another and listening to each other. There are answers out there to these problems, and while disagreements will always exist, I do believe that we can come closer to moderation. Then again, maybe I’m wrong about that too.
