I've been reading with interest about the fury with which the black community
is going after the confederate battle flag wherever it is flown or incorporated
into a flag that is flown, including private gatherings.
I've also been keeping up with the fury that the black community feels about racial profiling, a tool of certain law enforcement agencies for identification of possible criminal suspects.
I can certainly understand the anger on both issues, but the real issue in both cases is that a minority of people of both black and white races have caused these problems, much to the detriment of good citizens of both races. Revisionist history and political correctness will not cure bigotry, nor will it help reduce the crime rate.
It is an unpleasant fact that the "Rebel" flag has been the symbol of bigotry in certain ignorant and unwashed circles for many years. The sight of that flag plastered in the back window of a pick-up truck is a fairly certain indicator that there is a gun rack in that truck as well, not to mention a driver who wouldn't hesitate to use the guns for purposes other than hunting. It is chilling, and it makes me furious for more reasons than one (more on that later).
It is also an unpleasant fact that in certain cities and neighborhoods throughout the country, crimes are committed at a highly disproportionate level by members of the black community. Racial profiling began as a method to identify these people, not because of inherent bigotry in the law enforcement community. While it is unarguable that there is bigotry here, it is probably about equal to the population at large.
Although statistics prove that blacks commit crimes at a disproportionate level to other racial groups as a percentage, that still leaves a huge majority of blacks who are good, law-abiding citizens. They are having to pay the price for the misbehavior of their brethren. I would be furious too, if I were pulled over or otherwise "checked out" just because I was female, or white or whatever.
Actually, I was followed for a long while one night by the Madison County or Reservoir Police (I couldn't read the car I.D. because it was behind me). I believe to this day that it was because I was driving an old car and had long hair (profile: hippy, must deal drugs or something). Only when I pulled into an upscale restaurant and they could see that I was older, well-dressed, and obviously going out to eat with my husband did they turn and leave. They had actually followed me into the parking lot. That is intimidation and it doesn't make people love "Officer Friendly."
It is also true that the large majority of white people, including those who still revere the Confederate battle flag, are not bigots. The image of the flag, just like racial profiling, was created by a small, but very visible minority of white people.
Crime and hatred are two ugly sides of human nature that get disproportionate attention in our society for the very reason that they ARE ugly. They disturb our sense of well-being, our feelings of the brotherhood of mankind, our very sense of safety. The results are that they further damage society by their intrusion into our politics, our history, and our societal unity.
It is difficult to find anyone who really understands Civil War history anymore. The propagandists and revisionist historians have found it more to their interests to have the war being fought over slavery. Whether this is to make the Union cause seem more righteous or just to cater to prevailing social sentiment, I do not know. I do know that neither the Confederacy nor the Union considered slavery as a major issue until Lincoln decided that it was an issue which he could use to cripple the South economically. Even then, this darling of the liberals was studying ways to send the freed slaves back to Africa.
The war was fought for only one ideology, and that was whether, in a republic of independent states, those states had the right to withdraw from what they considered a voluntary union. For the Union side, it was fought because if the South seceded, they would lose their sources of raw materials and food. It was an economic war, and slavery was a very small part of the picture. Nonetheless, the flag has been desecrated in the later history of civil rights and represents what is anathema to blacks. Even though I, personally revere the flag for what it originally was, I certainly agree with those who say it has come to represent something ugly.
Our society needs to discover a way to straighten out our miscreant members, whether criminal or bigot. Then we could proceed in unity to address other issues.