A Stokes County man is protesting the election of Barack Obama by mounting an upside-down X-ed out flag on his property.
The flag is stretched upside-down between two poles in a field, with a black X running from end to end. The X is a reference to the Confederate Flag, Heath said. It reflects his belief that the Confederate Flag has been unfairly targeted for protest by people trying to be politically correct.
To read more, see the Nov. 7 edition of the Winston-Salem Journal.
Expressing belief or even dissatisfaction is one thing, but at the expense of the flag of the United States (during a time of war, no less) while including symbolism of the Confederate flag? Something to think about considering my post on Layers of Symbolism in the Confederate flag. I wonder what Confederate descendant organizations will have to say about this, if they say anything.
Richard Williams
November 8, 2008
Robert:
I understand your bad experience with the SCV, but you seem somewhat obsessed at taking swipes at “heritage organizations” at every opportunity.
I don’t quite get it.
cenantua
November 8, 2008
Richard,
Might it not be perceived that you are obsessed with attacks on the academy and the need to make connections between liberalism in the academy with attacks against the culture of the Lost Cause? Why do you make this a mission instead of focusing on quality primary materials to counter the attacks that actually are attacks and not the result of good historical analysis? Do you have to attack contemporary academic historians to validate your points about the Lost Cause?
As you know, I’m a descendant of Confederate soldiers and an historian. As a Southerner with firsthand experiences from the new-age Confederate remembrance, I’ve seen how some of what is being presented to the public, often by descendant organizations, is problematic, if not the product of self-delusion. I have a stake in this issue, being a descendant, and this “imagined memory” is something that needs to be addressed. You talk about people of the South having connections with their heritage. Why does it need to be assumed that all Southerners have the same system of beliefs when it comes to Confederate ancestors? I no longer have the same system of beliefs represented in some of these organizations. I believe that a strong argument could be made that, within some descendant organizations, arguments are being made that are misrepresentative of the complexities that surround the ancestors. So, to perpetuate this narrow line of thought is to misrepresent the men in the Confederate army and present a gross generalization.
Furthermore, there needs to be an effort from within the organizations to keep themselves separate from all of the garbage (the other layers) that surrounds the image of the flag. It seems that more effort is made to make a connection between the Confederacy and ALMOST everything that is Southern or has a Confederate flag. Instead of this, perhaps the greater effort, when it comes to “heritage defense,” needs to be to made in making the distinctions. There is a need to distinguish between the Confederate veteran and that which has nothing to do with the Confederate veteran, after all, are not these descendant organizations based on the men who were the veterans? A lack of effort by descendants might be more telling than some would care to admit.
So then, are these swipes at “heritage organizations” or forceful, frustrated proddings made in the hopes that things would change?
In this particular instance, with this flag episode, the organizations need to speak out against the abuse of the U.S. flag; most especially in this instance here as the symbolism of the Confederate flag is tied to the disrespect. Not only is this disrespectful to the flag of OUR nation, I believe that many Confederate veterans would have found such a display a vulgar representation of the Confederate flag. It certainly seems they would not want the flag under which they fought remembered this way.
Richard Williams
November 8, 2008
You should tell me what you really think. :)
I do agree with you though, I think this flag display is in very poor taste.
I’ll leave your other comments/questions alone as I’ve addressed them before.
All the best,
RGW
cenantua
November 8, 2008
I hear ya… wordiness when writing about a topic about which I am passionate is clearly something I never been able to gain control over.
Noting your agreement that this is a display in poor taste, do you not think this situation worthy of the issuance of a statement from Confederate descendant organizations?
Richard Williams
November 8, 2008
I don’t know, perhaps. Though this man said the “X” represented the Confederate flag, I think its much more a desecration of the United States flag.
Flying the flag upside down is, as you know, a common expression of distress and “protest” – spray painting it like this is, in my view, most unacceptable. I think the primary focus here should be on the Stars & Stripes, not the battle flag.
cenantua
November 8, 2008
No doubt, first and foremost, the focus is on the US flag. I think the newspaper article points out that this is a violation of US code.
But because he said that the X, as a representation of the Confederate flag, “reflects his belief that the Confederate Flag has been unfairly targeted for protest by people trying to be politically correct,” he brought more into the meaning of the overall presentation. By combining all of this together, he’s not doing any favors for the symbolism in the Confederate flag.
Sherree
November 9, 2008
Hi Robert,
I have one word for this: Unbelievable!
Thanks for taking a stand against such nonsense.
Sherree
cenantua
November 9, 2008
Hi Sherree, Good to hear from you again and thanks for commenting. Yes, this is absolutely over the line in more ways than one.
Thanks also for the Clio nomination!
Robert
Sherree
November 9, 2008
You’re welcome, Robert.
Keep up the good work!
Sherree