[Sixstrings]

Here's a good questionaire on CNN to figure out where you stand:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')eining in symbols of the Confederacy: How far would you go?
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2015/06/us/quiz-confederate-symbols/

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oneaboveall', '[')img]https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/t31.0-8/11722059_10155687207480391_3385282893607092709_o.jpg[/img]

[Plantagenet]

The flag is really a distraction. Its just a symbol of what the Ds did when they controlled the south.

A more important question to ask is whether the Democratic Party should be forced to pay reparations to black people for putting up the confederate flags, and more importantly for the D's role in putting jim crow laws into effect and enforcing discrimination against black people all over the south.

While the people injured by slavery are long dead, there are still living people who were discriminated against by jim crow laws and other actions taken by members of the Democratic Party when they controlled the South.

IMHO, the Ds should be sued by those blacks who lived through the Jim Crow era for everything they've got. IMHO There's a good chance the courts would rule that southern Ds conspired to enact laws to discriminate against blacks, that the "jim crow laws" enacted by southern Ds were unconstitutional and discriminatory, and IMHO any jury who heard such a case would be likely to require the Ds to pay billions in reparations for the discrimination they practiced against the black people of this country.


Blacks who lived through the "Jim Crow" era should sue the D party for damages and past discrimination"

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '.')...AGW.... AGW.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'O')bama.Obama.Obama.Obama.Obama.....Obama.Obama.Obama.Obama.Obama.

[Sixstrings]

Something in the news, there's a public high school in Texas that has the confederate flag as their school crest and the school's motto is "home of the fighting rebels." Seems to be a big sports school, football baseball and basketball.

This is on the school's official facebook:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRHL7l5SqftoIWunfJZm32FFO1qJBpnjo5fNq_tAj7IgVuPc8piDQ[/img]


https://www.facebook.com/EvadaleISD/timeline?ref=page_internal

[Sixstrings]

Woman arrested for domestic violence after she hit her husband because he wouldn't take down his rebel flag:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Safety Harbor woman hit husband in argument over Confederate flag, deputies say

Carpenter faces a charge of domestic battery. She was arrested about 5:30 p.m. Saturday and released on her own recognizance Sunday afternoon, according to jail records.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/safety-harbor-woman-hit-husband-in-argument-over-confederate-flag-deputies/2237114

[Sixstrings]

Now, I know this article is gonna "look strange" too. It "looks strange" to me. But you know what? I'm actually an open minded person. I don't get offended by "gay pride parades." I don't think all rainbow flag people are one kind of way or another, or all transgenders are one kind of way or another.

I may not fully understand other cultures, but I am open minded and tolerant.

You can't just laugh at people that you think are "rednecks," or like Sea Gypsy said about another african american -- "that's an uncle tom" (don't get mad at me SG if you read this, but that's what you said about one of the videos I linked).

These are people too. I can't STAND the "uncle tom" stuff. To me -- THAT IS DISCRIMINATORY. To say that black folks can't be conservative, or they can't be Republicans, or they have to fit all the mold that the Left thinks they should be in.

I've told this story several times, I'm not sh*tting you guys I really did vote President Obama two times -- and I actually do have a female black acquaintance and she is a Republican and she voted McCain and Romney.

So.. this man is a person too, he matters too, people should be listening to and respecting everyone:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')img]http://i60.tinypic.com/2hhjbfc.jpg[/img]

Lone black in Tampa Confederate group defends Southern heritage

TAMPA — Whenever members of the Judah P. Benjamin Camp of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans don their grey wool uniforms for a demonstration or re-enactment, Al McCray is there among his brothers.

He marches in the parades and flies the Confederate flag. He speaks out against the notion that the Confederate battle flag is a symbol of racism and defends “Southern heritage” causes.

Yet McCray is different from the rest of the camp.

While the other members are descendants of soldiers that fought for the south in the Civil War, McCray is an African-American “legionnaire” — his ancestors were slaves on plantations near his hometown of Manning, South Carolina, just outside of Columbia.

“I understand the true nature of the war, and slavery was not the primary issue,’’ McCray said. “It was an issue of northern aggression and northern imperialism.’’

McCray knows many people don’t understand his defense of the Confederate flag and Confederate States of America, particularly since the flag has become a political firecracker after nine black church members were slain last month in a racially motivated shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.

Among those who question his stance, he said, are the 63-year-old’s four adult children, as well as his parents. “My family is completely the opposite of me, no one supports my views or beliefs but we still get along,” said McCray, a Tampa journalist and managing editor of TampaNewsAndTalk.com.

In his years attending Civil War conferences, reenactments and Sons of Confederate Veterans gatherings, McCray said, he has only encountered three to five other African Americans. Still, his involvement doesn’t feel “weird or out of place at all,” he said.

“We’re truly a brotherhood,” McCray said.

On his website, McCray covers the latest in Tampa politics and controversies and has interviewed political stalwarts ranging from strip club magnate Joe Redner to former governor Charlie Crist. He also writes articles like, “Has the NAACP lost its way in the woods again,” and “The War Between the States WAS NOT about Slavery.”

Abolishing slavery was little more than a war game for the north to create more rebellion and discord in the south and stop the states from maintaining their sovereignty, he said. World-wide, slavery was phasing out as the war began and would have done the same in 20 or 30 years under a Confederate States of America, McCray said.

“I’ve always felt that way growing up in the south, that linking the flag to slavery and racism was just another way to keep division between the races,” McCray said. “I always wondered why Lincoln didn’t free the slaves his first day in office if he felt so strongly about it.”

McCray was once a member of the NAACP but left the group after it passed a resolution in 1991 calling the Confederate battle flag “an abhorrence to all Americans and decent people of this country, and indeed, the world and is an odious blight upon the universe.”

He became involved in the Tampa chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans shortly after he moved to Tampa in 2000. He wrote an opinion article, published in The Tampa Tribune, decrying South Carolina’s compromise with the NAACP to replace a large Confederate flag with a smaller version on the capitol grounds — the flag that was officially removed Friday. His views caught the attention of the Judah P. Benjamin Camp, and they extended an invitation.

Even though he doesn’t have any direct ancestors that were soldiers in the Civil War — normally, a stringent requirement for membership — the camp allowed him to join based on his vast knowledge of Confederate history, and he immediately became a spokesman of sorts that “opened doors to more diversity,” said Judah P. Benjamin Camp member Phil Walters.

“He’s educated us on a lot of issues on the black community and opened doors for us, getting us on black radio stations and in good community conversations,” said Walters, a Tampa alligator trapper. “He’s the kind of guy that wants people to wonder why there’s a black guy marching with the Confederate flag so they ask questions and learn the truth about our history. You don’t see a lot of diversity in these southern groups ... but everyone and anyone is welcome. But if you’re a skinhead or come in with a white robe over your face, we’ll tell you to get lost.”

The Sons of Confederate Veterans isn’t the only club to which McCray holds membership. He is on the board of directors for the Tampa Tiger Bay Club and often socializes with the city’s political movers and shakers.

“Some people are shocked when they see pictures of Al with the flag or think it’s a little weird, but when you talk to the guy he’s very nice and very knowledgeable,” said Don Kruse, president and CEO of Beauty and Health Institute and a fellow Tiger Bay Club member who McCray has interviewed for his website . “Everybody knows Al, he’s very well respected, and he believes wholeheartedly in the heritage of that flag.”

McCray is “definitely not afraid” to wear his gray confederate uniform in the Town ‘n’ Country Veterans Day Parade Kruse helps direct, he said. Personally, Kruse said, he would like to see the flag retired to museum displays but has come to respect McCray’s point of view.

“Prejudice is pre-judging people, and Al is a perfect example that you can’t judge a book by its cover,” Kruse said.

Despite the recent outcry over the Confederate battle flag and its symbolism, McCray said he is confident there are other black Americans that share his views. The confederacy was multicultural during the war, and so is the Sons of Confederate Veterans, he said.

“I’m in it for the cause and historical importance, not for color,” McCray said.
http://tbo.com/news/breaking-news/lone-black-in-tampa-confederate-group-defends-southern-heritage-20150712/

[Sixstrings]

About the person in Connecticut that called 911 over the flag stall at the flea market, she said she was "shaking and almost vomiting:"

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]“I was shaking and almost vomiting,” he tells the paper. “I had to run. My grandmother had numbers,” referring to the digits the Nazis would tattoo on prisoners.

The caller complained that the Confederate items were “not authentic” and were replicas of flags and weapons.

He says the seller told him “he was selling so much he can’t keep it in stock.”

Jason Teal, president of the Meriden-Wallingford NAACP, was contacted to see what he thought.

“It’s difficult because it’s on private property and it’s considered free speech,” Teal says.

According to the paper, the complainant also called Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr., who promptly called Chief Wright.

“I had to check with the chief over what is actionable and what isn’t,” according to the mayor. “Unless something violates state or federal law, there’s no jurisdiction for government to do anything. We had to ask, is it something controlled by law?”

And the assistant regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Connecticut sees a difference between authentic memorabilia and “cheap replicas” “used as symbols of hate.”

“It’s unfortunate that under the law people have the right to sell these things; but it doesn’t mean they should sell these things,” Joshua Sayles says.

“It’s not a crime but I would call it hate. People look at the situation in Charleston and say it’s down in the South. But this stuff is here in Connecticut.”
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/offended-flea-market-shopper-calls-911-over-confederate-merchandise/

[Oneaboveall]

We're hopelessly mired in identity politics in this country.

At least it beats having to make decisions.

[Cog]

The derp continues with our home-grown Taliban:

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/na ... mou/nmyKH/

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — The Atlanta chapter of the NAACP officially called for the elimination of all symbols of the Confederacy from Stone Mountain.

This comes on the heels of the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina State House.

NAACP's Richard Rose says the time to move is now, but admits it may be a steep slope to climb.

The organization issued a statement calling for the removal of all symbols of the Confederacy from the park.

"My tax dollars should not be used to commemorate slavery," Rose said.

Rose said his group wants Confederate symbols removed from all state-owned buildings, parks and lands.

Rose told Petersen he would start with Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.

"Those guys need to go. They can be sand-blasted off, or somebody could carefully remove a slab of that and auction it off to the highest bidder," Rose said.

A spokesman for Stone Mountain Park said any removal of the Confederate flags or monuments is up to the Georgia Legislature.

[Sixstrings]

I'll just post this without much comment. Other than to say, NOBODY should be maliciously trespassing onto private residential property, with criminal intent. That is highly dangerous for the homeowner and the person that may think they are an "activist," it's just very dangerous.

This is just basic rules of society, you have to respect private residential property. That's the law. I wonder what this guy thought, does he not realize this is illegal? That you cannot do this? He posted it on his facebook page.

Well the police department knows about him, now. So that was idiotic.

And it was morally wrong, that's not fighting for any kind of cause, that's just breaking the law and scaring a homeowner and it could have been a very dangerous situation all around.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Challenge dares people to tear down Confederate flags


In what appears to be the original video, posted to Facebook on July 11 by Jamari Williams, a young man runs up to a house and jumps to tear down a Confederate flag from the flag pole.

The person in that video (posted above) is reportedly the CEO of Blowin BANDZ ENT, a record label, and lives in Sarasota, according to his Facebook page.

Several people contacted them through email and social media about the video, but both law enforcement agencies say they do not have any reports of missing flags.

The sheriff's office says if you recognize the house in the video, or if someone steals your Confederate flag, you can contact them.


http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2015/07/13/challenge-dares-people-to-tear-down-confederate-flags/30099253/

[SeaGypsy]

6 in reference to your Aunt/ Uncle Tom, from my recall she was on the apologist end of things which defines the syndrome. Anybody can vote for anybody, fact is most vote based on their wallet, closely followed by haircut.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', '6') in reference to your Aunt/ Uncle Tom, from my recall she was on the apologist end of things which defines the syndrome. Anybody can vote for anybody, fact is most vote based on their wallet, closely followed by haircut.

[KaiserJeep]

It's amusing to read this thread.

Some people would like to deny the History of the Democratic party. It was founded by Andrew Jackson, a slave owner and racist, who also favored stealing land from Native Americans and forcibly relocating them to reservations. The Democrats also presented the only organised resistance to the ERA, which if ever passed would give women the right to vote in the USA. These same people also want to smear the Republican party, which really was founded by Abraham Lincoln on a platform of anti-slavery and in fact always has been and continues to be about equal rights for all people.

These same people want to point to Obama and consider his very existence as proof that they themselves as Democrats, and that party, are anti-racist.

Dream on. Obama's history as a community organizer, his history of litigation as a lawyer in Chicago, his legislative sponsorships, and most of all, his flawed appointments of obvious, flagrantly racist people to multiple positions of authority throughout his administration, are the acts of the most racist person to occupy the position of POTUS since that prototypical Democrat Andrew Jackson.

You just cannot handle the truth, can you? This entire controversy is about some Democrats attempting to suppress the range of Diversity found in the Democratic party. The same party which contains both White Southern Pride groups (including the KKK) and that most racist group of Americans, the Blacks.

[Withnail]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '
')
So.. this man is a person too, he matters too, people should be listening to and respecting everyone:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')img]http://i60.tinypic.com/2hhjbfc.jpg[/img]

Lone black in Tampa Confederate group defends Southern heritage

[Sixstrings]

Now here's an article that criticizes the police for even seeking more information and looking into the matter. The police say they are just responding to reports from the public.

And somebody commented that it's a "harmless prank" and petty theft shouldn't make the news.

Meanwhile nobody even knows for sure if it happened in that city, it's a "facebook" thing, nobody even knows if it could have been staged.

Anyhow -- look people, because of crime rates etc. and home invasions, homeowners have genuine concern regarding strangers on their property messing with their house. It's not a minor thing. If somebody is stealing a bicycle or your lawn mower or in your tool shed or maybe they just intend to make a political statement by taking a flag -- a homeowner does not really know for sure what is going on, one actually does not know if it is not a serious home invasion / anything more than political statement.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')esist temptation to take Confederate flags

Whether ripping down other people’s privately owned Confederate flags is a hot new trend or just a few isolated prank-style protests now catching eyes on the Internet, I don’t know.

Neither do Sarasota Police. So I was surprised they put out an announcement and request for information about a petty theft, one that may or may not even have happened anywhere near Sarasota, or even in Florida, for all they know.

Usually, police need a complaint from a crime victim to even write up a report on an apparent theft. This time, they are asking for help identifying the people and location in a video they have been shown on the Internet that features young black guy going into a front yard and pulling down a Confederate flag that was hanging from a wall-mounted pole.

He is shown looking happy and running back to a vehicle where the getaway driver/videographer makes good on their escape.

That’s it. And as I said, for all police knew, it could have happened a thousand miles from Sarasota.

But I get the reason for this police message seeking info, I think. Some people who had seen the video were jumping to the conclusion the incident must be local, because the poster seemed to be. And it might be. And, of course, stealing flags from privately owned flagpoles has potential to trigger a more serious incident.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20150713/COLUMNIST/150719884/2416/NEWS?Title=Lyons-Resist-temptation-to-take-Confederate-flags