The “Flag battle” erupts again. This one seems a rather sensible approach, which is that you can’t use public facilities, such as light poles to fly the confederate flag. Otherwise, people can carry the flag, hang it from private buildings, or display it any way they like…
Sensible in that the government shouldn’t be providing a resting place to celebrate the confederate flag, any more than it should for the Nazi Flag, or the Rising Sun.
Of course, being sensible doesn’t mean it won’t cause a firestorm – especially here in the lower Shenandoah Valley where two of the icons of the confederate cause in Virginia are buried, and pro-confederate history and sentiments run deep.
Crypts...Good Places for Dead confederates and Their Cause.
Virginia city limits Confederate flag flying in burial place of Robert Lee, Stonewall Jackson
A rural Virginia city where Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson are buried voted to limit the flying of the Confederate flag on poles on several downtown streets.
The 4-1 vote Thursday night by the Lexington City Council allows only the Virginia, U.S. and city flags to be displayed. Personal displays of the flag are not affected.
About 100 people led by the Sons of Confederate Veterans rallied before the vote. They then showed up in force to speak to city council to dissuade them from enacting the ordinance.
Some residents complained that the flag is a symbol of the South’s history of slavery and shouldn’t be endorsed by the city.
After the vote, the Sons said they would legally challenge the flag ban in the city of 7,000.
Btx3's Blog 
C. Miller
September 2, 2011 at 10:59 PM
Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and their men fought and died under the Confederate Flag. You have no right to take it down.
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btx3
September 3, 2011 at 10:29 AM
Nobody is “taking the flag down”. There is no ban in Lexington on flying the flag on private property, carrying it – or decorating your bikini with it.
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Constructive Feedback
September 4, 2011 at 12:28 PM
Mr BT:
I hope you are not driving through the great state of Georgia this weekend. The Confederates are flying their flags along the Interstates.
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/flag-controversy-hit-georgias-1157060.html
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btx3
September 4, 2011 at 4:19 PM
As I recall black folk make up about 30% of Georgia’s population. If I were one of your confederate clown’s investors or bank, I would have to consider that these morons are not real serious about business when they are willing to cut off 1/3rd of the market the next time they need a business loan or investment.
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Maggie Cole
September 5, 2011 at 10:55 PM
BT, Firstly, get over the idea that the confederate flag is a symbol of slavery. Those of you who feel this way don’t really have a clue what the secession and confederacy were about, let alone the civil war. It was a war over class, not slavery. Don’t bother arguing with me. Just go study your history a little better.
Secondly, for southerners to be PROUD of their heritage, and the region it represents! If this is offensive and we have to ban anything that may be construed as offensive. Let’s stop calling black people African American. It is uncomfortable and offensive to me that blacks can’t just be “Americans” like everyone else. Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot almost every “ethnic” person, (since I’m just plain ol’ ‘white girl’ – no culture or background) wants a special ______ – American title. Furthermore, there is NOTHING wrong with a SOUTHERN town displaying a flag with 13 stars, symbolizing 13 STATES! No where on the flag is there symbolism of SLAVERY! Get over it!! If they were flying a KKK flag, or something that was actually a symbol of HATRED, this would be understandable.
Just because of this, I feel like I should start flying a confederate flag, because I shouldn’t have to be scared to let people know of MY heritage. This country is more tolerant of radical muslims than its own “good ol’ boys”. (And I’d wager that offends you because of your misunderstanding of it, too!)
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btx3
September 6, 2011 at 7:54 AM
Uhhhhh… Maggie – The Civil War was over slavery, period. There are literally reams of documents, not the least including changes to Southern state Constitutions in the period immediately before the war, and Articles of Secession drawn up by each of the state which say so. You want to argue the “Southern Myth” – you lose.
The “confederate Flag” in this case is one of dozens flown by confederate armies, particularly General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia who selected as their battle flag after the confusion at the first Manassas and Bull Run battles where both confederate and Union troops had trouble distinguishing each other’s units. I believe it was General P. T, Beauregard who designed the flag. Things probably would have been left there historically and emotionally had not the battle flag become the symbol of post reconstruction resistance to equal rights and constitutional freedoms for minorities in the South through Jim Crow, and the often violent attacks on minorities over the next 100+ years seeking basic rights like voting often done by folks waving this very flag. Ergo the flag was a method of intimidation, pointed out very clearly by the fact of adoption of elements of the flag by the segregated Southern states as part of their state flags immediately after the 1954 Brown decision as a symbol of “massive southern resistance” to Civil rights.
There is absolutely nothing to be proud of, in terms of “Southern Heritage” in terms of the actions and beliefs of those flying that flag for the 100 years post Civil War.
Now I think we are all familiar with the southern myth, including it’s later incarnations which include the argument against “hyphenated Americans” when African Americans began to use the term African American to describe themselves. For 100 years in America, there was no resistance to the term Italian-American, Irish-American, or any of the plethora of “dash Americans” until African Americans adopted the term for their own use. Suddenly pious followers of the southern Myth, the very folk who had fought so hard to keep Americans separate wanted to disappear their own History… Again.
Now as to “Good Ol’ Boys” and “radical Muslims” – at least radical Muslims aren’t pretending to be Americans. From Benedict Arnold to modern day incarnations of “radicalized” Islamic-Americans…
Our disgust does have a special place for traitors.
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Lexington
September 5, 2011 at 8:05 AM
BT, obviously confederate sentiment can’t run that deep in Lexington, as the residents of that town requested and overwhelmingly supported the ban. The problem we have is a bunch of outsiders who feel entitled to tell us what to do…because they so deeply support Southern independence.
Your point about the population of Georgia is well put. I love the South, its complexity, history, culture, mystery, pretty much everything about it (except maybe the summer weather). I have never been able to understand how you could proclaim pride in the South while flying a flag that excludes and indeed implicitly threatens Southern African Americans. Their contributions to our regional heritage are an essential part of our “heritage.” To minimize that experience in order to glorify four years of war is to betray the South on a fundamental level.
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btx3
September 5, 2011 at 3:03 PM
I think many of the residents of Lexington are very happy to move past the town just being known as the burial place of Jackson and Lee. It isn’t that they reject their history – it’s just time to move on.
There are three Universities in the Rockbridge County, including Southern, Washington and Lee, and Virginia Military. There are at last half a dozen wineries – the Blue Ridge Parkway and some of the prettiest scenery in the Valley…
There is a lot more going on for Lexington than dead (or live neo-) confederates.
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Roderick
September 6, 2011 at 4:24 PM
Damn, BT, it looks as if some ‘special’ trolls found your blog.
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btx3
September 6, 2011 at 5:08 PM
Yeah – mention the word “confederate” and they will do that.
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