Honestly what upsets me more about this whole ordeal than anything is the fact that we are putting so much damn time into it. We've had this debate a million times and it always ends in a pretty similar fashion. Southerners accuse everyone criticizing the flag of being liberal elitists, and everyone else accuses the Southerners of being ignorant bigots.
Personally, I don't care for the flag and I don't think it should be treated as anything other than historical. But I've met many people who hold that flag near and dear and I know that not all those people are racists. I disagreed with them, sure, but I knew that segregation, slavery, or whatever was not something they stood for. So that's how this argument always ends, just a bunch of people getting angry at each other until they tire themselves out, then resenting each other.
I remember watching Jon Stewart's impassioned speech and really seeing the anger in his eyes and it was very moving. But after less than a week it seems like we are already at each other's throats over non-issues. Stewart gets the impression a lot that we like to ignore issues like these or dismiss them, but I think that's just the impression he gets from what he sees. Personally, it seems more to me like we care so much about these issues, that we end up arguing about things like the flag so we can demonize each other instead of working towards solving the actual problems. The flag is its own issue, but it's not the most pertinent one right now. I really liked his speech, but I'm starting to wonder if it will end up doing more harm than good.
Honestly what upsets me more about this whole ordeal than anything is the fact that we are putting so much damn time into it. We've had this debate a million times and it always ends in a pretty similar fashion. Southerners accuse everyone criticizing the flag of being liberal elitists, and everyone else accuses the Southerners of being ignorant bigots.
Personally, I don't care for the flag and I don't think it should be treated as anything other than historical. But I've met many people who hold that flag near and dear and I know that not all those people are racists. I disagreed with them, sure, but I knew that segregation, slavery, or whatever was not something they stood for. So that's how this argument always ends, just a bunch of people getting angry at each other until they tire themselves out, then resenting each other.
I remember watching Jon Stewart's impassioned speech and really seeing the anger in his eyes and it was very moving. But after less than a week it seems like we are already at each other's throats over non-issues. Stewart gets the impression a lot that we like to ignore issues like these or dismiss them, but I think that's just the impression he gets from what he sees. Personally, it seems more to me like we care so much about these issues, that we end up arguing about things like the flag so we can demonize each other instead of working towards solving the actual problems. The flag is its own issue, but it's not the most pertinent one right now. I really liked his speech, but I'm starting to wonder if it will end up doing more harm than good.