The Flag Controversy
Will there ever be a day when at last man can sit back, taking with him one thing that has escaped unscathed from controversy? I fear we live in a restless society where this will always have a problem with that and that with this. It’s a fact that has eroded our subconscious so profoundly that we’ve failed to perceive just what lies beneath it all. I mean, what is so important that we spend years debating over, we waste lives fighting for, our best minds quarrelling over, and precious manpower defending? And then who is to say what is worth argument versus what is not? The Confederate flag. For some, a symbol of racism and oppression. For others it remains nostalgic, a source of pride. Still for others, its Stars and Bars grant testament to that turbulent era in American history, where American stood against American, glared one other in the eye, and attacked with barely a thought as to why. Are Americans prepared to divide anew? Would they, like their predecessors truly know what they were fighting for? One must have seen the rallies against it. Poster-bearing marchers. One must have heard the legislation against it. Freedom of Speech. One might have even smelt the smo
In its conception in late 1861, the flag was designed to represent the Southern Confederate Nation. While this new nation, if it can be labeled as such, was based loosely on the concept of slavery, it was also established for still undetermined political reasons. As such, the flag exemplifies these same concepts. It was flown imperiously on Civil War battlefields and it came to represent the cause of the Southerner. Then again, this cause was just as ambiguous as its aim. Over the years, after its abuse by white-supremacist groups, namely the KKK, and the like, it has ultimately become a symbol of hatred. From an ambiguous birth to its modern conflict, it has remained in and of itself a racist marking ever since. Only now as I look back do I remember what I was fighting for. My cause was just as dubious as those Southerners (and Northerners alike) ensnared in war. Perhaps I’d molded the issue into something it wasn’t. Perhaps I had my own agenda on hand. Was it really the flag that I was so concerned about? Thus, I have countered the facts and have seized them for what they are. No one person will ever be able to say that old Stars and Bars is or is not a racist symbol. For it
Some common words found in the essay are:
Likewise Americans, Stars Bars, Freedom Speech, , Civil War, Southerners Northerners, Confederate Nation, stars bars, freedom speech, symbol hatred, truly fighting, confederate flag,
Approximate Word count = 827
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
