THEY SAY:
“The flag we now call the Confederate battle flag was one of many battle flags used by the Confederate forces during the Civil War. It largely disappeared after the war and was not commonly seen again until the 1950s, when white supremacists resurrected it as a clear symbol of their opposition to integration and the Civil Rights Movement. Since then, hate groups have continued to use this flag as a symbol of white supremacy, hatred and violence. A white supremacist proudly posed with it before murdering nine people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015, and some insurrectionists carried the flag into the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.”-www.splc.org
THE TRUTH
This is another example of lies and half-truths that have made the SPLC famous and resulted in Dr. James Dobson’s petition to terminate their relationship with the United States Government. [i]
First and foremost, the origin of the flag was a symbol of protection. Rejected as a national flag design by the Provisional Confederate Congress’ Committee on the Flag and Seal, because it looked like ‘suspenders’, it was adopted by battlefield generals to differentiate the similar designs of the Stars and Bars and the Stars and Stripes, which resulted in friendly fire incidents on early fields of battle.
The flag was in the minds of Americans over the years, as Confederate Memorial Day services and veterans day parades, where the old veterans were honored. Over the years, the ranks thinned but American pride in the symbol was buoyed when headlines announced “Death Leaves Only Four Living Civil War Veterans” when Confederate Veteran Timothy Evans Riddle died in Texas in 1943 at age 108.
The resurgence of the use of the Battle flag was ignited by another war involving the spilling American blood, the Korean Conflict. The US Military operated under the command of the United Nations Command beginning in 1951 and concluding in 1953, which authorized the use of the UN flag. The substitute for Americans…the Confederate Battle Flag. Those who knew, knew. One newspaper in 1951 proclaimed that “Rebel Flags are Everywhere” in Korea[ii]. It was code for “American.” Soldiers would write home asking for a flag for their unit to proudly fly. The flag of protection for Southern troops 90 years earler would again fly again as a symbol of protection for Americans in Korea.
The flag got another lift only a few years later, in the lead up to the centennial of the War’s beginning in 1961 and secession (in 1960). Congress (in 1957) and later President Eisenhower (1960)[iii] expressed the importance of commemorating the conflict that resulted in more American war deaths.
During the Centennial, the most iconic symbol of the old veterans was used as part of the commemoration exercises. Southern states passed laws requiring the display of their state veterans’ honored flag on capitol domes. Georgia went farther, adopting a State flag which included the Army of Northern Virginia’s square design of the flag.
It is deplorable that in the aftermath of the Union victory and domination it took 100 years under the government of the United States for Americans with black skin to finally obtain their civil rights. But sadly, that was the case, and the fight for civil rights overlapped the Centennial, merging the two indelibly into American memory.
Later, after US President Ronald Regan’s tough stance against Communist Russia resulted in the breakup of the Soviet Union[iv], many of the separatist states used the Confederate flag, punctuating its meaning as an international symbol of resistance to tyranny.
It is not surprising that the SPLC would use the term “insurrectionist” in referring to individuals concerned about a free and fair election in America, their modus operandi of defamation over the years. There were many flags displayed representing the diverse people who make up the fabric of America that day. The flags of India, South Korea, the Republic of Georgia, Vietnam and even Australia and Canada flew, but the SPLC chose to denounce just one.[v]
No, this criticism is invalid, and thinking people, armed with a few rudimentary historical facts, will see it as what is, is…nothing more than war propaganda in the cultural Marxist revolution.
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[i] https://www.frc.org/get.cfm?c=CHECKOUT&dmy=38AE585C-00BC-99FD-6F77D396CD947507&srcItem=PT25D01&fromItem=AL25D11&x=0
[ii] https://www.pennsylvasia.com/2015/06/rebel-flags-in-korea-confederate.html
[iii] https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-3382-civil-war-centennial
[iv] https://reason.com/2014/06/11/pro-russian-separatists-are-flying-the-c/
[v] The Many Flags That Flew During the US Capitol’s Storming and What They Represent – The Wire
The views expressed at AbbevilleInstitute.org are not necessarily those of the Abbeville Institute.
Bravo. Well said!
Amen, Billy!
The first black military officers in the New World were those from the Louisiana Confederate Native Guard. 1500 free black men in New Orleans volunteered to form a militia to serve their State and country.
To avoid subjectivity, I simply prove the historical and legal fact, that the states were separate sovereign nations, in an international union like the UN or EU.
https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/state-sovereignty/
This proves that the states were entirely within their rights to secede, and that the USA had no national power over them– or any other state.
“…the states were…in an international union like the UN or EU.”
Well, wasn’t that the problem then? Haven’t we seen how many there are who are disillusioned about the U.N. and the EU? What were the states thinking?
Of course, the problem goes back further, to the American Revolution (See “God Against The Revolution,” by Gregg L. Fraser)