The Skyline Newspaper

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Three Responses to “The True Meaning Behind Flags”

In Reference to “Flags”

By Jacob Cole McClurg
Junior Theatre Major 

While making a very valid statement in the last sentence of the conclusion, Johnson’s article was otherwise full of false information and misleading concepts.

First of all, Johnson compared the Confederate States of America to Nazi Germany. But for all the racking of my brain, I was unable to find one concentration camp located in the South, nor was I aware that the Confederacy attempted to take over the world and forcibly invade other nations. In fact, I was under the impression that it was the Union that invaded the south. Of course, then again, maybe my understanding of American history is flawed, since I adorn my pickup (yes I drive a pickup) with the Dixie flag. I guess that act lowers IQ points.

Maybe Mr. Johnson was making a comparison of the Holocaust to slavery.  That’s understandable I suppose, because the murder of sixmillion innocent people, and the idea of owning another person, are very much the same. Now, I believe that almost every person this side of the Aryan Brotherhood can agree that slavery is and always has been morally wrong, due to our society’s evolution and belief that all people are created equal, a concept I wholeheartedly agree with. However, slavery has been practiced since Biblical times and during the 19th century it was completely legal. Morally correct? No. Legally correct? Yes.

Johnson continued, saying that the Civil War was fought over the states’ right to slavery. Again, I am confused, because the Civil War had already started before President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. In fact, I do believe that the Emancipation Proclamation was simply a political gesture and did not free one slave. Now, why did Lincoln do this?  Because he was losing the war and had to rally some kind of cause for people to fight for. In fact, isn’t it written in some famous document that “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness”? And, if those words hold true, then what crime did the south commit? But if their meaning were flipped around and made the war about abolishing slavery, it makes a whole lot more sense.

Of course, while the Union was “fighting to abolish slavery,” they were employing immigrant children in sweat-shops and giving them tenement houses to live in, with no water or sewage of any kind. But that’s all well and good because they did get paid twelve cents an hour and worked eighteen-hour days.

Johnson quotes Alexander Stephens, the vice president of the Confederacy. I will not dispute that Stephens did indeed make the statement that Negroes are subhuman and below the white man. But I don’t remember when the words of our elected officials ever accurately represented an entire nation. Maybe that’s true, and one hundred percent of the people in the United States are completely behind President Bush and fully support everything he has ever said.

Also, Johnson writes that the rebel stars and bars flag was never flown during the time of the Confederacy. This is odd, because it is written in several history books that it was the Confederate Naval Battle flag. But then again, we are not supposed to bother to open history books, are we? That flag is now recognized as the rebel flag because Johnson says it represents a fictional place that never existed. In actuality, it was the only flag that the United States did not outlaw during the time of reconstruction. Oh well, tomato, tamato.

Look at the modern day United States flag. What do we believe it represents? A sovereign nation of equality and freedom? If that’s the case, then why are we invading other countries to oppress them with our own beliefs? Why do we allow our freedoms to slip away every day as more liberty snatching laws are passed? If we truly believe in equality and justice for all, then why are building walls to further segregate ourselves from the rest of the world?

If someone asked me what the Dixie flag represents, I would say, “The Dixie flag is about southern hospitality, friendliness, and spitting in the eye of a bully when he tells you what to do, even if he’s bigger and stronger than you are.” And you know something? Maybe in this day and age, that’s exactly the mentality we need.

I’ll Live And Die In Dixie

By Kimberly Richards
Juniour English Major

I am proud to say that I am a born and bred Southern Lady (well that is how my Grandmother would put it).  I am from one of those families that has been here since before the American Revolution.  Some members of my family were the upper-crust of southern society, while others were not.  With this being said, you can imagine my upset feelings when I read last week’s article, “True Meanings of Flags.” 

I support anyone’s right to an opinion and his or her right to express it; however, I don’t support stereotyping, making prejudicial statements, nor uninformed statements about any culture’s society.   In all cultures, including America’s, there are events and practices in the past that its citizens are not proud of. 

I am not going to argue the Civil War, except to say that while slavery was a huge issue, it was not the only reason for the South to secede the union: it was literally “state’s rights,” a government that gives more power to the states. Also, most of the people in the South were farmers who were unable to afford slaves.  If you would like to know more, I would recommend doing research on the Civil War and looking at both sides of the issue. Remember that, although the North was anti-slavery, racism was still alive and well up there, too.   And, the treatment of immigrants, women, and children are also things that Americans should be ashamed of. 

To have compared anyone in the United States to Nazi’s is just absolutely wrong and makes light of the nightmarish horrors that Jewish people had to suffer.  Never in American history have we committed genocide.  We may have treated groups of people horribly, but never have we gone to that kind of extreme.  And, throughout its history, America has oppressed many groups, giving them little rights and, no, it was not just the African-American, but also women, foreigners, Native Americans, and Hispanics, and no, it was not just in the South. But thankfully, as a country, we have realized the ridiculousness of prejudice.

The Dixie flag that came under attack in last week’s article has been misused and misinterpreted for many years. It was flown by the Confederacy, although it was not the Confederate States of America’s flag; it was a Confederate flag carried in battle.  

Most Southerners today don’t view it as a support of the cause, but of the South’s deep belief to stand up for what it felt was right, even when the stakes were very much against them.  Some don’t even view it as that, but as support for their athletic teams. For example, down yonder in Midland you will see it a lot.  Why? Because of Lee High School, whose mascot is the Rebel and whose fight song is “Dixie.” Being that LHS is my old high school, I can verify that the flag is not “always found on pick ups” and that everyone who has it on his or her vehicle is not a redneck, as implied last week. 

I feel it is important that we celebrate the history of the South, accepting and learning from both the good and the bad.  Southerners are known for their manners and laid-back, leisurely lifestyle; however, there are exceptions to the rule.  Many wonderful and influential people have come from the South,  people who have made huge impacts on the America we know and love today. 

Thomas Jefferson, for example, helped to found this country that we all love and live in. He was from Virginia, and as an interesting side note, he also freed his slaves.

Southerners helped win many of our wars against the British using guerilla warfare instead of the formal way wars had been fought at the time.   The men who died defending the Alamo were mostly Southern.  Without these Southern settlers, there might not be a Texas in the United States. And, yes, Texas is in the South, and was in the Confederacy.  

Many great and influential authors have come from the South, such as Mark Twain, William Faulkner, and even Edgar Allen Poe who, although born in Boston, was raised in the South. Many of our country’s presidents have been from the South.   One of our greatest civil rights leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was from the South. 

Finally, I would like to say that the Dixie flag has been used to represent many things - from schools to rock-n-roll.  Some groups have abused it for causes that most Southerners don’t agree with, but overall she represents the South I know and love.  The South that still believes in “Sir and Ma’am”, a strong love of country, family, tradition, and of course, football. 

It’s iced tea, fried chicken, crab claws, catfish, biscuits and gravy, and pecan pie. It’s for fighting for causes that one believes in, even when the stakes are stacked against him or her.

Southerners have survived oppression, wars, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, and even prohibition.  And by the way, the genteel South - people that are well bred - did exist, do exist, and will exist for generations to come.

And if you don’t like it, to quote Rhett Butler, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Defense of an Assault on Free Speech

By Andrew Ross
Junior English Major

Recently, Skyline Contributor David Johnson wrote an article comparing Hitler’s Nazi regime to the Confederates.
An interesting connection, sure. But the Sechrestian reference to the ignorance of the people of West Texas waving their Confederate banners like their big ugly hound dogs wave their tongues in the back of their pickup trucks is ridiculous, to say the least.

The Confederate States of America did stand for slavery. That’s a historical fact that cannot be denied. However, if Mr. Johnson paid a little more attention in U.S. history, the right to slavery is hardly the only reason that the majority of the American South seceded from the Union. And if Mr. Johnson had looked a little harder into his research, say, for example, a website other than Wikipedia, where he copied and pasted a quote from the Vice President of the Confederacy, he probably would have realized that there were numerous reasons.

Probably the most notable would be states’ rights, the belief by many southerners that the state governments should have more power than the national government. A belief which mostly stemmed from state pride, something which most Texans can relate to. One of the most notable figures of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee, only joined the Confederate forces because, after opposing his home state’s secession, he remained loyal to Virginia. Oh, and it might be important to mention that he held slaves only because his father-in-law willed them to him with orders to emancipate them, and he was opposed to the practice of slavery. Yes, a prominent Confederate figure that disagreed with slavery. Look it up on Wikipedia, if you don’t believe me.

Mr. Johnson mentioned something about states’ rights but if I’m not mistaken, he recommended not reading up on it in any so-called history book. The idea that Mr. Johnson is the authoritative voice on American history frightens and appalls me. Why budget so much to Mark Saka and Judith Parsons when we have David Johnson. PhD’s are for know-it-all windbags.

Mr. Johnson also claimed that West Texas isn’t the South. Oddly enough, at least 100% of maps disagree. The writers’ depiction of life in the South is somewhat accurate. Most people lived in poverty and squalor. However, poverty and squalor know not what the Mason-Dixon Line is and they did spread over into the Northern states where most factory workers lived in similar conditions. Money was in the hands of the corrupt few on both sides of the country.

Also, Mr. Johnson says the Confederate flag, as we know it, never flew during the Civil War. A fact also disputed by most “historians.” The flag as we know it was the Naval Flag flown from 1863-1865. Unless Mr. Johnson used his own timeline, these years coincide with the American Civil War. So, the flag is very real, and so was the Confederacy. Mr. Johnson’s claim that it never existed should be disregarded by the voices of over 600,000 men who died for a non-existent idea.

And, is there nothing inherent about the flag that flies over the United States of America, Mr. Johnson? Do the fifty stars and thirteen stripes stand for good stitch work by Betsy Ross? I dare to disagree with you. But none of these things matter.

Not the causes of the Civil War or David Johnson’s incorrect “facts.” Whoever chooses to fly the Confederate flag can do so for whatever reason he or she likes.

I don’t own one. Nor do I support the Confederacy. I grew up in Dallas, which is about as Yankee as it gets in Texas. No, Mr. Johnson, I don’t support racist ideals and dead aristocracies just as I don’t support Hitler or the modern-day Aryan brotherhood. But they have their voice, and whoever flies a Confederate flag has his or her own voice, and it is rarely the same voice. Most people have their own idea of what the flag stands for. Does every American with a pair of Nike tennis shoes worship the Greek god of victory? I do not need Wikipedia to tell me they do not. Freedom of speech means freedom of speech. And, while their motives may have been rotten, the leaders of the secession had reasons.

Our own Declaration of Independence states that it is sometimes necessary to dissolve governmental bonds in an effort not to forsake what a person believes in. Even you, Mr. Johnson can say what you believe.

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”-Evelyn Beatrice Hall.

Dancing Across Time: Doing the Waltz with All My Faults

Steve Lang
News And Publications

The greater the fool, the smoother the dancer.” – Anonymous

Born with a foot in my mouth, why do I retain these aspirations of rhythmic dancing?

Those who have danced with me have paraphrased, among other not-so-veiled regrets, the words of Groucho Marx: “I could dance with you until the cows come home. “On second thought, I’d rather dance with the cows until you come home.”

To be sure, times and places exist where rhythm, timing, and an ear for music are not required for acceptable movement in circular, square, rectangular, or even random patterns sometimes confused with a blind woodpecker attempting to navigate its way through a pine forest.

These times and places include:

* Wedding celebrations.

* Finding a scorpion in your underwear.

* Being alone in your kitchen.

* Anywhere 60s rock music is involved.

Starting with physical education dance classes (called “Rhythms” when I was an elementary school student), expanding to free polka lessons at an eastern Minnesota polka jamboree (which featured the then-national dance champions) and to a for-credit square dance course in college, I fail to get footloose... either the movie or from the wrong spot.

Once, while on a cruise ship down Russia’s Volga River, a newfound Russian friend, one-half of a dance team, invited me to join her during one of her performance numbers.

Two minutes later, she politely smiled and led me back into the crowd.

To continue my futility on the floor may have seriously risked the political progress gained between our nations after the Soviet Union’s collapse.

I watched Richard Gere in “Shall We Dance?” thinking that it’s never too late to learn how.

“Maybe not,” I was advised, “but the clock is ticking. And stay off my feet!”

Wedding celebrations, as previously noted, offer respite from dancing’s rhythmic rules.

I once knew of cousins from Detroit who dominated their family’s scene for years in demolition polka competition.

Demolition polka, as described to me, involved the basic steps and twirls of standard polka, combined with the hip checks of hockey. Demolition polka’s unspoken object was to hip-check other couples off the floor and toward the punch bowl until one couple remained. Depending on the size of the guest list, the last couple standing generally coincided with the band’s first break.

Some dance steps from my youth have faded from the scene, others persist, including the infamous twirl, point-and-raise-hands.

Some wall posters bear ugly truths behind this spectacle, including: “Beer: helping white guys dance since 1859.”

My generation also “walked the dog,” a series of complicated maneuvers that have outfoxed me as adeptly as the foxtrot. In fact, literally walking my dog - an ambitious, 80-pound Labrador - more closely resembles a parent tugging a reluctant child to the dentist’s chair than a leisurely stroll down a sidewalk.

Texas also features the threat of line dancing - the other 12-step program.

Rhythmically-challenged participants pose one of the most potent safety hazards this side of novice roller skaters.

One misstep and the fluid syncopation of “Achy Breaky Heart” threatens to become an emergency room full of aching, broken limbs.

A scorpion in the underwear may be the inspiration for break dancing, with rhythm added later. My attempts to duplicate those or any other disco moves will be made with certain alterations, though.To begin, when I dance in my kitchen, I shall do so with a Scorpio, not a scorpion.

Steve Lang is well advised to keep his “Dancing in the Dark.”