I am just one Southerner, but I believe the way tens of thousand's of other Southerner's do. I do not look at the Confederate Battle flag and see hate and racism, two very ugly words, I see my ancestors and the battle they fought for freedom from a government that was as controlling as it is today and the right to live as Southern Americans.
My ancestors did not fight for slavery or the right to own slaves, they did not even have slaves. They were farmers and merchants, school teachers and midwives, blacksmiths and mill workers, just like thousands and thousands of other Confederates. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to say that no one back then fought for slavery. I am pretty sure some did, but isn't there always one or two in the bunch ?
I sit here at my computer surrounded by reminders of my heritage. From the picture of Nathan Bedford Forrest to the photo of Private John Ingraham, a lone Confederate Soldier who is buried on the Battlefield at Chickamauga, Georgia. He was killed on the first day of the fighting at Chickamauga and after the firing had ceased, his friends searched for and found his body and buried it right there on the Battlefield where he fell. I look at the picture of the Ruins of the New Manchester mill and think about the women and children that were kidnapped and taken up North by Sherman and his band of blood-thirsty "men", only to never be heard from again. New Manchester was a thriving town on the outskirts of what is now Douglasville, Georgia. After Sherman made his march through the town, it slowly crumbled and then ceased to exist.
I think about all the sacrifices made not only by the Soldiers of the Confederacy, but their families and loved-ones also. All those men and boys killed for what they believed in, all the fatherless children and young wives made widows way too soon. I wonder what their reaction would be on all this flag mess. How do you think they would feel, if they were here to watch the flag that they and their families fought and died for, being ripped from virtually every place imaginable. I ask, would the NAACP stand face to face with a Confederate soldier (black or white) and tell him that the beliefs that he died for are rascist and shameful to their ancestors. I bet they couldn't do it, because then they would have to turn around and say it to all those Union soldiers also, because the flag that they fought under ( The good 'ole american flag) also stands for rasicism and slavery and persecution.
In case you haven't figured it out by now, I was born and bred in the Great State of Georgia. We are very rich in Civil War History, from the Coastal regions to the Northern regions and on down to the Southern region. If the Confederate Battle flag should be incorporated into a state flag, Georgia's should definitely be one of them. Please help me to do my part in saving the Georgia State flag by signing my petition at:Save the Georgia State flag I need 1,000 signatures by the end of October, more than that would just the thrill of a lifetime. God can save the South, but it wouldn't hurt to lend a hand.
God Bless You all,
Dixiemom
