Enough already about the flag issue. WE pay them enough to make those
decisions for us. Let this subject rest. Ginny Keefer
----- Original Message -----
From: "Moreland, Vincent" <VMoreland(a)velaw.com>
To: <Campbell-L(a)genealogy.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 12:20 PM
Subject: RE: The Confederate Flag
I think that if it were truly an issue of preserving history I find
it
incredible that someone has not suggested flying the official flag of the
Confederacy (which is not the "Stars and Bars." The Stars and Bars was
the
battle flag) The official flag was rather like early U.S. flags and
goes
unrecognized by most Americans today. Texas is a State that proudly
recalls
its "Six Flags" and in these more politically correct times
one almost
never
sees the Stars and Bars as the flag used to represent the Confederate
Flag
that "flew over Texas" when Texas was a member of the Confederacy. The
six
flags that are shown are the Royal French Flag, the Royal Spanish
Flag,
the
Mexican Flag, the Lone Star Republic flag, the Confederate Flag and
the
current U.S. Flag. Most people are clueless that the fifth flag is the
Confederate flag, but it was in fact more correct than any battle flag.
The
difficulty for the Confederacy and its official flag was that it was
not
different enough from the Stars and Stripes and troops easily became
confused in the terror, fog, smoke and pain of battle, and so evolved over
time the Stars and Bars battle flag. I think "historians" should know the
history before claiming something is done in the name of history. I tend
to
agree that the initial reason for flying the Stars and Bars was in
defiance
of shifting social culture (albeit a futile defiance). I think the
men
and
women of the Confederacy should not be forgotten (and by that I mean
all
races). But I also believe that there is no reason to fan flames of hate
and racial intolerance when a "historical solution" is readily at hand.
Any
Campbells from both sides should be able to remember and revere
their
ancestors that sacrificed all they had for a cause they believed in with
the
two official flags from that time period. I am not personally
descended
from any paticipants in that conflict. My ancestors came late in the
1800s
and early 1900s from Scotland and Scandinavia, but I have lived in
both
the
north and the south and feel that those who fail to understand that
time
and
culture have moved on are doomed to a bitter and painful live.
-----Original Message-----
From: Sears, Dirk J [mailto:SearsDJ@corning.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 11:04 AM
To: 'Campbell-L(a)genealogy.org'
Subject: The Confederate Flag
Fellow Clansmen,
We in the "North" shouldn't think more highly of ourselves than we
ought
about the "South" and the Confederate flag. The North has
blood on it's
hands, too. Slavery, if not as prevalent up north, was not too far behind.
Sorry, that's the truth of it. There were more issues at stake during the
War between the States than just slavery. Things like states rights and
emminent domain to name a couple. The sad thing is that brave men
of the same blood...kith and kin...fought and died against one another
because GOVERNMENTS couldn't agree. The Confederate flag bloody
well SHOULD make people uncomfortable. It makes me sick that men of honor
on
BOTH sides paid the ultimate price...as is the case with
all war. The Confederate flag does not, however, offend me. The bloodshed
does. None of us were there during those dark years, and the history
books have painted a hopelesy biased picture of the conflict to the
detriment of the South in most cases. If it's the flying of a flag...which
is a very
REAL piece of history...that offends: SHAME ON US that we forget how much
it
cost to have the choice to fly that flag. Let it remind, rather,
that
unless we never forget the pain and suffering GOVERNMENTS have caused
humanity, we will have it to look forward to again. When I see the
Confederate flag, I think, "Brave men....all." He that has ears to hear,
let him hear.
All the best,
Dirk Sears-Campbell