J.D.R. Hawkins

One bullet can make a man a hero… or a casualty.

Archive for the tag “Confederate Battle Flag”

Confederate Symbols in State Flags

I find it interesting that nearly every Southern state has retained its Confederate heritage in its state flag. The flags display representations of the Southern Cross (Alabama, Florida and North Carolina, for instance) or other Confederate flags, such as the Bonnie Blue flag (Georgia and Texas for example). There are a few exceptions to this, like the Mississippi state flag, which was changed in 2021 from this:

to this.

I hate to say it, but in my humble opinion, a flower has no place on a state flag. In fact, it looks kind of wimpy. However, certain PC woke persons just couldn’t stand having the Confederate battle flag represented on their state flag, where it had been for 127 years, so they did away with it. The removal of the Confederate battle flag from the new design was never approved by voters directly. It’s my understanding that this issue may come up again and be voted on in the near future.

I also find it interesting that my new state of residence, California, has its state flag tied to the Confederacy. I’ll bet the PC politicians here don’t know that!

The bear flag flew over Sutter’s Fort in 1846 and was resurrected by secessionists in 1861 to show support for the Confederacy. It was flown on many official buildings, including at the top of the State house. It was eventually taken down by Unionists, and a new version of the flag replaced it. This is the California state flag as we know it today, which flies over the Capitol Building in Sacramento, as well as various other state and Federal buildings around the state.

The next time you look at those state flags, you might just be looking at some hidden or long-forgotten pieces of history sewn into their fields.

Another Example of Anti-Confederate Sentiment

The following articles are photo copies taken from my local newspaper. The articles are similar, but still have differences, so I have included them both in this post. It amazes me how one substitute teacher, who obviously knows nothing about what a Social Studies teacher was instructing, can jump to conclusions, claim the Confederate battle flag is racist, succeed in rallying other uninformed individuals to petition against its display, and gain so much momentum. If anyone who reads this agrees with her, I will be happy to inform you about the untruths published here, so please feel free to contact me. Once again, this is another example of political correctness vs. historical accuracy and knowledge.

(Articles courtesy of The Colorado Springs Gazette Woodmen Edition, May 5, 2021 and the North Springs Edition, May 12, 2021)

We Can Never Forget

Well, kids, they’re at it again. I don’t know exactly who is behind all this desecration, but the forces that be have decided to attack our beloved American history once more. This round was supposedly brought on by the killing of George Floyd, a repeat offender/drug addict who has become a martyr, crazy as it sounds. So in retaliation for his demise, Black Lives Matter/Antifa has committed numerous murders, looting incidents, and various other crimes. The worst, to me, is their burning the UDC headquarters building in Richmond. What a heartbreaker. The second worst, in my opinion, is their destroying the Lion of Atlanta. And the governor of Virginia has decided to dismantle Monument Avenue, which consists of many amazingly beautiful sculptures. But because they depict Confederate soldiers, they just got ta go.

Lion

So many monuments are under attack right now, as is everything else related to the Confederacy. HBO has removed Gone With the Wind from their movie lineup, which is a serious shame, since the movie features Hattie McDaniel, the very first African American to ever win an Oscar. And Nascar announced that the Confederate battle flag will no longer be allowed to fly at events. Like that hurts anyone? Seriously?

Everyone seems to be losing sight of what the Confederacy actually represented…states’ rights. Slavery was definitely part of it, but then, slavery was legal in nearly every corner of the world back then. And it was also legal in many northern states.

Just for an eye-opener, I’m posting this article for us to witness what it was really like to live through such a terrifying, horrific time. This is what the monuments represent. This is what flying the Rebel flag is all about. If we forget about our ancestors’ peril and suffering, we only set ourselves up to suffer the same anguish ourselves. Because if we erase history, we are doomed to repeat it. History has shown us this time and again.

Ole Miss

The Story of One University Gray 

Come on in and wade around in the blood with me. I live with, and deal with, a lot of Ole Miss Civil War dead kids every day. The ones who died of old age, I can handle. The ones who die of dysentery in an overcrowded hospital, or who are decapitated by a cannon ball, or who bleed to death from a wound, all in their early 20’s, bother me. And then there are the sets of brothers who die, anywhere from two to five in one family. When I started all this I was 32, just a pup who was going to live forever. I had seen very little real death. Now, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, and I know it is mortality coming to run me over. I have lost my parents, all my uncles, 4 out of 6 of my best friends, and I have known a bunch of parents who have lost children. I have a much better understanding of the Civil War death that I write about, and live with, everyday. When I work on all this hard for 3 or 4 days, it starts to get to me. Lewis Taylor Fant was in the University of Mississippi Class of 1862. He was from Holly Springs. He joined the University Greys that Spring of 1861, he was 19 years old. He fought through the battles of First Manassas, Seven Pines, Gaines Mill, Second Manassas, and Sharpsburg. 

At Sharpsburg, on September 17, of 1862, Hood’s Division, including Law’s Brigade, containing the 11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, and the University Greys, was called to counter attack in the famous Cornfield, the bloodiest 40 acres in America. Twenty University Greys went into the meadow area below the Cornfield, and then on into the corn. They fought there for less than 30 minutes. Nineteen of the 20 Greys were wounded there that day. Three would later die of those wounds. 

Lewis Taylor Fant was shot in the leg there in the Cornfield. He was captured and he had his leg amputated in a Union field hospital. He was quickly exchanged to Richmond. I knew from his service record that he had died in the hospital at Richmond, but no cause was given. I always guessed an infection killed him. A few years into my research, I was in the State Archives at Jackson going through the Record Group 9 box on the 11th Mississippi. In that box was a roster one of the Greys had typed out, from memory. He had made a few notes for some of the boys, under their names. That afternoon I found out how Fant died. His note said, “fell on the pavement at Richmond, died in 15 minutes from ruptured artery”. They had gotten him up on crutches and he fell. The artery must have retracted back up into the stump and they could not clamp it off. He bled to death, and he lay there and knew he was bleeding to death. I had a long ride back to Memphis that late afternoon. 

Let me tell you about Lewis Taylor Fant’s brothers: 

James (UM Class of 1858, UM Law Class of 1860) joined the 9th Mississippi, rose to Captain, was wounded at Munfordville, Kentucky in September of 1862, and resigned due to his wound. 

Euclid was decapitated by a cannon ball at Knoxville in November of 1863, standing beside his first cousin. 

Selden joined the 9th Mississippi with his brother, at age 15. He survived the War, only to die in the Yellow Fever of 1878. He stayed in town when most men fled. He worked as Secretary and Treasurer of the Relief Committee, until he was stricken with Yellow Fever. 

Glenn was too young to fight in the War, he too died in the 1878 Yellow Fever. He too stayed in Holly Springs to help. He filled the place of the Express Agent when that man died. Glenn finally caught Yellow Fever and died too. 

There you have the story of just one University Grey. I know the death stories of 49 other Greys, plus well over 

one hundred other UM students and alumni, plus at least another hundred Lafayette County men who went to the Civil War. I know a fair amount about their families too, as you see above. 

Now, maybe you know a little more about why their mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, and nieces put a few monuments up to them. Those monuments have nothing to do with slavery and everything to do with the incredible amount of loss those families endured. 

The picture here is the University of Mississippi student body in the 1860 – 1861 school year. There they are, your fellow Alumni. Lewis Taylor Fant is probably there somewhere. 

That is the old, 1848 Southeastern dorm behind them on the right. The building on the left is a double Professor’s residence. The young man on the far right is seated on one of the Lyceum step piers. 

A little over 4 years after this picture was taken, 27% of those kids in that picture were dead. You think about that, and apply that percentage to 20,000 students at Ole Miss, in our last school year. What do you think we would do if 27% of those kids died? Can you envision a monument or two? 

Miller Civil War Tours – Starke Miller

(Article courtesy of The Southern Comfort, Private Samuel A. Hughey Camp 1452, President Jefferson Davis Chapter Sons of Confederate Veterans, Military Order of the Stars and Bars, Volume 44, Issue #6, June 2020)

 

It’s All In the Interpretation

I came across this article and have to admit that this gentleman certainly has a point. I was told several years ago that abuse is a matter of interpretation. If you feel you are being abused, then you ARE being abused. The same goes for discrimination, or in this case, a flag. If one flag is accepted and another is ridiculed for contrived impressions, there is a discrimination issue involved. In my opinion, we should accept all expressions of individually, patriotism, or personal identification. It is what our country and our Constitution are based upon. By accepting all, we invite tolerance and understanding, instead of promoting negativity and ill-conceived impressions. Here is the article:

Gay

Mark Velder, a city employee in Independence, Missouri spoke at this week’s city council meeting, to criticize the display of the rainbow pride flag by the Mayor, stating that he would be fired if he flew his Confederate Flag.

“We just did the Pledge of Allegiance, which says ‘I pledge allegiance to the flag.’ The flag. ‘The’ is a definitive article. That is my flag,” Velder said pointing to the American flag. “Not the LGBT flag,” Velder added while holding two Confederate flags. “I work at the city of Independence. If I put [the Confederate flag] up tomorrow, I’ll be fired.”

“Yet we’ve got a flag outside of the window, right up here that gives me a sense of discrimination. Something that’s not for equal rights, it’s a violation,” Velder continued. “That flag does not represent me, I keep hearing it’s for everybody. It does not. That represents people who have surgically removed part of their anatomy because they don’t know what kind of bathroom to go to … I’m normal. I’m normal.”

He added, “I’m asking can we get [the pride flag] down or just put mine [the Confederate flag] up. Just put this one up, I would love to see this one up tomorrow morning when I come to work.”

Rebel

(Article courtesy of Dixie Heritage Newsletter, June 21, 2019 ed.)

The Case of the License Plates

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The number of Tennesseans now displaying Confederate Battle Flag license plates is higher than at any other point in the last decade, according to state data on specialty tags.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans plate, the proceeds from which benefit the organization’s Tennessee Division, has been issued by the state since 2004.

At the end of the 2018 fiscal year in June, the state reported that 3,273 Sons of Confederate Veterans license plates were active in Tennessee, a number 72 percent higher than at the end of the 2015 fiscal year when the display of Confederate Flags was thrust into national debate.

The number of Tennesseans displaying SCV tags steadily increased in 2016 and 2017, according to data provided by the State, before peaking in the last year.

In Tennessee specialty plates have a $61.50 annual fee. $35 is allocated to the plate’s respective beneficiary, the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Highway Fund. So the way it breaks down is that depending on whether the plate is new or being renewed, the SCV’s share is is between $15.85 and $17.50 per year per license plate. According to the Department of Revenue, the Sons of Confederate Veterans received approximately $57,700 from the plates in the 2018 fiscal year.

The State of Texas successfully ended their SCV specialty plate offering. Efforts to eliminate the plate in Tennessee have so far failed. But there is currently an effort to prevent the SCV from receiving the funds generated from the sale of these plates.

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The SCV sued the city of Memphis in January after the Mayor Memphis sold public land to a nonprofit in order to take down the statues of General Nathan Bedford Forrest and President Jefferson Davis. Monies received from license plates may have been used to pay some of the legal fees. Senator Sara Kyles is in the process of drafting legislation that, if enacted by the General Assembly, would prevent funds distributed by the state through the license plates from being issued to an organization that sues the government. Effectively, the new guidelines would target the SCV and prevent them from receiving the revenue from the plates.
(Article courtesy of Dixie Heritage Newsletter, July 27, 2018 ed.)

They Won’t Let Up Till They’re All Gone

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A report, released last week by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), shows that 110 Confederate monuments have been removed nationwide since 2015 when a shooting at a black church in South Carolina. Shortly after the alleged shooting by Dylann Roof, poorly photo-shopped pictures surfaced of Roof posing with the Confederate Battle Flag. The left and the media used these as a catalyst against our flags and memorials.
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Still, according to the report, 1728 known memorials remain nationwide. The SPLC has targeted ALL of them for removal efforts. The Culture War continues.

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TEXAS LEADS THE WAY

 

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Having removed more than twice as many Confederate symbols as any other state since 2015, according to a SSPLC report.

The obviously not-so-great State of Texas removed 31 of the 110 Confederate symbols removed across the country.

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The report, published last week, identified 1,728 Confederate monuments that remain in public spaces, 209 of which are in Texas – the second-highest among all states.

Additionally, Texas is home to 58 highways and roads and 36 schools named after Confederates. These too have been targeted by the SPLC.

(Article courtesy of Dixie Heritage Newsletter, June 8, 2018 ed.)

More Ridiculousness

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Sometimes I come across stories and articles I find so absurd that I wonder if they’re true. Unfortunately, this one is. Read for yourself and tell me what you think.

Feds fund study on health risks of looking at Confederate flag
 
The U.S. government is funding research to show that Confederate symbols prompt a negative physiological response in black people, information some believe will be helpful in lawsuits aimed at removing them.
Jackson State University received $420,000 in grant funds, some from the National Science Foundation, to delve deeper into the physiological responses of black people to Confederate imagery after initial research allegedly revealed negative reactions, the Jackson Free Press reports.
Political science professor D’Andra Orey concocted a study that blends biology and politics by measuring the heart rate of participants, and how much they sweat, when shown different images like a t-shirt with the Confederate flag, or the Mississippi state flag that contains the Confederate flag. The reactions are compared to responses to “happy images” like penguins or exposure to blank images, and an initial pilot study of black faculty and students at JSU allegedly showed the Confederate images produce a negative physical reaction.
“When you see the flag, and you start sweating, that fits with the sympathetic nervous system,” Orey said. “When people have a negative response to these particular images, that means that it impacts them negatively, which is physiologically.”
Most recently, Grenada-based attorney Carlos Moore sued Gov. Phil Bryant over the Mississippi State Flag, claiming it is both unconstitutional and negatively impacted his health by raising his blood pressure. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves threw out the case, but Moore appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Free Press reports.
The lawsuit was dismissed mostly because Moore could not prove harm from the flag, but Orey’s research could change that.
“We’re actually trying to see if this negative physiological response can be measured into an injury or can be captured as an injury,” he said. “They can say it bothers them, and then it doesn’t register in their physiological response while others (can) say, ‘it doesn’t bother me, I’m immune to it … but I get (physiologically) pissed off every time I see it,” Orey said.
In Moore’s case, Judge Reeves ruled that he did now show a “cognizable legal injury” as a result of viewing the state flag, but acknowledged ties between the Confederate battle flag symbol and the state’s history of slavery. The ruling makes it clear that regardless of whether the flag makes Moore uncomfortable, there’s no constitutional protections for anxiety from state symbols.
“Moore’s arguments are phrased as constitutional claims, yet his allegations of physical injuries suggest that he is making an emotional distress tort claim,” Judge Reeves wrote. “To succeed in constitutional litigation, however, Moore needs to identify that part of the Constitution which guarantees a legal right to be free from anxiety at State displays of historical racism. There is none.”
(Article courtesy of Dixie Heritage Newsletter, Sept. 23, 2016 ed.)

Mississippi Flag Under Attack

Flag

The Mississippi state flag has fallen under much scrutiny lately because it is the only state flag left that still bears the St. Andrews Cross. Several state-funded universities, as well as governmental agencies, have refused to fly the flag for the sake of political correctness, stating that it is “offensive” to certain groups. However, they fail to mention that it is not offensive to the majority. Some special interest groups are striving to erase our history, which I find offensive. The following article tells about some of the history behind the illustrious Mississippi state flag. It should be flown with honor and pride, but certain groups are trying to tear it down.

Aviation in Mississippi: Flying to the South Pole

This framed state flag and piece of Aquarius netting were flown aboard the troubled Apollo 13 mission to the moon. The inscription reads, “To the People of the State of Mississippi / This Mississippi flag and Aquarius netting were flown to the Moon on Apollo 13 by a fellow Mississippian. / April 11-17, 1970” and it is signed by Fred W. Haise.

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From the Museum Division Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Fred Haise was born in Biloxi on November 14, 1933. He graduated from Biloxi High School and received an Association of Arts Degree at Perkinston Junior College before going to the University of Oklahoma. An experienced pilot, Haise was one of sixteen men chosen to be astronauts by NASA in April 1966. He served as the Lunar Module Pilot on the Apollo 13 mission to the moon. Fifty-five hours into the flight, there was a failure of the service module cryogenic oxygen system, and Haise and his fellow crewmen converted the lunar module “Aquarius” into a lifeboat which ensured their survival and allowed them to return safely back to Earth.

http://mdah.state.ms.us/senseofplace/tag/museum-of-mississippi-history/page/2/

 

More Absurdity

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The Confederacy is still under attack across the country, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up. Now, Sons of Confederate Veterans’ camp signs are being taken down. I’m sorry, but this is a living history group that does a lot of good things for their communities. If it was any other group being attacked, I’m sure there would be a lot more outrage. But because of all the misconceptions surrounding the Confederate battle flag, it seems to be okay that everything Confederate should be eradicated, because it is now considered to be all evil, racist, hateful, and wrong. However, this  misconstrued image is, in itself, wrong.

confederate school

Another example is a group of schools in Houston, Texas. They include Lee High School, Albert Sidney Johnston Middle School, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson Middle School, John Reagan High School, Richard Dowling Middle School, Sidney Lanier Middle School, and Jefferson Davis High School. The school board voted in May to change the names, and has approved to spend $1.2 million to do so. What a waste of money! Wouldn’t it be better spent in educational programs? Just sayin’.

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Protests are underway to get rid of the Confederate battle flag during Civil War reenactments. One such case was heard prior to this year’s anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Democratic state Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown said she has “been to a lot of reenacting and the reenacting does not tell the stories accurately.” What? Republican Rep. Dan Moul says it doesn’t make sense to not use a Confederate flag when reenacting Civil War battles. I’m with him.

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This political correctness is nothing less than absurd, but because a small minority complains, the rest of the country has to bow down to their ridiculous, hysterical whims. To me, these attacks are also attacks on our freedom of speech and expression. It has to stop now before it’s too late, and all of our history, regardless of whether it is considered to be good or bad, is gone.

http://candler.allongeorgia.com/confederate-emblems-removed-in-reidsville-after-racial-concerns/

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/article95634022.html

http://abc27.com/2016/06/30/pa-lawmaker-questions-use-of-confederate-flags-in-battle-reenactments/

The Truth is Out There

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There are so many misconceptions today about why the Civil War was fought, what motivated the South, and what the Confederate battle flag truly represented. Some people are wrongly offended by the flag because they don’t really understand what it symbolizes. I found the following letter interesting, so I wanted to share.

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The Truth About the Confederate Battle Flag

Many of the facts that I reference…were included in a message delivered several years ago by Pastor John Weaver…

Combine the current attacks against Biblical and traditional marriage, the attacks against all things Confederate, the attacks against all things Christian, and the attacks against all things constitutional and what we are witnessing is a heightened example of why the Confederate Battle Flag was created to begin with. Virtually every act of federal usurpation of liberty that we are witnessing today, and have been witnessing for much of the twentieth century, is the result of Lincoln’s war against the South. Truly, we are living in Lincoln’s America, not Washington and Jefferson’s America. Washington and Jefferson’s America died at Appomattox Court House in 1865.

Instead of lowering the Confederate flag, we should be raising it.

© Chuck Baldwin

http://www.confederateamericanpride.com/battleflag.html

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=1220517550

(Courtesy of Dixie Heritage Newsletter)

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