bellarific wrote:I HAVE HAD ENOUGH.
You are out of line, and you've taken this way too far. I am EXTREMELY offended. I'm from Louisiana, and there is none of that nonsense going on. How DARE you accuse us of such things when you have no substantial proof? INTENTIONALLY hiding the "true reasons" for waving the confederate flag to BRAINWASH people into "thinking like us?" How the hell do you think we think? Have you even BEEN down south before? Have you ever spoken to anyone from here?
I suggest you drop your conspiracies now. What you're doing here is wrong. You're wrong. BACK. OFF. I am insulted and upset by what you just said. You do realize that you've just verbally condemned an entire half of the country, most of whom are JUST LIKE YOU. We live. We go to work. We have families. We raise children. We go to Disneyworld from time to time. We're not just a bunch of inbreds who are waiting for the right moment to surprise attack the Northerners or whatever crazy idea you think we're cooking up.
This started out as a ridiculous t-shirt design and it's turned into me feeling the need to defend my livelihood to people who I once thought were rational and open-minded. You've hurt me, my family, and everyone I've ever known. Over a t-shirt. I want you to know this because I can only hope that you reconsider your horrendously inaccurate and biased view of Southerners next time before you speak.
And, in case you're wondering, I've never owned/worn/waved a confederate flag in my life. I'm speaking here on behalf of the good people I've been fortunate enough to grow up with. People who've made an honest freaking living. I pity you and the life that's in store for you, lest you not reconsider your opinion of half of your brethren.
I've said my piece, and I'm washing my hands of this. If you'd like to discuss it with me further, feel free to pm me.
bellarifc, i am glad you are offended. i really am. and do you know why? because now you know how i and many many other people feel when we see a confederate flag. now you know how we feel when we see entire states willing to make and keep its flag a symbol of hate. understand that i never intended to insinuate that you, or anyone you know is trying to intentinally insert a symbol of hate into others lives. im saying that maybe the reason the confederate flag never went away after the civil war might have been that the people in charge knew what it was and what it represented and found a way to keep it around, getting everyone to agree that it was about pride. have you ever considered this? of course not. and thats why things like this happen. this is how dictators come to power. this is how countries get driven to war. leaders tell you to have pride in something and they tell you its important to you and you have to stand up for them and act out their will, and it happens in small steps at first.
i can honestly say that i do not understand ancestral pride. its like racial pride. pride should be reserved for things you actually accomplish, not things that are an accident of birth, like being born in louisiana, or being born near that cemetary where youre ancestors bones lie. what difference should it make to you where you are buried? you're going to be dead! will it change your afterlife somehow where you are buried? will heaven be different if your body is just thrown in a ditch? dont have pride in whatever state you are born in, have pride in things that YOU accomplish. i have no pride in my hometown. because my hometown can change anytime and for any reason and anything i like about it can be changed at any time. pride in arbitrary things like your race, location, or ancestry are just things that people use to further seperate themselves from others, and interestingly enough, those things allow thoughts like righteousness to prosper, which lead to other thoughts like the right to control others rights, or the thought that you are better than others. or the thought that you are better than black people.
