At the Homecoming Concert on Friday I saw a disgusting scene. Confederate flag-clad rednecks, frat boys and other so inclined people who could be categorized as “white trash.” Being a Southerner, one cannot avoid the Confederate flag. But I never thought an institution of higher learning would condone a venue that distributed them.
The assertion that the confederate flag implies the continuation of slavery is a shallow one. The truly disgusting aspect of societal acceptance of the Confederate flag is the ignorance of its meaning as a symbol. In the United States of America we have the right to hold opinions that are in direct contradiction to the well being of the Union. And so those who would don a symbol of the destruction of our Union have the right to do so.
What is disgusting is that the very same group of people claims to be such staunchly patriotic “Americans.” The Confederate flag is a symbol of a state that inadvertently attempted to destroy our Union, in seeking independence, because of that state’s failure to progress toward national standards and societal norms that were not even to a level that could be considered in agreement with natural law. Furthermore, the modern connotation of the Confederate flag is as a symbol of the oppression of black people as well as rampant bigotry towards non-protestants and “foreigners.”
I embrace my Southern heritage; but what that heritage entails is both horrifically depraved and beautifully filled with culture. Failure to understand that concept is the utmost sin of the above-mentioned group of people. They aren’t known for their above-average intelligence though, so perhaps I should not expect so much of them.
Tim Spires is a sophomore majoring in French, management and information systems and finance.
The Story of Jonathan and CarolineJonathan and Caroline had known each other for some time.Jonathan was always up and doing, and he liked to be in charge of everyone and everything. Caroline, on the other hand, was easygoing. She dispatched her business, but did not run herself ragged, and she believed in living at her own pace and allowing others to do the same.After some time, Jonathan proposed marriage to Caroline. She expressed her misgivings (“I fear that you will not be satisfied until I become a duplicate of you”), but the marriage took place.Almost immediately, Jonathan began re-molding Caroline to his image of what she ought to be. Most of his efforts she took in stride, but as his demands grew greater she expressed her misgivings.The sorest point was the family income. Jonathan expected Caroline to work long hours both inside and outside the home and turn all her income over to him. He then spent the majority of the money on his own interests rather than on hers or on their mutual well-being. Before many years had passed, Caroline was providing 80% of the family income while receiving at best 20% of the benefits of the expenditures.One day Jonathan announced “Caroline, you are not earning enough to suit me. You have thirty days to increase your income by fifty percent.”To Caroline, already run ragged, this demand was the last straw. She swiftly packed a few items and fled the house, then sent word to Jonathan: “Your demands have gone too far. When I married you, I expected to be your wife – but you have made me your cash cow, and I am sick and tired of having my teats pulled with nothing to show for it. I want a divorce.”When Jonathan received that news, his fury knew no bounds. He hunted Caroline down, dragged her back home by the hair of her head, chained her to the bedpost, and beat her savagely (blacking both her eyes, breaking her nose and several bones, and knocking out teeth not a few). He then twisted her arm behind her and frog-marched her into court, where the judge rendered his verdict:
• Caroline had no right to desert Jonathan.
• Divorce was impossible.
• Jonathan had the right to wreak whatever vengeance he wished upon Caroline, now or in the future, because she had had the unmitigated gall to desert him and seek a divorce.Jonathan bragged to one and all “I saved my marriage! Caroline and I did not get a divorce. We are still very much married.”Some would say that Caroline was guilty of trying to destroy the marriage. After all, she did desert Jonathan and file for divorce.Others would say that Jonathan had already destroyed the marriage by mistreating Caroline.What say you?
Young Mr. Spires is right in that lots of people do have that negative opinion of the Confederate Battle Flag. Inasmuch as young Mr. Spires is a man of learning rather than a man chosen at random, one would expect young Mr. Spires to go on to say “When one does a bit of research, however, that connotation is called into serious question” or thereby. I have no doubt that young Mr. Spires, as a man of learning, knows that it is entirely possible for people to have unfavorable opinions of favorable things.Young Mr. Spires uses the word “bigotry,” which word means “obstinate and unreasoning attachment to one’s own belief and opinions with intolerance of beliefs opposed to them.” I wonder if he realizes that some people could easily opine from his article that young Mr. Spires has something of an obstinate attachment to his own beliefs, with less than generous tolerance of opposing beliefs.Clifton Palmer McLendon, BAAS (CJ)
Upshur County, Texas
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