Another April 26th Forgotten
By Doug Hagin (04/28/03)
April 26th is gone by for another year and the heroes it has been set aside to honor have largely been forgotten again. In fact those reading this might be scratching their collective heads wondering just who was supposed to be remembered on April 26th.
Well this day was set apart years and years ago all across the South to pay homage to the more than one million boys and men who took up arms in defense of their homes and families.
These brave souls certainly were not eager for war nor were they happy to leave hearth and home to fight an invading army. But they went and answered the call of duty anyway, as heroes always do. They left their farms and families and formed one of the fiercest fighting forces ever brought together.
Remember whom this day honors yet? Would it help if you knew this group of soldiers was made up of very diverse religions and races? Would it help if I told you these men battled and died under a symbol which has been demonized and misused over the years by hate groups?
Surely their identity must be clear by now. Surely the readers can envision the troops in tattered butternut uniforms, many barefoot, and in rags. Marching under their beloved Confederate flags, marching to meet an overwhelming opponent in a war they could never win.
Still they marched and fought never doubting the justness of their cause. They provided a shining example of valor, and courage in the face of overwhelming odds and adversity. Their deeds on the battlefields across the South earned them the love of their fellow Southerners and a place in the annals of history.
Yet today the holiday put in place to ensure these heroes memories remain alive is for the most part overlooked. Confederate Memorial Day, along with the Battle flag and Confederate memorials, has become a target for bigots from the NAACP to the Klueless Klutz Klan. It has become too politically incorrect to be mentioned by our media, too controversial for many Southerners today. Apparently the brave blood which flowed in those soldiers veins has thinned considerably.
For today many of us have not only forgotten their ancestors struggles and deeds but have disavowed the heritage they left us entirely. A more tragic fate can not be imagined for a history and heritage so rich and wonderful. Yet this is indeed the fate which has befallen our ancestors and our heritage.
And we Southerners only have ourselves to blame for this cultural tragedy. Sure it is easy to point the finger of blame at the race pimps at the NAACP who use Confederate symbols as tools of political gain. Yes the leaders of this organization lie about our heroes and their flag to divide the races. They of course do this to embitter Black Americans instead of actually solving real problems facing Black Americans. Easier to race bait than to work to heal and help I suppose.
It is also very easy to point at our education system. After all it has been lying to our children for years now.
Teaching them the South fought only to keep slavery instead of teaching the facts of the War Between the States. Yes our educators have done a great job of painting the Confederate soldier as an evil person who fought to defend slavery.
We might also easily lay the blame at the feet of our media. Their cameras are never at a Confederate Memorial parade or re-interment for a Confederate soldier. They never seem to show our beloved flag in a historically accurate context, not controversial enough I suppose.
Of course let an idiot in a hood and robe carry the Confederate banner and it is lights, camera, action! The media never misses an opportunity to make the South look bad.
Easiest of all to blame would be the cowards in dunce caps, the Klueless Klutz Klan. These mental midgets have been bastardizing our flag and therefore the memories of our soldiers for years now. Instead of leaving the flag of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and so many other heroes alone these miscreants have tried to claim it as their own.
Nothing more disgusts those who love Southern heritage more than the sight of our heroic ancestors’ flag being carried by a hate group. That flag is the greatest monument to the bravery and elan of the Confederate soldier there is. And remember please that those Confederates were White, American Indian, Hispanic, Asian, Black, Jewish, and Catholic. And a few idiots in hoods can never change that precious banner which was bought with their blood.
But if we Southerners really want to lay the blame where it most lies let us gaze in the mirror. We have failed to defend our ancestors’ memories. We failed to stand up to weak politicians who have banned the flying of our flag. We failed to take a stand against left-wing hate groups like the NAACP when they began using the flag as a political wedge.
And most shamefully we did not rise up in masse the first time the Klan marched with our banner. Our ancestors fought, bled, and too often died for that flag. Yet we could not manage enough spine to demand the Klan not carry our flag.
Duty called and our ancestors answered and defined our heritage. When will we do likewise and defend that heritage?
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