If there is one thing we at the Phalanx can’t abide, its revisionist history. People who look upon the Japanese as innocent victims in WWII or holocaust deniers are nothing more than ignorant buffoons attempting to advance a sinister agenda. One of the earliest revisionist movements began in the late 19th century, as southern Civil War veterans, still smarting over their devastating defeat at the hands of the North, sought to recast their role in history.

No longer was the War Between the States one fought to ensure the continued bondage of black slaves, now the war was a noble cause to preserve southern heritage and the southern way of life. Suffice it to say that way of life was built upon the immoral, illogical, anti-free market and socialistic institution of slavery. Southern heritage (i.e., White Racist) organizations have tirelessly argued that the Civil War, and the secession movement that precipitated it, had nothing to do with slavery.

Most recently that endless campaign to legitimize state sanctioned racism continues again. This time the battle line has been drawn at a local public school in Blunt County Tennessee. Students at a local high school sought to “express themselves” by wearing t-shirts with the confederate battle emblem to school. Once they were noticed by the administration, school officials asked the students to change clothes or leave the premises, the enlightened young leaders of tomorrow, chose the later, after all what red neck would chose education over expressing a fondest for their racist heritage? Soon their parents got into the act, turning this expression of ignorance into a free speech rally. The parents have threatened to sue the school system, which is the typical American response in a situation such as this. The students, for their part argue that the entire situation was blown out of proportion and their intentions have been misconstrued. "The confederate flag was just a battle flag…,” noted Derek Barr a student at William Blount High School. “It had nothing to do with slavery. And I think a lot of people are getting the wrong picture on this, thinking we're being racist, but we're not."

To be fair, Barr and his fellow students are right on one account, if a person chooses to wear a flag depicting the confederate battle flag, they are very much within their rights. Our constitution protects the rights of individuals to express views, which may be contrary to the accepted views of society or which may be deemed offensive. By the same token these brain dead parents, who probably never lifted a finger in support of their child’s education until this fight over the flag, should be honest with themselves and the public at large. This fight is not about a proud southern heritage, this fight is not about freedom of speech, this fight is about the expressed desire of some local racists to thumb their noses at others by highlighting their personal bigotry and hatred.

The confederate flag and the defunct confederate nation it represents is very much a symbol of racism and hate.

The prevailing ideas entertained by him [Thomas Jefferson] and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically.

Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the "storm came and the wind blew."

Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery—subordination to the superior race—is his natural and normal condition.

Alexander Stephens
Vice President, Confederate States of America, March 21, 1861 (http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=76)

There can be no doubt that Stephens spoke correctly of his nation’s founding principles. The Confederate Constitution makes a point to vigorously defend the perpetual condition of slavery in the south. While rednecks like those in Blount County Tennessee argue that secession and the confederacy had nothing to do with slavery, learned individuals need look no further than the actual secession ordinances and subsequent proclamations issued by the seceding states declaring slavery as the principle justification for the dissolution of the Union. These facts are well-documented points of history.

The Confederacy is a symbol of hate and thus so to is its flag. Why else would unquestioned bigots like the KKK use the flag as their symbol, because it symbolizes heritage? No, because of the fear and hate it stands for. If these flag proponents, are so concerned about “southern heritage,” why is that they choose only to recognize that period in southern history from 1861-1865, why not honor the heroes of the American Revolution or World War II? Or why not recognize some of the work of many great southerners like Crawford Long, Juliet Gordon Low, Martin Luther King, Margaret Mitchell, Sam Houston, etc… What is it about this particular period in history that makes it so unique? We all know what that unique characteristic is and so to do the racist bigots who protest under the guise of free speech.
http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4424448
http://americancivilwar.com/documents/ordinance_secession.html
http://americancivilwar.com/documents/causes_south_carolina.html
http://americancivilwar.com/documents/causes_mississippi.html
http://americancivilwar.com/documents/causes_georgia.html
http://americancivilwar.com/documents/causes_texas.html
http://americancivilwar.com/documents/isham_harris.html