The Confederate flag was recently removed from the state capitol of South Carolina and placed in a local museum. The Stars and Bars, the battle flag of the confederate army, has been under fire ever since 1861, and in my opinion, it was time to lay her to rest.
Whoa, now! Don’t get all upset and start calling me names until I put in my two-cents worth. I am a southern boy, born and raised in Texas, and I lived my teenage years up in Tennessee where I learned true friendship had no color barrier. I love the South and have never set foot on land north of the Mason-Dixon Line except for a few excruciating hours in a Chicago airport waiting for my connecting flight to de-ice. I have immense pride of my heritage, but over time, the Stars and Bars developed into an undesirable representation of the South, mostly due to a bunch of hooded, inbred cretins packed full of hatred and ignorance. If the removal of this flag helps patch the wounds of America, I’m all for it.
But, and this is a big but, don’t go messing with anything else that we southerners hold dear to our hearts. There are some folks around here who more’n likely weren’t born in the land of grits and southern hospitality who want to eradicate anything linked to the Confederacy, or apparently to the South in general. They want statues of Jefferson Davis reduced to rubble and schools named after Robert E. Lee to be changed. Here in Hays County, some radicals are requesting that Hays High School change its mascot from Rebels to something less offensive. And the school song “Dixie” should also be removed from the school band’s repertoire. Well, here’s something else that these malcontents might find offensive: If you don’t like living in the South, get the hell out!
First of all, there’s nothing wrong with being a rebel. Back in 1776, there were a mess of rebels who refused allegiance to the established government, but they were labeled “patriots.” If we didn’t have rebels, we never would’ve seen James Dean in “Rebel without a Cause.” There wouldn’t be any Rebel Yell Kentucky bourbon that helped me survive several snakebites back in my college days. If we can’t have rebels as sports mascots, would we see the Ole Miss Nonconformists battling the UNLV Running Insurgents on the basketball court? Locally, will we one day watch a game between the Hays Insurrectionists and the Travis Anarchists? If we have to give up “Rebels,” then it’s only fair to change the name of the New York Yankees.
Now, what’s so bad about our song “Dixie”? There’s no reference of slavery in the entire song, ironically written by a fellow from Ohio. There’s some mention of cotton, buckwheat cakes and gravel, but nothing I’d determine offensive. If we southerners can’t whistle “Dixie”,then we should also ban “Yankee Doodle”. Fair’s fair!
As for Robert E. Lee, he was not only a brilliant military leader, but he later became president of a Virginia university after the War of Northern Aggression. Oh, by the way, Robert E. Lee was opposed to slavery. As for Jefferson Davis, sure he is mostly known as the president of the Confederacy, but there is much more about him that few people know. I wonder how many graduates of Texas A&M know that Jefferson Davis once turned down an offer to become the first president of the Agriculture and Mechanical College of Texas. That is another reason that his statue should remain on the grounds of the University of Texas.
In the spirit of the old South, I will end this here commentary with a couple of song lyrics from some good old southern tunes: “If heaven ain’t a lot like Dixie, I’d just as soon stay home.” And, for our agitated friends from up north, “In Dixie Land I’ll take my stand to live and die in Dixie.” If anyone finds my essay offensive, well, you can kiss my grits!
Strange, but there’s no law against Crow’s Nest columnists Clint Younts making people laugh. He whistles while he works, but it’s difficult to figure out what tune he is trying to carry. Like his grandfather told the young’uns, if you can’t sing on tune, sing loud.
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