The Confederate Flag: Why I don’t care

The Confederate Flag never affects me emotionally. I see it and it’s just there. Oh I’m well aware of the symbolism of the Confederate Flag. Succeeding from the union, the African slave trade, the Civil War; I’m fully briefed. Yet I feel absolute nothing when I see it. Being the child of two former Black Panthers, you would probably think that I was ready to kick some serious ass when that flag is raised. Nope. All that false outrage is bad for the stomach.

Yes I call it false outrage when people react negatively to the Confederate Flag. Why, pray tell, would a black man such as myself feel nothing when that flag is seen? Simply, no white person flying that flag has brought harm to me and mine. In fact, I have rode in trucks with white guys that have the Confederate Flag in their back windows. Never felt uncomfortable. See I operate under a philosophy that my good friend Solomon (aka S-Train, former gang member) taught me:

I wish a motherfucker would…

That philosophy translates as: I pity the fool that wants to “act out” against me when they are flying a damn flag. That philosophy also has taught me that people basically shy away from trouble and controversy face-to-face. A white guy that I used to work with flew the Confederate Flag on his pickup truck. We were walking to his vehicle when he stopped short and got a little red in the face. I asked him what was wrong. He said that he had the Confederate Flag in his back window and know it offends black people. I looked at him and said:

Dude, I’m not walking way around the building to my truck over a damn flag. What? You have ulterior plans for me?

He stared at me kind of strange and said:

Heck no man. We’re going to lunch.

I simply told him OK and we were off. Did I care what people thought? No sir. Cause I know what his deal was. He was flying the flag and it means nothing to me. It means something to him but that something can’t touch me. Only he (the human being) can do something to me. So I ask my fellow black folks: when was the last time the Confederate Flag affected you? When did it fire or hire you? When did it cause a car accident? When did it do anything these days? The answer: it hasn’t done a thing to us in the past or present. And it certainly won’t affect our future, black folks. Let folks celebrate their Southern heritage with the Confederate Flag. By all means, have a rip-roarin’ time with it. Cause in the big picture, that flag is innocent of all crimes. But the fools that ran around with it to subjugate and beat down African slaves and their progeny aren’t. There is a big distinction. And that distinction needs to be emphasized. Using the Confederate Flag as a jumping off point for issues facing the black community is complete and utter bullshit. We know what needs to be done in our community. And no symbol will hinder us if we choose to work on or not work on issues in the black community.

It’ s all in our hands my fellow Americans with the natural tans.

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