There is a time and a place for every thing. And those who wave the flag in the wrong places does our cause no good.

The racist symbology that became attached to the Confederate Flag did not happen during the War Between the States, or immediately thereafter. Not even the K.K.K. used it, up until the time that F.D.R. declared them to be an illegal organization. And he did that because of the K.K.K.'s political stance not because of their racial policy.

The racial symbology became attached to our flag in the 1950's and 60's when people using the Confederate Flag waved it improperly as a symbol of their cause, whatever that was, that the Confederate Flag took on the mantle of being a racism emblem. The Confederate army had nothing to do with those actions during the Civil Rights debate.

It is a misconception of history that the Confederate Army which contained as many as 42 different ethinic nationalities was a racist Army. In my small study alone I have found Native Americans and Texas Cowboys in the same company fighting side by side together with African Americans, Mexican nationals and even a Chinese national in the same Texas regiment.

It is well known that Judal P Benjamin was Jewish in orgins and that Catholic's were very much a part of the Confederate Army. Two groups which are routinely harrassed in todays culture.

That sounds like s melting pot to me.

So there is a time and a place to fly the flag in honor of our Confederate Veterans and not in the faces of others who are attempting to honor theirs. What we need to demand more often is the oppertunity to wave our flag and not be discriminated against because of other people misconceptions.

Happy Robert E. Lee's 200th Birthday this Friday, January 19th. And Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's 183rd Birthday Sunday, January 21st.