Nylon vs. cotton debate shows that flag controversy isn't over

Spartanburg Herald-Journal ^ | Dec. 10, 2001 | Authors Too Afraid To Say His Name

[Church Lady]

Nylon vs. cotton debate shows that flag controversy isn't over

If you thought that the controversy over the Confederate flag had been settled by last year's compromise, you'd better think again. Lawmakers agreed last year to move the flag off the Statehouse dome to the monument to Confederate veterans on the Statehouse grounds. Leaders on both sides agreed at the time to let the issue rest. But it has emerged again. A few lawmakers have taken it upon themselves to substitute a nylon flag for the cotton one that had been used.

You might think this is a minor thing, but you'd be underestimating the strength of feelings on both sides of the issue.

Flag supporters say they made the change because the colors ran too easily on the cotton flag. But flag opponents are angry because the lighter nylon flag rises and flutters in a lighter breeze, so it is much more visible.

Lawmakers are speculating that the move from cotton to nylon could scuttle the compromise and bring up the flag issue once again.

Why is this so important? Why do we waste so much time dealing with a seemingly insignificant matter?

Because the flag represents much more fundamental and significant issues -- issues that affect who we are as a people and the fact that we do not share a common view of our history.

To flag supporters, the debate shows that many fellow South Carolinians do not respect their heritage and their history. In fact, some fellow state residents want to defame and degrade that heritage.

To flag opponents, the debate shows that some South Carolinians have not yet recognized the oppression of black South Carolinians. Some fellow state residents refuse to acknowledge the harm and the evil that the Confederate flag represents to them. And they fear that the veneration of the Confederate flag reveals a desire to return to racial oppression.

Beneath the often angry rhetoric about the flag are very real and important differences about what South Carolina is and how it became what it is. People on both sides are passionate about these ideas because they directly relate to who they and their families are and how they relate to the rest of the state.

We will continue to fight about the flag -- even about such details as the fabric it is made of -- until that division is healed, until we can come to a common understanding of our history and its impact on our present and our future.

[Church Lady]

Church Lady loves her Rebel flag and ain't gonna hide it for nobody.

[4CJ]

I enjoyed watching you on "Saturday Night Live". ;o)

[warchild9]

Composition of the flag is irrelevant. The trick is to bring up the subject again and again and again, so eventually the boobs who bent over for the NAACP in South Carolina will wake up and become self-respecting women and men again. Deo Vindice. The Kid.

[Church Lady]

I really enjoyed being there.It was so special.

[Church Lady]

Enjoyed your comment about the NAACP .why do they call that organization ,the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. We all know that the term colored is not politicaLLY correct as the PC term is now "African-American".Therefore ,my friends, shouldn't they call that organization the The NAAAAPor would that make everybody sleepy.

[4CJ]

"Some fellow state residents refuse to acknowledge the harm and the evil that the Confederate flag represents to them."

Confederate flags are now like guns - inanimate objects that move of their own accord and attack or kill people.

[Khepera]

Negros are colored people?

[warchild9]

Liberals love the "rubbery" feel of the term "colored." My black friends laugh at it, and my wife, who is Hispanic, is mildy offended since people think brown/Mexican when anyone says "Hispanic," and she is a white Cuban. In short, "colored" is non-threatening to the common fool who doesn't realize that words mean things. The Kid.

[aomagrat]

So the flag opponents are upset because the flag is made of nylon instead of cotton. I would think it would be the other way around, since cotton would remind them of the centuries of unpaid labor. But that brings up the reparations issue. So that's why the flag opponents support a cotton flag! Follow the money.

[billbears]

I beg to differ with you there. Composition of the flag material is important. Call me silly (ok, I'm silly) but a nylon Confederate flag somehow takes away from the importance of what those brave men and women, of all colours, stood against

[Church Lady]

Confederate flags are now like guns - inanimate objects that move of their own accord and attack or kill people.

You have spoken the truth .The truth is supposed to set us free .However as Jack Nicholson said in"A Few Good Men" some folks can't "Handle The Truth"

[warchild9]

The flag opponents are upset because we WILL NOT dip our colors, and surrender to them. The Kid.

[Church Lady]

Follow the money.

IF I ONLY FOLLOWED THAT ADVICE WHEN i WAS YOUNGER.

[Church Lady]

A valid point sir.

[4CJ]

I have no problem with other ethnic groups honoring their heritage, but I have severe problems being told that I can't honor mine.

[warchild9]

I will concede your point, sir. May I also emphasize the importance of where the flag was produced. The Kid.

[4CJ]

" ... a nylon Confederate flag somehow takes away from the importance of what those brave men and women, of all colours, stood against".

Impossible. That's not in the history books. < /Sarcasm >

[Captain Shady]

we might want to make sure its not a "Made In China" flag.

[warchild9]

My Bonnie Blue was made in the South, and my Third National in Taiwan. I have nothing against the Taiwanese. The Kid.

[billbears]

BTW picked up an excellent book (so far) called Black Confederates edited by Charles Kelly Barrow, using historical documentation about the many African-Americans that fought FOR the Confederacy. One point they make rather early is that many of the soldiers were not technically enlisted. They just came from wherever and started fighting without bothering to sign up. Has about 20 pages of documentation in the back on the different sources. Will let you know when I finish

GOD BLESS DIXIE!!