Stars and Bars
Posted on 06/24/2020 5:43:07 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!
There aren’t many Alabama businessmen whose comments make the pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post on the same weekend.
And there are no others along a stretch of U.S. 431 outside Anniston on the way to Lake Wedowee, besides Bob Castello. The 68-year-old former traveling salesman is the owner of the Dixie General Store, one of the places where those who want to remember the Confederacy take their stand and buy its emblems. And not in Confederate dollars, either, although you can buy replicas of them there.
NASCAR’s ban on the Confederate flag brought out merchants at Talladega this weekend, and demonstrations nationwide - and in Birmingham - have brought down monuments to Civil War figures of both the Confederacy and the Union over the last month. But Castello has been selling flags from this roadside store - about 30 miles from the racetrack - for more than five years, and been talking to journalists for about that long, as he did this weekend for stories on the enduring sales of the flag.
He says he has welcomed visitors of all races to the store, been visited by shoppers from every state and 29 countries, and received calls of support from Black local citizens in Cleburne County. Only rarely does he get a visitor who wants to do more than discuss what the flag means.
“Somebody last month said we shouldn’t be selling that racist stuff,” he said. “I just told him he needed to leave and never come back. I’ll talk to anybody. Usually it’s pleasant conversations.”
Castello has Confederate battle flags, regiment flags, sovereign state flags adopted after secession. You can pick up a 12-foot by 18-foot battle flag for $275, for example. You can even buy a rebel flag mask for the pandemic. A flag flying outside urges people to respect, protect and preserve Confederate monuments, and inside, you can buy photographs of monuments suitable for framing. There are T-shirts, dresses, custom holsters and bumper stickers, all with some variation of the stars and bars.
There’s also plenty of merchandise devoted to the 45th president. Trump flags, Trump hats, and merchandise with Donald Trump’s head photo-shopped onto the body of Sylvester Stallone from the Rambo movies are just some of your options.
After years on the road, Castello noticed Confederate memorabilia selling at flea markets and thought a central store selling the goods in a rural setting might do well. He has always been fascinated by the Civil War, remembering a family member who joined up at the age of 46 to take on Sherman’s army during its march through Georgia. As a child, he remembers a family heirloom sword which belonged to a soldier.
Castello said he makes a lot of the merchandise, as it is getting harder to find domestic companies that sell products with Confederate emblems. He sees a day when major manufacturers, wishing to eschew controversy, stop altogether. Alabama Flag & Banner, located in Huntsville, sells the flag but would not speak for this story. Internet searches also turn up other products featuring the Confederate flag.
Castello had a court case with the Alabama Department of Transportation three years ago dealing with his flag display off Interstate 20, which flies flags and features an image of Gen. Robert E. Lee. He contended the displays were on his own property. The case was eventually settled.
“Some people have stopped doing it (manufacturing Confederate flags),” he said. “If they basically intimidate all the American companies into not making them anymore, they’ll just be made in China. It’s not going to stop. That’s all they’ll accomplish.”
Castello said he doesn’t see the flag as an emblem of slavery, as most of the soldiers in the Confederate Army were poor farmers who did not own slaves. He also thinks that attempts to “jerk down statues” will only bring more customers. Incidents like the killing of George Floyd, or the 2015 mass killing of nine Black worshippers in a Charleston, S.C. church are evil, he said, but he sees no connection between them and the Confederate flag. He hopes to continue selling them as long as he is able.
” I am very tempted to go up to this store and buy the biggest flag he’s got... For what $275? I think it might be worth it to put it in the back of my truck and drive around some.”
The $275 flag is 12 x 18. Hope you’ve got a big truck and bigger flagpole!
Joe Biden, Democrat candidate for President is/was a Segregationist.
All either anti White racist or anti American.
The msm sees no problem with this.
Many FRs should look into the multiple reasons for the war between the states.
Already are.
So, the hundreds of thousands of men that actually carried muskets, tore cartridges and drew ramrods for $13.00 a month and died by the thousands, don’t count?
Being a native westerner, I don’t have much thought about the “Rebel Flag.” Not really our battle, the Civil War. The Rockies sort of shielded us from all of that. There may have been some minor skirmishes coming from Arizona IIRC.
That being said...I think it is time to let the Confederate Flag go to sleep. I do not want to ban the thing...but it is time for that flag to fade into history. I understand the desire for some to advocate for Southern or State Pride—got that...the continuing of battle against all odds...But perhaps some other prop can replace that flag and its assocated baggage with something new that reflects that rebel grittiness and heritage without connotations to slavery.
Of course I understand that the banning of the flag is the desire to ban all whiteness. I understand that too..that is why I am not in favor of a ban.
Whomever can create such a new emblem of pride and heritage stands to become rich. But that emblem would somehow have to include all Americans that live in the South. Almost like a football or team emblem.
You know, something like maybe an American Flag....
Don’t be a dupe. You’ll note that the “protestors” started with Confederate stuff exploiting the blacks for support (and white dupes). Very quickly they have moved on to all other symbols of American history-Lincoln, Washington, Roosevelt, veterans etc. There is worry about the Statue of Liberty, Mt. Rushmore. In short, they HATE America and everything it stands for.
The westernmost battle of the Civil War was fought near Casa Grande Arizona. I visited the site as a kid.
I grew up in the South (Texas) and lived here all my life. I have had things throughout life with confederate flag on them but never owned an actual flag. A few years ago on vacation in Colorado of all places while at a roadside stand I spotted one flying and they had them for sale. I bought one and told the guy I am only buying it because the PC people didn’t want me to have it. The guy running the stand said that is the very reason he is selling them, and he had never been to a southern state. The left is going to revive the popularity of the stars and bars as a symbol of rebellion and the fight against the leftist and globalist.
What is the flag upper left, Yellow star on red with red, white, and blue stripes?
Stars and Bars
I’m sorry . . . Confederate battle flag. My mistake
I don’t fly the Confederate flag and I don’t much want anyone to do so because it is an unnecessary provocation that is offensive to many.
However, to many Southerners, the flag is not as much a symbol of slavery as much as it is a symbol of the abuse heaped on the Southern people during Reconstruction . . . carpetbaggers, etc, and even long after that. I think even today, Southern people feel a sense of condescension and mistrust of Northern brethren. Hollywood doesn’t miss many opportunities to play on the stereotype of the ignorant hick from the South. Sure, we have our ignorant racist hicks, but I will match the best of the South today with the best of the North any day and expect them to come out on top. Truth is, the North probably has more racist hicks than the South, they just live at a higher latitude. We in the South have lived in and around black people a lot longer than the North, and we generally have good, civil relationships with each other.
The Union defeated the Confederacy at a cost of many hundreds of thousands of lives. Capturing and displaying the enemies most prized possessions is one way of celebrating victory.
Capturing one of those flags in battle often earned the man that captured it the Medal of Honor.
No it’s not any more than it’s time to destroy the rest of the history and heritage of this land. If the PCers don’t like it, tough crap.
I pray that people boycott the race. Let the stands be empty!
I agree, the Left doesn’t care what the symbol is, they’ll demand that it be abolished. Pantifa and Black, Lesbian, Marxist’s will burn the American flag as well.
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