I’ve been hearing a lot about Presidential candidate Howard Dean’s comments about trucks with confederate battle flags in them and such, so I figured I’d go over to his website and see what he has to say about it, since I’ve been known to fly that flag at times.
His November 1st Press Release says that he wants confederate flag flying people to put down their flags and become democrats “because the need for quality healthcare, jobs, and a good education knows no racial boundaries.”
The press release goes on to say “In his historic ‘I have a dream speech,’ Martin Luther King, Jr., said: ‘I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.’ I believe Dr. King’s vision still represents the future of America. And that is what our campaign is about.”
Personally, I’m all for health insurance for the poor (I could use some right now, in fact) but I fail to see where health insurance and education has anything to do with race. As for the reference to Dr. King’s speech, I’m all for sitting at the table of brotherhood. However, I don’t think the black community should have to forget about the heritage of slavery that’s been passed on to them and I don’t feel that the white community should have to abandon the only memorial we have of our relatives that died in the civil war.
A friend of mine used to have a hat with a confederate battle flag on it. Under the flag it simply said, “Heritage, not hate” ‘Nuff said.
