Another gem from Jimmy Dick
"Why would the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia be flying in Florida? Why does someone want to flag anything in Florida? What is the point of flagging? If it is to prove one’s lack of historical knowledge, then she proved it in spades, but she does that via her blog all the time.
If she wants to educate people on the purpose of the confederacy she should have been out with shackles and chains and offered to put them on black people to demonstrate what the confederacy was about."Mr. Sanford, I believe Mr. Dick's tunnel vision has kept him from developing a wholistic view of history. I further believe he's loyal to his leftist agenda and its interpretation of history far, far, far more than he is loyal to history itself.
Ole Jimmy sure is a knucklehead.His grasp of history is real shaky at best.
Since he asked questions, though, I thought I'd answer them. Not that he's interested in answers, especially in areas where his mind is already made up. As is often the case, I'm answering more for other readers than for Mr. Dick. He begins:
"Why would the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia be flying in Florida?"I can't speak for all of Florida, but in Pensacola, in 1949, the Chamber of Commerce developed the Fiesta of Five Flags, based on the idea of combining tourism and history. The five flags were those of the countries Pensacola had been governed by since European colonization. They chose the battle flag to represent the Confederacy. From the Fiesta website:
Calvin Todd, President of the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce in 1949, proposed the concept of combining a historical theme with tourism promotion. Thus, the focus of Fiesta was based upon the founding of Pensacola, America's oldest city, by Don Tristan de Luna in 1559. It would also be a salute to our history under the flags of five governments that have flown over our city: Spain, France, England, the Confederacy and the United States.If Jimmy has a beef with that, perhaps he should find any surviving members of the Chamber of Commerce from that era and take it up with them. (Note: the Battleflag was replaced by the First National in city flag displays in 2000 by City Manager Tom Bonfield. At the time, the county chose not to replace the battle flag in the only Five Flags display on county property at the Pensacola Bay (civic) Center.)
...and...
Throughout the 64 years of the Fiesta’s history, the mission has remained the same: "To celebrate our heritage, promote tourism and build pride in Pensacola through festive activities which enhance the quality of life in our Community."
As for history, one reason a battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia (in one or more of its many renditions) might fly in Florida would be to honor the 2nd Florida Infantry. George T. Ward's 2nd Florida Infantry was sent to Virginia. Ward participated at the Yorktown Siege but lost his life to a gunshot wound at the Battle of Williamsburg. In 1862 the Ward family was presented the Confederate Battleflag.[3]
Another reason a battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia might fly in Pensacola would be to honor the Pensacola Rifle Rangers which became part of Ward's 2nd Florida Infantry, fought in the 1862 Peninsular Campaign, defending Yorktown, Virginia, the Seven Days' Battles in June 1862, the Battle of Antietam in Maryland, at Fredericksburg and Chancelorsville, and the Battle of the Wilderness.
While I don't have a problem with exchanging the battle flag for one of the Confederacy's national flags in the Five Flags displays, it is certainly historically appropriate to fly a Confederate battle flag in the city and in Escambia County.
Why does someone want to flag anything in Florida? What is the point of flagging?Flagging is a specific form of picketing the government, a form of citizen protest in the USA, which is not only time-honored, but protected by the First Amendment (right to free speech, right to peaceably assemble).
Look up "picketing" and "protest" in the USA sometime, Mr. Jimmy "Historian" Dick, and read up on it.
The form of picketing/protest called "flagging" usually occurs to protest removal of some aspect of Confederate heritage.
Currently, in Pensacola, flagging is occurring to protest the recent vote of the Escambia County Board of Commissioners that removed the historic flags, including the Confederate flag, from a county-owned Five Flags display at the Pensacola Bay Center (civic center).
There are other aspects to flagging that could be part of the point...
Flagging is also a way to honor our Confederate ancestors, to educate the the public about our beliefs and positions about Confederate history and heritage.
Flagging is a way to connect with other heritage folks for fellowship and fun. The Virginia Flaggers, remember, started with one woman and a flag, and has grown to a core group of dozens and an extended group of hundreds, with the support of thousands across the South and the nation.
If it is to prove one’s lack of historical knowledge, then she proved it in spades, but she does that via her blog all the time.My blog, as the header clearly states, is to discuss much more than just history. "Defending Dixie -- Commentary on pro-Southernism and Southern Culture, Confederate history, heritage and activism, religion, politics and whatever else I feel like witing about." As most people familiar with Backsass realize, my blog exists primarily to monitor anti-Confederate sites and blogs and to defend against their attacks, or to counter-attack.
"If she wants to educate people on the purpose of the confederacy she should have been out with shackles and chains and offered to put them on black people to demonstrate what the confederacy was about."My primary concern is to educate people about the valor, honor and sacrifice of the Confederate soldier, but also to acquaint people with the Confederacy as a whole, and to promote and defend the traditional culture of the South. (Psssst, Mr. Jimmy "Historian" Dick -- most slaves in the South were not kept in chains and shackles. You're a historian and didn't know this?)
You make a lot of ridiculous statements, Mr. Dick -- most of them supremely worthy of being ignored. However, this last one deserves to be dealt with, and I hope to do that as time allows.
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You are precisely right, Mr. Owen. And in the future, I want to give that subject a blog post of its own, as well.
Also in a comment in the same thread, James Owen makes this extremely astute observation:
The Slavery thing is the moral straw they grab at to justify their aggression. Otherwise, their argument is lame and specious, given the North's political/cultural history up to 1860.
