We were taking a little tour around Charleston, South Carolina before we started heading home to Florida. We were told to see Battery Park on our way out of town. I thought that Charleston was a beautiful town with a great shoreline with beautiful old homes overlooking the harbor. Battery Park was built in 1670 is a defensive seawall and promenade along the lower end of the peninsula. Large caliber guns were placed here to protect the town from the British during the War of 1812. Cannons were placed during the Civil War to protect the City from a Union assault which never happened. The whole area is beautiful and I can see why it would be a historical tourist attraction. While we were there, there appeared to be a protest going on. We had two men with a big pickup truck with a big flag pole attached to the bed of the truck. Being Charleston, South Carolina you can already imagine what the flag they were flying was. The battle flag of the Confederacy of course. Right across from them on what is the Promenade was a group of counter protestors protesting the racism that the Battle Flag represents. I know that there are people that still fly the Confederate Flag thinking that it is part of their heritage. To fit your truck bed with the hardware so you can put up a flag pole about 30 ft high so you can fly the Confederate Flag in a city park is not pride in your heritage. It is meant to intimidate and to make a racist statement.

Now these people flying the Confederate flag are exercising their right of free speech. So were the people that were protesting that symbol of racism and slavery which is what that flag means to a lot of people including me. I agree that people have the right to free speech. I just don’t think that in your face hate speech is free speech. The fact that the Confederate flag represents a true rebellion against the United States of America and the rejection of our Constitution is not a good example that any patriotic American should be projecting. That flag, in reality, represents a group of people that wanted to burn our American Flag. The people that carried that flag made war against the American Flag and that war started at Fort Sumter right at Charleston, South Carolina. What started the fight? The slave states did not like the fact that Abraham Lincoln was elected President and was afraid their way of life and their economy that was based on the institution of Slavery was in jeopardy. Slavery had existed in other parts of the world throughout history but here it existed because Southern Whites thought the Black man was inferior so it was a war that also defended racism. It is that plain and simple. The US Citizens test that all immigrants must pass lists three reasons that led to the Civil War.  It lists as three possible correct Answers: “slavery,” “economic reasons,” and “State’s rights.”There is only one correct answer and that is “slavery”. They fought for an economy that was based on slavery and fought for State rights to own slaves. No other answer but Slavery matters. The Battle Flag on the Confederacy is a flag of rebellion against the United States of America and the slavery of an entire race of people.

These people that fly the Confederate Battle Flag will tell you that they have the right of free speech to fly it. I think that the courts would agree with them. What I have a real problem with this is that those same people think they should be able to fly a flag that rebelled against our Stars and Stripes but if a Black man kneels during the National Anthem is committing a mortal sin against our Republic. In their opinion, the Black man does not have the right to free speech. One man flies a flag that represents the rebellion against our nation and the enslavement of a race of people and the other guy kneel during the anthem to protest police brutality and the one who kneels is the bad guy. It upset me the Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the Anthem but I knew that he had the right to do it. I would not be one of those kneeling with him but I understood why he was doing it. I too think we have to put an end to police brutality. I will say that man has the right to fly the Confederate Battle flag but I will never understand or agree with why he wants to fly it. It is a symbol of hate and racism that I can never agree with. I find it interesting that a man trying to promote change is chastised and a man flying a symbol of hate is not.

In the last couple of weeks Nikki Haley has stated that America is not a racist country. I have heard Ron DeSantis agree with her. When Tim Scott was starting his failed run for the Presidency he stated that same thing. If we are not a racist country then why do we tolerate people flying a symbol of hate, call it free speech and then when a Black man takes a knee during the Anthem he is disgracing our Country and shouldn’t be allowed to play football again. There is a State Representative in Tennessee who is Black who would not lead the Assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance but he is being asked to resign for exercising his right to free speech. Our Pledges and our Oaths are in reality oaths to our Constitution and that Constitution should apply to that Black Representative just as much as to the man flying that symbol of hate.