[Ads-l] n-word update (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill CIV (US)]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

The North Carolina Flag evokes the Texas Flag, not the Confederacy.

All of the "connections" between the Tennessee flag and the Confederacy come from an article by Steven Knowlton, who is an Asst Professor at the Univ of Memphis.  His BA (History) and MLIS (Lib Sciences) are from Michigan universities, so he must be a Yankee and and his arguments and conclusions are  therefore SUSPECT.  

His argument boils down to "People in the South pined for the Confederacy.  Therefore similarities between the Tn flag and the Confederate Battle Flag (white stars on a blue charge, red and blue design elements) evoke the Confederate flag.  QED."

Never mind that the elements in the TN flag which are common to the Confederate flag are also common to the U.S. Flag, and are in general good patriotic design elements which are common to many flags which have nothing to do with, and predate, the Confederacy (see Betsy Ross designs, or French or British flags).

Never mind that the guy who designed the TN flag wrote openly about what the design elements symbolized, and none of them had anything to do with the Late Unpleasantness.  Never mind that he lived in East Tn, a pro-Union part of the state.  Never mind that contemporary news coverage of the new flag never mentioned any connection to the Confederacy.

Plus, Godwin's law applies to his article.  Nazi flags evoked elements of earlier German flags, therefore TN flag evokes CSA.
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 11:31 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: n-word update (UNCLASSIFIED)
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header ---------------
> --------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: n-word update (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
> 
> If you think that's a reach, try North Carolina....
> 
> Much of this argument strikes me as offensively patronizing. The case
> of South Carolina was egregious: the battle flag went up over the State
> House in 1961 as a protest against the Civil Rights Movement. That was
> back when Strom "Dixiecrat" Thurmond was a U.S. Senator. Some years ago
> an attempt was made to remove the flag, which ended in the compromise
> that it would not be flown over the House, but must continue to be
> flown in the grounds.
> 
> Wikipedia doesn't seem to cover these events, so I'm relying in CNN.
> 
> That's an actual Confederate flag, not a design perhaps suggested by it
> (or vaguely suggesting it). And regardless of the Civil War, it was
> placed there as an intentional affront to black people and the federal
> government.
> Within living memory.
> 
> 
> JL
> 
> On Tue, Jun 23, 2015 at 11:01 AM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US) <
> william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:
> 
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Mullins, Bill CIV (US)"
> <william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL>
> > Subject:      Re: n-word update (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> -
> > ---------
> >
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
> > >=20
> > > Another topic of growing controversy is whether the flags of seven
> > >Southern states should be replaced because of some historical
> > >connection or visual resemblance to one or another Confederate flag.
> > > (The Mississippi flag actually includes the rebel flag in its
> > >canton.)
> > >=20
> >
> > I'm surprised that some of the flags have any connection to the
> > Confederacy= .  I grew up in TN, and have always thought that the TN
> > flag is well design= ed and attractive.  The arguments that is
> > connected to the Confederacy coul= d be just as easily applied to say
> > it is connected to the Republic.  I thin= k they are reaching.
> >
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
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> 
> 
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> 
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Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
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