Is there anybody here who thinks we should honor the war on Native Americans?

[edhopper]

Or say it was a Noble Cause?

Didn't think so.

A little different than those defending the celebration of Confederate Generals and leaders.

And to be clear, many involved in that travesty are honored, but for other things. (and i have no problem with changing monuments to men based on killing Native Americans.

The Confederate leaders are honored solely for war against the US to keep slavery.

[Sunlei]

1. yeah, some still Honor their Custer like he's some kind of Hero.

[edhopper]

2. Which is wrong

and i don't see people on DU defending him.

But bring up Jackson or Davis....

[malthaussen]

7. Well, we still honor Jackson quite a lot...

... that would be Andrew, not Thomas. You know, the guy who killed more Americans in the southeast than the plague.

-- Mal

[edhopper]

9. And i have a problem with him on the $20

and would approve his removal.

And bringing up other questionable people who are honored does not negate the overwhelming prevalence in the South
of honoring Confederates over anybody else.

[RebelOne]

6. Custer was an S.O.B. I am glad the Indians got him in the end. n/t

[Sunlei]

8. yes. Custer thought it would be another easy extermination, rape and loot fest.

[msongs]

12. unfortunately he took his troops to their deaths with him nt

[jwirr]

13. Have seen that to. I visited the Custer Battle Field Memorial out in Montana years ago. Interesting.

The names of all the dead are on a memorial there. I do not remember if that includes native dead - I doubt it. But what makes this field interesting is that you can walk it and observe the Custer defeat in markers place for each soldier killed.

I happen to be visiting it with a Cheyenne tribal member and that made it even more interesting because he was able to provide the other side. In fact schools on the reservation take their students on tours so that they can better teach the history to their children. Their history.

[randys1]

3. Rushbo the drug addled disgusting piece of shit predicted the left would go after

the American flag next.

You are GOD DAMN RIGHT you stupid fucking asshole, you have done NOTHING but HARM to this land and the people here, rushbo.

But we will be blamed for pointing out the truth.

Everything is backwards, folks. The people who should have money do not, the people who should not have money, have it all.

[HassleCat]

4. We used to

There is a site in Idaho where there was a he battle between the Nez Perce and the US cavalry. It's called White Bird Canyon. If you look at the old monuments, they speak in stirring terms of the bravery of the soldiers against the nasty Indians, etc. The newer interpretive signs paint a more balanced view of the conflict, recognizing bravery and honor on both sides. It's OK to remember the brave and honorable actions of confederate soldiers, as long as we drop that crap about the "noble cause" for which they fought. Just because someone is brave in a fight does not mean his or her side was right.

[LanternWaste]

5. Yours is a relevant distinction denied by the under-educated and the dogmatic.

Yours is a relevant and specific distinction denied by the under-educated and the dogmatic.

[KT2000]

10. Now I am wondering

how it came to be that so many towns and cities are named after Native Americans. Seattle is named after Chief Sealth and a statue of him is in Seattle. The town I live in is named for a tribe word than means peace and so many others in Washington are named after tribes or words in their language.
It is like that in many states.
I wonder what the initial intention of doing that was.

[edhopper]

11. Half of New York

including Manhattan, are Native names.

[Sunlei]

15. Names tell the parts of the country more slowlyyy taken away by the new occupiers

[jwirr]

14. I suspect that the names were there when the white pioneers came. The British Empire circled

the globe but I don't think that they necessarily renamed every community. Yes, there are communities that do have the English names but there are still many original names. That just was not a goal of the Empire.

[Orrex]

16. I have a partial answer, but I admit that it's not a great one.

In addition to its recent history as an overtly and proudly racist emblem, the confederate flag is the symbol of a treasonous would-be nation of slavery, also celebrating the defeat of and humiliating surrender by that defunct pseudo-nation. It is, in short, a deliberate slap in the face to blacks in particular but also to the nation as a whole. It is first and foremost a celebration of slavery and treason and defeat, and therefore it has no place on government property in any official capacity.

The flag of the United State of America, in contrast, is a symbol of the nation as it exists today, celebrating its strengths while (admittedly) glossing over its failures and wrongdoing. Although undeniably tainted by its history of genocide and exploitation, etc., the flag represents a nation that is alive and evolving, hopefully for the better. The confederate surrender flag is a token of a failed experiment in treason, and the fact that the confederacy is dead means that, by definition, it can't evolve to overcome or correct its past crimes. Its history is effectively stagnant, whereas the United States still has the option of making things right (if only it could get its head out of its ass and do so).

Like I said, not a great answer, and I won't work too hard to defend it if anyone cares to blow it apart. Hell, I'll probably agree with them.


Ultimately, I'm not comfortable with symbols of worship, so I feel no particular devotion to the flag. However, there's an issue of political pragmatism to consider; if Progressives mount an attack against the legitimacy of the flag, especially to point out the hypocrisy of condemning the slavery flag of the confederacy, then it will play into the worst stereotypes of Liberal political correctness and will be used as a very effective bludgeon against any Democratic candidate in the next few elections. It would be taking a moral stand with the sole apparent purpose of handing the government to the GOP.

[Sunlei]

17. I don't think anyone will go after the USA flag, though it does need another star or 2 to include,

our former slave islands. There is no reason for second class Americans without equal rights.

[Duppers]

18. I think your post is an excellent answer. nt