It's a simple way of life where things move forward very slowly and people are scared of change. Opinions are handed down like an old quilt that was hand made from your great grandma . It's an area where tobacco grows in fields and plantations look untouched by the changing times.
In the center of main street next to the candy shop and old court house stands a confederate soldier. The streets are lined with metal reminders of battles that were fought and lost. Rebel flags hang from porches and Trump signs line the yards . Mayberry is just right up the road and Dale Earnhardt comes in a close second to Jesus as the best man to walk the earth.
This town is full of what CNN labels as uneducated voters. Its the factory workers who no longer have jobs. Its the mechanics who eat lunch with grease up to their elbows. The welders, the brick masons, the farmers ,the machine operators . The men and women who work their asses off every day to still be considered lower class second rate citizens by some news anchor man. The people that the rest of the world likes to pretend doesn't exist. The people who vote based on what effects them directly and not by what is better for everyone else.
One would think that this place would be the breeding ground for hate and KKK members but honestly I have met very few truly racist people. I have however met people who could very easily be viewed as racist by liberals like myself. At first glance I myself thought I was living in bigot country USA but after spending some time actually listening and learning, I have come to understand this small town way of thinking. I don't always agree with it but to understand it you have to know where the people are coming from.
Around here the Civil war wasn't about slavery it was about standing your ground and protecting what was yours . It was defending themselves against a government that they didn't want and a President that they didn't agree with. Much like we see today amongst those who say " not my president" in regards to Trump .
You have to understand the stories that have been handed down and those that haven't, to grasp what people are talking about when they say Heritage not Hate. I am not talking about the Stories that we learned in history class I am talking about the Stories told by grandpa.
Stories of homes being burnt to the ground and women raped by union soldiers. Stories about how people starved to death or fled in fear of starving. Stories about how great great uncle Clem who worked the fields along side slaves was shot and killed over a war he wasn't fighting in. People today still feel like they must protect what is theirs. They fly flags as a reminder that they will not be backed into a corner and will stand their ground .
Around here just 1 generation ago kids took their shot guns to school so they could go hunting after. They didn't know anyone openly gay and their grandpa refered to Samuel L. Jackson as that colored man in the movies. While the rest of the world was making leaps towards equality and equal opportunity. The people in this town just stood in a place and wondered what the problem was.
Thanks to stories handed down by grandpa and people on YouTube like upchurch the redneck, the rebel flag has become a fashion statement amongst the younger generation. It no longer has any direct link to a dark part of our history . It has became a way to show the world that you are a redneck. Someone who likes to hunt, fish and yell Yee Yee from the window of their old truck. When talk started of removing confederate flags and banning them, people went wild buying them up like Bluetooth fidget spinners. They done so to prove a point to liberals that they would not go down without a fight. Tell me you don't like this flag and I will put a 100 in my yard. Tell me you don't like guns and I will buy up even more. Now Kids of every race sport rebel flag belt buckles and have giant flags flying from the bed of their pick up trucks. It's not viewed as a racist symbol by anyone other than liberals like me.
I hear words and phrases everyday that make my head spin in liberal circles . Words that are used with no direct meaning behind them. Words that they have used their whole lives while drinking a cold beer by the fire. Words that day time television would bleep out and radio stations would refuse to air. When they use these word they aren't labeling someone or judging someone by their skin color . They don't think about how that word has been used through out history to discriminate or hurt people , but that is exactly what I think about when I hear these words.
Maybe I am the one with the problem. It is me who puts different meanings behind the words that people use . It is me who acts like 1 word or 1 flag is enough to label someone a racist. It is me who feels like I have to right to accuse someone of feeling something just because it makes me feel uncomfortable. I am the one judging people when I haven't even taken the time to listen to what they are saying.
How can I say what someone else means or feels ?
As much as I hear these words I also see these same people stopping to help the old man along side the road. I see them mowing their neighbors yard. I see them adopting a family from the Christmas angel tree. I see them every Sunday sitting beside people from all walks of life in the church pews. I see them drop money in the salvation army bucket and holding clothing drives for the family who lost everything in a fire. I have never once seen or heard them ask what color the skin was of the person they were helping . Maybe their actions should speak louder than their words. Maybe us liberals should stop talking so much and start listening . We are the ones who are so quick to judge and label someone by a word, a flag or by who they voted for. If one word makes us think of a certain group of people when it is not used in that context then maybe we are the ones with the problem after all!
Awesome! I totally agree!
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