They Exist

[Myra]

And by "they" I mean the true-blue, white supremist rednecks. Last night, around midnight, the husband and I were at Wal-Mart picking up some stuff, and as we left, we noticed the street cleaner was making the rounds in the parking lot. Right on the street cleaner vehicle's tail, was a severely rusty and banged up pickup with a tall flagpole toting a Confederate flag flying behind the truck. Husband and I shook our heads at the truck, as it was wildly turning and twisting around to follow the cleaner. We figured the dude in the cleaner was his buddy and he was just messing with him, so we chalked it up to immaturity and went on. As I went to start the car, Husband looks over at me and says "Holy crap, it says 'white power' on the back bumper of that sh*tty truck." And sure enough, he was right. And the guy in the cleaner probably really was his buddy, they were waving at each other like a couple of demented monkeys. Husband, before thinking about it, reached over and honked my horn. Redneck Boy in his truck thought it was another car that was leaving, and sped up to get behind them, and terrorized them until they left the lot. Then he went back to doing donuts and following the cleaner.

We tried to get a license plate number, and said something as a Wal-Mart employee was walking to their car, past ours. They must've heard us, because they walked over and said not to worry, the police had been called, because the truck had come really close to hitting a few pedestrians. So Husband and I left, just as a patrol car turned into the lot.

Now what bothered me was, while I knew these people existed, it bothers me to no end that they live in MY town. I know it was really naive of me to think that there was no way there could've been anyone like this in my town. I just hope that in this day and time, people could possibly not be that stupid. But I guess they are. What a bummer it was for me.

[Kiwi]

Sadly stupid ignorant people live everywhere

its just harder to ignore if its in your own back yard

[Primer]

People like that really trample the heritage of the Confederate flag. That's like any individual of any group that acts like an a-hole while displaying symbols of the group. I'm not really saying what I mean very well, but not all people who fly the Confederate flag are idiots (or racists). I'm only sorry that such idiots disgrace the flag in such a manner.

[Slave to the Phone]

The confederate flag had several versions, this is the last one.

http://www.confederateflags.org/national/FOTCnatl.htm

The stars and bars were a very small part of the flag. Whenever I see that stupid flag, I laugh at the ignorance.

[obod7x7]

The flag that we are used to seeing being flown by racists or idiots is actually the Confederate battle flag and navy flag. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America (I know wiki is sometimes inaccurate, but I believe this article is correct).

I see many, many people with that flag on their stupid trucks here in Pennsylvania. For those of you who didn't know, PA was a Union state. We have no Confederate heritage, therefore these people are using this flag just to show how much of a racist or redneck they are and how proud they are about it. I know several racists from my high school used that flag frequently (unfortunately). People need to get their facts straight.

Edit: I feel bad for those in the south who actually have CSA heritage, but are ridiculed for it.

[Slave to the Phone]

And I love you for that :angel:

The flag that we are used to seeing being flown by racists or idiots is actually the Confederate battle flag and navy flag. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America (I know wiki is sometimes inaccurate, but I believe this article is correct).

Yes. You are almost correct. According to your link, the battle flag was flown during battles, just like SCA folks fly banners. Its not official and nobody salutes. The battle flag was used in battles, not flown on flagpoles.

I see many, many people with that flag on their stupid trucks here and I know several racists from my high school used that flag frequently (unfortunately). People need to get their facts straight.

Ignorance is bliss, right?

[blas87]

*Just so we're clear, I'm not making fun of any CSers from down south, who fly the Confederate flag as part of history*

A lot of people in WI don the Confederate flag. Bumper stickers, belt buckles, license plate borders, on the back window of their trucks, T-shirts.

What's my problem with that? We're in WISCONSIN! Are we down south? Were we part of the Confederate States? No!

For as many inbreds and dumbass rednecks as we have around here, thankfully, we don't have any white power groups or anything of the sort. But you should see what happens when some of these rednecks see a biracial couple or a biracial baby. To think, we are a town of almost 15,000.....the city over has almost 60somethousand.........yet we act like we're a town with about 100 people in it.

[sportsmom]

Several years ago, there was a young lady in an Ivy League university, I want to say Harvard, but I can't remember for sure, who was from Virginia and chose to hang the stars and bars from her window in the dorm. She was in no way an ignorant racist redneck, she was in fact a very well rounded student and by all accounts very nice. Some one was offended by her displaying a symbol of her southern roots, compained and she was forced to remove the flag.

While I think it is horrible that people have chosen to hijack something that is a symbol of heritage to many for use as a means to induce fear, I also think it is horrible that people not of souther backgrounds think that people from the south are "fair game" for scorn and ridicule just because of their backgrounds. Since moving to the midwest several years ago, I have been picked on and made fun of because "I talk funny." People on both sides need to grow up and educate themselves.

[lordlundar]

betcha if you hit the truck with a hammer it would have fallen apart.:devil:

My stance on this is the same as my stance on religion. I grant you the right to be proud of your heritage. The second you try to force it on me, then there's a problem.

[HYHYBT]

just hope that in this day and time, people could possibly not be that stupid.Don't worry so much over the ones that stupid; they probably won't do as much harm as they get into themselves. Worry about the ones just slightly smarter, same attitude but with the sense to hide it.