I Guess Someone Didn’t Get the Message

ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 1958

1958 Vol. 1 — Page: 561

Sequential Number: 229

Short Title: USE OF BATTLE FLAG OF THE CONFEDERACY FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES DEPLORED.
Law Number: No. 144
Origin: (House Resolution No. 520).
Type: A Resolution.

Full Title: Relative to the battle flag of the Confederacy; and for other purposes.

Whereas, it has been brought to the attention of the General Assembly that the battle flag of the Confederacy has been and is being used for commercial purposes; and

Whereas, the battle flag of the Confederacy is a symbol of the historic past of this State, and presently forms an integral part of the flag of this State; and

Whereas, it is an insult to the memory of our dead heroes and an affront to the good taste of all true Georgians to permit this historic flag to be used for commercial purposes;

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the General Assembly of Georgia that this body does deplore the present use of replicas of the battle flag of the Confederacy for crass and commercial purposes.  Be it further resolved that this body does respectfully request all citizens of this great State to refrain from using this symbol of our past in a manner other than with the utmost respect.

Approval Date: Approved March 25, 1958.

I guess someone didn’t get the message.

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9 comments… add one
  • Marianne Davis Jul 19, 2010 @ 4:56

    Kevin,

    Here in West Virginia, we see a lot of CBF regalia. My all-time favorite has to be a t-shirt depicting valiant rebels storming smoky cannons, all on a field of a soft-focus Confederate battle flag. Above the illustration was a single word, “Gettysburg.” Uh, dude, y’all lost that one, huh?

    • Kevin Levin Jul 19, 2010 @ 5:02

      Hi Marianne,

      I think a lot of that stuff cheapens history and sanitizes the level of violence that defined our civil war. It turns battles into cartoons.

      • Maianne Davis Jul 19, 2010 @ 6:43

        Yet, Kevin, unless the Civil War is taught in a consistent, fact-based and disinterested nationwide curriculum, how can the public be expected to remember it for the horror it was? Until we grasp that nettle, it will continue to be diminished in the public memory, or worse yet co-opted for contemporary political movements.

  • TomDem55 Jul 18, 2010 @ 20:27

    Hard to believe that that fellow has an advanced fine arts degree…seems kind of odd…
    As a Bronx born Jersey raised history buff, former HS teacher I was stunned to see how much the old south attitudes existed when I moved many years ago to Manassas.

    I grew up mostly learning about the Revolution, yes we were taught the civil war, but it was just another subject…

    But when I moved to the south I saw that the lost cause was alive..
    with crazy folk saying things like heritage not hate…
    Just what the hell does that mean….it was all about hate…
    hell Jeff Davis famously said (after the Emancipation Proclimation) that the war WAS about slavery

    Tom in Seattle

  • Andy Hall Jul 18, 2010 @ 18:31

    I see Dixie Republic actually links to websites for David Duke, Stormfront and the Council of Conservative Citizens. Not subtle, are they? Now I’m slightly embarrassed I clicked trough and gave them some traffic.

  • John Stoudt Jul 18, 2010 @ 16:08

    Kevin:

    Did you notice the mission statement from the Dixie Republic website? Quote: “Its mission, then and now, is to celebrate the South, to promote pride, especially for European-American Southerners.”

    Does that imply that most Black Confederates have “European-American Southerners” for ancestors? Or does it mean something else?

    Regarding the Georgia legislature’s resolution: free market economic theory and libertarian political theory will trump their desire to limit individual choice. Or didn’t they get that message?

    But . . the “Colon Cleanser Hot Sauce”? Road Trip!

    Thanks for the laughs.

    • Kevin Levin Jul 18, 2010 @ 17:01

      John,

      I don’t want to venture a guess re: the black Confederates problem, but I am sure they will find a way to welcome them into the store. 😀

  • Andy Hall Jul 18, 2010 @ 14:40

    I’m not sure that elevating the Confederate Battle Flag to the status of a sacrosanct object of semi-religious veneration — which is what this ordnance seems to require — is preferable to what we have now, Rebel TruckNutz notwithstanding.

  • Nat Turner's Son Jul 18, 2010 @ 13:36

    I guess they don’t apply that law in GA.

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