Confederate Heritage Has Its Day at Stone Mountain

Jonathan Lee Krohn is posting some wonderful photographs on his Twitter feed at Stone Mountain, Georgia, where a Confederate flag rally is underway. It looks like everyone is having a good time. As to what exactly is being commemorated…well…that has yet to be determined.




Let’s hope no one gets hurt today.

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25 comments… add one
  • Molly McCallister Aug 20, 2015 @ 6:23

    These factions are part of an unfortunate (but understandable) fear and desperation in light of the demographic and cultural paradigm shift in the south… a misguided attempt to cling to a southern identity that due to a new global society is nearing extinction. Little by little, the “South” is being whittled away, and to maintain that “us vs. them” sense of specialness and group cohesiveness, some southerners are adopting the dogma of these cliched associations. In comparison, when faced with the “threat of Communism” the nation responded with hyper-patriotism; when faced with rising atheism the religious became uber-Christians. When faced with the dissolution of the traditional South, some southerners react with radicalism, xenophobia, and the twisted revival of southern stereotype. I’m not saying it’s right, or fair … I’m just saying it’s a natural social and psychological process.

  • London John Aug 3, 2015 @ 1:46

    Would this rally at Stone Mountain have anything to do with the centenary of the re-launch of the Ku Klux Klan?

  • Bryan Cheeseboro Aug 2, 2015 @ 6:24

    I asked a friend a long time ago why it is you don’t often see Black people at abortion/anti-abortion rallies. Her opinion was that Black people had more sense than to get in the middle of crowds of angry, screaming White people… as if they would set aside their differences and decide to lynch a Black person on the spot or something. I don’t know about that but that Black guy with the watermelon must have balls as big as that watermelon to show up at this place in time.

  • Leo Aug 1, 2015 @ 13:07

    Where are the acrobats and the dancing elephants?

    • Marian Latimer Aug 1, 2015 @ 20:06

      I believe they hung the elephant http://blueridgecountry.com/archive/favorites/mary-the-elephant/ so the rest of them are staying away. As for Karen Cooper and Susan Hathaway, is it just me or does Miss Susan’s honeyed accent (as slight as it is) disappears as she speeds up to get all her comments in. I’m beginning to think that half of these clowns are just bad actors playing parts to get on You Tube. As for the acrobats, I think they’re off getting vaccinated.

      At some point, I would hope this would get old, but I doubt it. There are some real issues out there that these folks would be better served by focusing their energies on, but, hey, why do something about starving kids or senior citizens when you can throw a tantrum over a piece of cloth that became obsolescent a century and a half ago, and didn’t come back into said focus until the issues that the war behind that piece of cloth that remained unsolved were finally put into a movement and laws were passed much to the dismay of the losing side in the then century old conflict. No one is taking away their flags but they are taking away the hidden message behind it and sorry, they are not fooling anybody with this prolonged temper tantrum. There is no coincidence behind this at all, given the racial makeup of the executive branch of government in this country.

      Aren’t they getting tired? I know I am. Hell, you would think the weather down here would shut them down. It’s been in the 90’s with no rain in sight and no end to the temps in sight either. I’d rather go out in a howling blizzard. Enough.

      • Andy Hall Aug 2, 2015 @ 8:52

        At some point, I would hope this would get old, but I doubt it.

        ____

        I do believe that the sudden, half-thought-out scramble by the Virginia Flaggers to put up their first big highway flag, in the late summer of 2013, came about because they realized they were coming up on their second anniversary with little to show for all the shouting and spectacle — not at the VMFA, not at Lexington, and not in their campaign to oust Lexington’s mayor. Putting up a big, used-car-lot style flag on private property, after all, is something they can do on their own without having to win over “hearts and minds” of elected officials or museum boards.

        The Virginia Flaggers specficially, and the Confederate Heritage™ movement more generally, runs on anger and resentment. (The Flaggers’ catch phrase is, “are you mad enough yet?”) It’s effective in getting people out to protest, and to open their wallets, but it’s hard to maintain over the long term. It requires an ever-expanding list of threats and enemies, that distract from campaigns of the part that, for the thousands of volunteer hours and thousands of dollars poured into them, have gone absolutely nowhere.

        • Jimmy Dick Aug 2, 2015 @ 11:22

          They sure don’t rely on facts to support the cause, do they? That is why they’re a one trick pony. They can run around and wave flags all day, but when it comes time to debate they get revealed for the liars they are.

          • Andy Hall Aug 2, 2015 @ 13:45

            “That is why they’re a one trick pony.”

            There’s a decided lack of new ideas, for sure. The response over the last few weeks seems to be to do more of the same things that haven’t worked much before — new Facebook groups, more flagging for “fredom,” and terrorizing children’s birthday parties.

            When reached after church on Sunday for comment, the ghost of Robert E. Lee said, “I have no idea who those jackasses are.”

            • Jimmy Dick Aug 2, 2015 @ 14:07

              “Dismiss from your mind all sectional feeling, and bring [your children] up to be Americans.”
              ————-Robert E. Lee in a letter to a Confederate widow.

              I find it so interesting that the flaggers and their ilk can talk all they want about the confederacy and Saint Bobby Lee, but yet they cannot seem to understand what he said after the war. Selective memory perhaps?

        • Kevin Levin Aug 2, 2015 @ 11:51

          It comes down to the fact that there is no evidence that the Virginia Flaggers have convinced anyone of anything. It’s the same relatively small crowd flagging the VMFA today that was present on the first day.

        • Marian Latimer Aug 2, 2015 @ 19:53

          I DVR’ed “The Hunt” on CNN tonight. I believe the Flaggers are going to get their comeuppance on that since Mr. John Walsh is hot on the heels of that young lady who Miss Susan gave sanctuary to, the one who snatched her kid and has taken up with a fellow flagger. While CNN may not have the biggest audience in the world, things may be a little uncomfortable for the Virginia Flaggers, although I’m told there is no bad publicity. In this case, however, I believe that little cliche could be wrong.

  • David Aug 1, 2015 @ 12:06

    Let’s see…….that means confederate heritage is about: sodomy and abortion, the kkk, open carry guns and militias,, slavery, and secession…….so far. Oh, and a battle, (war), flag that belongs in museums. Can’t forget that. Love the “anti-vaccination” comment. Of course, we still have the anti-evolution, anti-science, and climate change deniers to go. Perhaps they’re saving them for the grand finale. I’m sure glad I’m not at stone mountain…….can you imagine picking today to visit there, unawares.

  • Msb Aug 1, 2015 @ 10:51

    Pardon my ignorance, but the carving looks like a bad cartoon. Is it better when seen on the spot? I’m no fan of those depicted, but Lee & Davis look awful.

  • Boyd Harris Aug 1, 2015 @ 9:17

    Looks and sounds like to me that the Internet has just arrived to South Mountain. Only thing missing is an anti-vaccination person.

    • Andy Hall Aug 1, 2015 @ 12:54

      They were going to be there, but had to call in sick.

      • Annette Jackson Aug 1, 2015 @ 15:29

        Good one!

  • cagraham Aug 1, 2015 @ 8:36

    The pro-flag folks have a mosaic of causes and the historical Confederacy does not appear to be a priority aside from being a vague organizing principle. I see, for instance, references to God, sodomy, open carry, and Hank Williams, Jr.

    To what extent do we risk missing their point by insisting that this is a history thing, and not *primarily* a post-1960s Fox News culture war expression that utilizes history as nothing more than a signifier?

  • Jarret Ruminski Aug 1, 2015 @ 8:30

    Somehow they managed to get every goofy southern stereotype together in the same place. This really is historic.

    • Kevin Levin Aug 1, 2015 @ 8:31

      Glad to see that I am not the only one who appreciates this fact.

  • Annette Jackson Aug 1, 2015 @ 7:55

    So in other words a political & religious rally calling its self a heritage commemoration. My belief is leave the Confederate monuments in place and use them as a teaching tool about how things went so wrong in this nation. The flags need to be in museums and never flown on state or federal property, but private citizens are a different matter. At least I know who to avoid!

    • Andy Hall Aug 1, 2015 @ 13:14

      So in other words a political & religious rally calling its self a heritage commemoration.

      To a large degree, that’s what modern Confederate Heritage™ movement is — the I-want-my-country-back! crowd, wrapping themselves in the Southern Cross and using their long-dead ancestors (literal or figurative) as validation for their own political/cultural/religious views. These people are doing exactly what their parents and grandparents did as part of the “massive resistance” movement in the South in the 1950s and 1960s.

      Go look up one of the (several) interviews done by Karen Cooper of the Virginia Flaggers — what she is actually torqued about is Obamacare and an intrusive federal government that won’t let her “smoke what I want to smoke“, and makes her pay taxes. Because, having to pay taxes is exactly like being a slave.

      The Confederate stuff is just window dressing.

      • Kevin Levin Aug 1, 2015 @ 13:21

        If you really want to drive this point home just watch Karen Cooper’s address during Charlottesville’s open discussion about Lee-Jackson Day, which begins at the 01:34:27 mark. Notice Susan Hathaway covering her head shortly after Cooper begins. It’s priceless.

        • Annette Jackson Aug 2, 2015 @ 4:46

          I decided to pass on that treat…she was interviewed recently on one of the Richmond TV news programs and it was very very difficult to follow what she was attempting to articulate…

          • Kevin Levin Aug 2, 2015 @ 5:13

            Trust me, nothing will surpass her performance in Charlottesville. 🙂

            • Annette Jackson Aug 2, 2015 @ 13:37

              I will give it another try…must have coffee first..

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