Flags Over Georgia, Wheels In The Ditch
By Jim Thompson
Athens Banner-HeraldThursday, September 01, 2011
The Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is serious about marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War — so serious that it’s doing all it can to roll back the clock.
For the past several months, the Georgia Division has been erecting Confederate battle flags, and/or the 1956 state flag incorporating it, along major highways in the state. According to a Wednesday news release from the division, large flags have already been installed at locations on I-75, I-85, I-95, I-16 and other highways, and the SCV is planning to put up even more flags in the coming 12 months.
In fact, the news release notes, the group plans to continue the Flags Over Georgia effort even after the 150th anniversary of the Civil War ends in 2015. And of course, the Southern heritage group defends the Flags Over Georgia initiative as "a pro-active way to educate, and it encourages our young people to be proud of their heritage in a positive way."
Yeah, and when the number of flags along the state’s highways reaches a critical mass, it’ll be a "pro-active way to educate" the rest of the world that the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans — and by unfortunate association, the rest of the state of Georgia — can’t recognize the plain fact that, no matter how its history is sugar-coated, the Confederate battle emblem has been appropriated by white supremacists to the extent that today, it is widely and properly recognized as a symbol of hate.
So, thanks, Georgia Division, for all you’re doing to drag Georgia back to the dark days of racial prejudice from which it has worked hard to escape. I can’t wait until the national and international media get your news release.
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