While opponents of Southern heritage are constantly saying that supporters are a dying breed, their continued focus on them suggests that far from complacently believing that the war is truly over, they (opponents) are running scared.
Why else would they devote so much time, effort and money to belittling Southern heritage supporters?
Why else invest so much energy in what they’d like to convince you is a dying cause?
When you devote a great deal of time to telling me how much you don’t care, you reveal that, in fact, you care passionately.
There are several things about which I do not care, and I care so little I am not willing to devote the miniscule effort it would take to type about them. That is what not caring about something looks like.
The recent controversies over the Confederate flag flying in Virginia along Interstate 95 and the approval of new Sons of Confederate Veterans custom license plates in Georgia have brought this issue to my attention.
Certainly, those with opposing views are welcome to feel however they wish about the issues mentioned — hooray, First Amendment! — but what they cannot be allowed to do is misrepresent the intentions of those behind them.
Teaching, as I do, both middle school and college English might seem on the face of it to be two radically different enterprises, but I find one great truth lies at the heart of both.
I want all of my students to respect and harness the power of carefully selected words. I want them to think logically, write clearly and be able to analyze the arguments of others.
The subjective and objective meanings of words are both important, and an awareness of their use is essential.
That leads me to the use of “traitor” by those who oppose the display of any and all Confederate flags.
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