Chad Cooper wrote:
> >From: David Hobby [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
...
> > Yes, I feel it is reasonable to call the US flag a
> >"symbol of hatred", in the sense that many who wave it most
> >fervently do so partially out of hate.
>
> Wait a sec...
> I see 50% of all automobiles with at least an American Flag decal, and a
> fair percentage with an actual flag. Those that use the flag in hate are
> such a small percentage, it probably can't be measured ...
In my book, a mere decal does not make you a "most fervent"
flag-waver. I do maintain that many of those with multiple flags on
their cars are partially motivated by hate. It's not a simple thing,
and most people do not neatly separate their reasons into different
emotional components.
> If I didn't know any better, I would say you just accused me of being
> identified (call it stereotyped) as hateful because I "wave" a flag.... Or
> you just talking about the radical right-wing hate groups that happen to
> wave flags as well.
Look, I don't know why YOU wave a flag. Everyone has their
own reasons. But there are enough flag wavers with a streak of racial
hatred that I do not want to be counted with them. (And I admit that
my preferred flag is one of the whole Earth--I can easily give up on
the American flag.)
In wartime, many people find it easier to think of fighting
a particular group of people, rather than a more abstract entity
such as a government. Propaganda posters from WW II provide clear
evidence of this bias towards viewing war in racial terms.
I heard a lot of this, in the days after 9/11. The enemy
was not "islamic fundamentalism", it was "people with towels on
their heads". I recall one of my students was in the habit of
pointedly telling everyone that he was GREEK, lest they mistake
him for a member of some other group. There WAS a lot of
racial hatred then, and those who hated were all out waving
flags.
I'm well aware that the converse is false, flag waving
does not make one racist. But flag waving racists were enough to
make me stay well clear of the American flag.
> Frankly, if we are stereotyping, I would say that most radical left-wing
> hate groups prefer to burn the Flag in effagy. Strangly enough, many
> protestors of American policy overseas do the same thing.... They make
> defilement a political statement. Could not this be thought of as hateful,
> or is it perhaps just behavior conducive of "Being Enlightened".
Yes, burning the flag is sometimes hateful too. I would
sum up the message of burning an American flag as "I'm mad as hell
at the USA!" I do think that most Western flag burners do not hate
Americans per se--just our government.
---David
I'm an extremist--Gautam says so. : )
_______________________________________________
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
