A confederacy of dunces

Can you spot the irony?

Look closer (while considering that the name of this fine establishment is FreedomUSA):

Ah, the Confederacy lives! In FreedomUSA...in...Jersey? Having grown up in Jersey, I've come to expect anti-foreign language sentiment. But rebel flag swag? Really?

Maybe I was too immersed in reality TV to notice New Jersey's secession some 200 years late? Because, I ask, like apparently so few have before me: if your state was never part of the Confederacy, why in the blue fuck would you want to wear something with a rebel flag on it?

And, if you're a thinking person, why would you want to wear such a flag at all? Really, I'm curious. I can't offer you answers, but I can offer you options if you're convinced that the Battle Jack is the new black.

Good ole Jersey.

It all started so innocently, too, my immersion in, what seems to me, nostalgia for the days when black people weren't considered people. In New Jersey.

When we saw this undoubted future Daisy Duke early into our South Jersey vacation, the bf and I had no idea what we were in for.

We started catching on the next day, when we saw this:

Because, like most things, the way to show pride of your "heritage" is to immortalize it on foam that you're gonna end up rubbing your tits and/or genitals all over as you careen through God's brown ocean.

"Where do you even buy something like that?" the bf asked me. I didn't know.

But I would learn!

We visited Wildwood the next day. Wildwood is a body louse clinging to a sweaty shaft of hair in the Armpit of America that is New Jersey. This is, of course, its charm. Wildwood, like many costal resort towns in South Jersey, is home to a tourist-bating boardwalk. But Wildwood's boardwalk is unlike many of its neighboring counterparts. It's a massive, 38-block stretch that sports no fewer than five amusement parks and hundreds of crooked, carnival-type games (knock bottles over, get the ball in the basket, fill the clown's mouth with water to pop the balloon, etc.) complete with managing foreigners who harass anyone who walks by (and, no doubt, annoy everyone with those damn accents). Food is everywhere -- literally. It's being sold everywhere you look, it's on the boardwalk attracting seagulls, it's stuffed in the patrons' mouths. Perhaps the only source of commerce that's more present is that of the junky, "sundry"-cum-T-shirt shop. As a rough estimate, we'll say that there are an average of three of such places per block. If there are around 100 places to buy T-shirts (or 75, or 50 or whatever), I'd say that at least half of them have prominent displays like this:

We'll get to the actual content of the shirts in a bit (but really, "You wear your X...?" How fucking 15 years ago!). The point here is that this shit is everywhere.

Aggressively everywhere.

Incredibly, though I've visited Wildwood many times throughout my life, I'd never really noticed it before. I guess I was just walking around blindfolded, perhaps with one of these over my eyes:

Oh but there's more rebel-flag merchandise to be had in Wildwood. Things like...

...keychains...

...suncatchers...

...skateboards...

and, my personal favorite...

...hermit crab shells. I mean, why should hermit crabs be denied the chance to express their Confederate pride? That would just be cruel. I'm glad that someone's thinking about the crustaceans.

Besides, it looks great in its natural habitat, right?

I know that my pearl clutching may come off as overly politically correct. You know how I know this? A T-shirt told me.

I mean, what the fuck does that even mean? Historically accurate when? While playing dress up? While spouting off antiquated ideas? Historically accurate where? In the ass that you're talking out of? Isn't one of the main goals of studying history to learn about the mistakes of the past so that we don't repeat them?

I know those who are the type to wear T-shirts like the one above or those who put rebel-flag mudflaps on their 4X4s will defend the flag as not a symbol of slavery, but of heritage. But even if the Civil War was more about commerce than slavery, doesn't the effect of the South's intended outcome provoke the slightest bit of embarrassment in people? Big ideas of struggle aside, isn't the practical implication of such heritage to deny rights to blacks?

And really, to anyone who does fly the rebel flag with pride, I ask: do you willfully associate with black people and if so, what do they think of your expression or heritage? Do you care about black culture? How many albums by black people do you own? How many movies by black directors have you seen? How many books by black authors have you read? And, for that matter, how many books have you read, period?

Regardless of how the case for rebel-flag waving can be cooked to seem benign and neutral, many of these T-shirts aren't so fiddle-dee-dee about the old days. No, they're out to offend.

Is anyone surprised that "its" is missing an apostrophe?

You can check the displays above to revisit the whole "You wear your X, I'll wear my X," thing, the unabashed racialism of "Smart Ass White Boy" and the implied white supremacist statement of "If You Ain't Redneck, You Ain't Sheeit." Oh, and then there's this one, which I don't even think I have the capacity to fully understand:

It's just plain bizarro.

But what could the kid learn from his parents that a hermit crab couldn't teach him?

I should note that besides the two girls up top with the towel and boogie board, I didn't see anyone actually rocking any of this stuff. The fact that it's so available for purchase makes me assume that there's some sort of demand for it. But then again, maybe not. Any manager of a store who'd say, "Hmmmm, you know what residents and visitors of the once-UNION state of NEW JERSEY need? Rebel flag gear!" probably can't be counted on to understand something as complex as the law of supply and demand.

As potentially offensive as this stuff is in both nonchalant ("Oooh, look at how nice the red looks as the light goes through the suncatcher! Like blood!") and overt forms, the ubiquity of it is, in a way, hilarious to me. Certainly, if you view this material in the most offensive light -- as an endorsement of the dehumanization of black people -- it comes from a place of such ignorance and stupidity and ultimate powerlessness that it's hard to take seriously. There's very, very little weight behind it all. In this desperate, pitiful nostalgia, this willful ignorance, there's just a larger-than-life caricature of real human emotion. It is, then, kitsch.

But maybe I'm mistaken. Maybe I'm the ignorant one.

OK, fine. Give me one. Explain to me how this doesn't turn its back on humanity and progress. I'm all ears. Really.

Comments

[Tipsy McStaggers]

I live in Kentucky - welcome to my world Rich.

[Sumati]

Ugh.. my everyday life here in Mississippi! :P

[Diamond]

i'm kinda surprised jersey has this. and you said all of the right things in this blog.

i live in cali and praise white jesus i havent came across this nonsense.. surprisingly even when i went down to Miss. i didnt see that crap. maybe God was protecting me. but it does look really silly

but its funny that next to this shirt
http://fourfour.typepad.com/fourfour/images/assortedshirts2.jpg
i see the bob marly shirt that says "ONE LOVE!"... things that make you say "hmmmmmmmmm"

[Foxy]

I went to Wildwood last summer for the first time in ages. I, too, was astounded by the amount of weird, Redneck-y memorablia. Did you spot the place where you can shoot paintballs at Osama Bin Laden, or has that place closed since last year?

[Carly]

On vacation in the Bahamas last year, I saw an entire family wearing confederate flag gear, including a little girl - maybe six years-old - wearing a confederate flag one-piece bathing suit. This prompted the bf and I to look at one another and announce, "She's doomed."

[Linda]

Ohhh noooo. Why did you go to Wildwood?? WHY?

I've lived in the Jerz for 25 years now, and have only been masochistic enough to visit that town one time. *shudder*

[LauraGee]

Does the Jersey shore get a lot of tourists from the South? That would explain the supply and demand. Nothin' like going on vacation and coming back with a rebel flag insulated cup cozy.

[CMTG]

But...New Jersey? I just don't get it. I mean, sure, they don't call it South Jersey for nothing, but enough to create a demand for Rebel Flagwear?

Obviously this has simply got to be revolting, yet ignorant and hopefully benign, fallout from that awful Dukes of Hazzard movie. Um, right?

I guess the real question (and answer) is: How much NASCAR stuff did you see down there?

[Brandon]

Disgusting.

But to the commenter living in Kentucky: DO YOU KNOW ANNETTE?! OIGOGMGOMGO1!!!!

[Joan]

Stupid is as stupid wears.

Down here in Texas it's awful, but you expect it. Kentucky, Mississipi, sure. Jersey, though? I'm with you, Rich. I guess white people need a cultural identity bandwagon of some sort to jump on, even if it makes no sense whatsoever. (Btw, a high school in my hometown had to change their mascot from the Rebels to the Raiders a couple of years back and get rid of the stars and bars it had prominently displayed. People were so pissed.)

[mts]

oy, new jersey. why does my home state have to be so... stupid?

fun fact: cape may was below the mason-dixon line.

[Scout]

Does this mean we won't be seeing any pics of Winnie donning a Confederate flag, kitty neckerchief?

[Anika]

You said it with "willful ignorance." I also like Kathy Griffin's take on Southerners as having "aggresive ignorance."
Hey, I could burn that damn flag and as frothy as the morons would get, its really not an important symbol that warrants the attention our nation's flag gets with the same issue. While if you burn the real flag, you're saying something the rebel flag is just plain trash, burn it.

[Amber]

I'm from TN, and I have never heard of anyone around here going to the Jersey shore for vacation. So, I don't know why the Jersey shops would offer such tacky merchandise. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've ever seen such degrading slogans on t-shirts here in TN. Sure, I've seen people sporting the stars and bars on mudflaps and as decals on their trucks, but I've never seen anything like the Malcolm X or MLK jr. referenced shirts, even down here. I am a high school teacher, and shirts like those are against our school's dress code - thank goodness!

[Carl!]

Once again, thank you, Rich. Living in Virginia, I keep seeing those bullshit "Heritage not hatred" bumper stickers and I want to scream at their owners, "Heritage of WHAT, dumbass?! You're not fooling anybody, you know!"

[Saun]

That's some crazy shit. I'd expect that in the south but not in Jersey. Is confederate gear the new "in" thing? Maybe it's a new fad?

[Hateraid]

So ignorant. Great post Rich. I guess now I know why so many black people claim that racism is still prevalant in today's society. IT IS.

[mariaaaaa]

I'm from San Francisco, and back in the day when I was very, very little (late 70's/early 80's), white guys from the Richmond and the Sunset used to wear WPOD shirts. WPOD = White Punks On Dope, a song by the Tubes. I think they wore it to show "pride" I suppose, but it had a certain punk elan that seemed to transcend any racial overtones. But what the hell did I know, I was only 8.
When I was in Tennesee and Georgia I didn't see any of that confederate flag merchandise crap.
Anyhoo, I think the rebel shit in Jersey is the work of al-Qaeda (sp?). Stay with me here, people... the shop owners buy this bizarre shit to foster racial tension and thus de-stabilize the country. It's all very sinister and secret.
(Before anyone gets their panties in a twist, my "theory" is meant to be a joke.)
Thanks for an interesting story. Jersey?!

[Mel]

Wildwood is so trashtastic, I'm not surprised. It's like entering a world you never wanted to be in, but the depths of its trashiness makes it too fascinating to leave! I was able to purchase some fabulous, custom made hot pants there two summers ago that proclaim me as my husband's b-tch, right across my ass.

[Katie]

As a canadian I was shocked at all this, and me wonder are americans really that ignorant of their own history and heritage? Up in good old Canada we have plenty of redneck crap but nothing as offensive as this.

[Abby]

South Jersians were considered Confederate sympathizers back then. In fact, Monmouth County has the highest KKK activity of any county in the country. They usually meet in the Pine Barrens and start little fires just to be annoying.

I hate people like that. A kid in my World History class wore a shirt like that last one you had, and I got all pissy and yelled at him. He never wore it again. :)

~Abby

I went to T.F. South high school in a suburb of Chicago, and our mascot was the rebel. We flew the confederate flag until '98 or something, and we even had a guy dressed in a confederate soldier's outfit to play the mascot, Richie the Rebel. As far as I know, they're still the Rebels, but most of the un-pc paraphenalia has been taken away, thank god.

In the mid-to-late 90s when people started speaking out against all this, people defended it with "but hey, we're T.F. *South*! There's a T.F. North, so it's just, like, kitschy!" (The hilarious part is that T.F. North is the Meteors. Really completes the pair, don't you think?)

Somewhat relatedly, I went to college with guy from Pekin, IL. His HS mascot? The Pekin Chinks. Totally appropriate...

[brandy]

I've seen shirts like that for sale up here in Canada. My parents town has more than one apartment window that uses this flag as a lovely curtain. It makes me wretch.

I just don't understand anyone who would want to sell what that flag represents.

Rich, this was such a well written article, you are such a great writer.

[elb]

This is brilliant. I am not even shitting you.

[chloe]

"Wildwood is a body louse clinging to a sweaty shaft of hair in the Armpit of America that is New Jersey" - LOL. sad, but true

[Tipsy McStaggers]

The other great addition to the confederate flag is the ever encouraging "Get er Done", the hopeful "the South will rise again" and the reverant number 3 (or 31) with a halo over it.

[nicole]

Right now captitalism, as North America knows it, is swallowing itself. the middle class will soon be erased, the poor will increase in numbers and instead on thinking constructively and being honest with onself (oh my president and gov are fucking me over) people will always employ racism, sexism & homophobia. For them the answer always the fault of one of those target groups.

[sarah]

aside from being in complete agreement, i'd like to applaud the way you've worked in "fiddle dee dee"

[Arthur James]

This makes me sad.

(deep sigh).

[Meri]

The South will rise again!!!!

aaahahahahaha, rediculous.

It is ALL ignorant bullshit.

[summer]

how are you so enlightened? no really. seriously. who raised you? i mean you discuss incredibly racially-sensitive topics minus any of the liberal "i'm on your side" bs. but in a way that is like "wow, he gets it." and even just the music you discuss and include on playlists.

who are you, rich? perhaps again it's my down South upbringing, but i've never "met" anyone non-black like you.

[Mara]

this is disgusting...i mean, i always saw flags on pick-up trucks in florida, and they pissed me the hell off, but some of those t-shirts?? and in jersey of all places?? maybe this is why people always talk shit about jersey...

i've always known the north is just as racist as the south, and very racially divided, but i never expected to see shit like that up here...it really shouldn't be anywhere--that whole "southern pride" excuse is bullshit.

unless we are aware of the problem, and speak out against it more, nothing will ever change. nice post, rich.

[momo]

I'd like to throw in "aggressive stupidity" as a twist on Anika's suggestion. One of my old profs used it to describe the undergrads at my university and it seems to describe this union jack mentality nicely too.

[GC]

It's a double edged sword. At one time, the American flag, the good ol' Stars and Stripes, was the flag of a country in which slavery was legal. Does that make the American flag racist? Maybe, but probably no.

The Confederate flag represented the soldiers while they were fighting. The Confederate States of America had a different flag flying over their capitol in Richmond. The blue X on a red background was the battle flag only.

That said, the only people who actually end up WEARING the Confederate battle flag are ignorant racists. So, no, the Confederate battle flag is not historically racist, but by wearing it, you are racist.

Make sense? I didn't think so. Sorry for wasting your time.......

[rod]

I'm not sure who is holding that keychain, but I can't imagine a gayer way to do so. Well done, sirrah.

[Bobby]

I live in Virginia. I have always had friends from various ethnic backgrounds, grew up listening to hip-hop, and attended a predominately/historically black college. I'm not at all religious and believe in the equitable treatment of people from all races, belief systems, and sexual lifestyles. I also hold the Confederacy dear to my heart. The basic idea of freedom has been altered since the Union won the Civil War, to the point where there is basically no real choice left in America. When people bemoan the two-party system and the choice between two evils that they're forced to make every four years, they ought to understand that it began when the C.S.A. was defeated. It's unfortunate that the source of the conflict was slavery, because it clouds the issues of personal freedom and of the rights of the States. Slavery is indefensible, but this country was founded with an allowance for the freedom of each individual State, and that war destroyed this freedom and led to the death of many others.

I wouldn't rock any of that paraphernalia around, but it doesn't mean that I don't believe in (at least one of) the basic principles that it represented. I really am a fan of your blog, Rich, not just some joker who Googles "confederate flag" and posts his rant everywhere he can. I wanted to offer a dissenting view fron a non-redneck, though I doubt it will change your mind.

[Ann]

Why is it so offensive that the South can use part of their histry & have fun with it, yet we are suppossed to put up with Asian, Indian, African, etc. cultures being brought over here & used? I'd rather see a law that if you live here, at least speak English. People can keep their own cultures--and that includes US citizens.

[stacy]

so what is this history lesson that should make us not offended by that last shirt? Anyone know?

[Sarah]

south jersey is a totally different world!

[Wendy]

You know, I live in Georgia, and it's retarded HERE to run around with that crap on your shirt/bumpersticker/vanity plate/etc. But if you're in NEW JERSEY and think it's funny/cute to have it, said person possessing it needs to be slapped. I don't care how "PC" Jeff Foxworthy makes it look (he's not celebrated as a hero here, btw; most people either think he's stupid, or a racist), it's still not a proud moment in American history.

And another thing, about the "historically accurate" shirt...do I need to mention again that it's NEW JERSEY!!!!???

p.s. you know the most popular thing on the Georgia coast, lately? Puerto Rican or Mexican flags!

[brandy]

Ann-

I'm just wondering what part of promoting hatred is fun?

[Nikos]

I'm from Pennsylvania, also a Union state, yet every junk shop in town has tons of confederate ummm...shall we call it "memorabilia"...? I had a black friend named Suzy who often wore the confederate flag and I would consistantly yell at her for being a weird ass ho.

I think the biggest defense of the flag is that people call it the "rebel" flag so if you're a "rebel" you should wear it proudly. And if you're a "rebel" who feels like seceding our nation, then you should wear it proudly times two.

My favorite shirt is one that they sell at a local flea market that says "PRIDE! NOT PREJUDICE!" Which is almost reasonable, until you realize that they're being proud of being part of a movement built around prejudice. And then you remember that you're in Pennsylvania and there's clearly no pride in the South up here. I'm not even going to into the thought of it being for White pride and not prejudice. I just love the fact that rednecks are wearing a Jane Austen reference to spread their hatred.

As a PC liberal white boy, I often found the flag offensive, and now I think of it as a blessing. If one is wearing it, as they often do in PA, I then know who I should be avoiding at all costs.

Bobby, you wrote:

Slavery is indefensible, but this country was founded with an allowance for the freedom of each individual State, and that war destroyed this freedom and led to the death of many others.

When the State has taken away the rights and lives of entire groups of citizens, they lose their right to make laws. It is no surprise that the south was the home of Jim Crow laws and the stars and bars. The freedoms of native born blacks were destroyed for years in this country, leading to the deaths of many of those friends from "various ethnic backgrounds" you hold so dear.

And while you claim to be so inclusive, I bet you didn't hang the Confederate flag from your dorm room at that "historically black college" or wear it out to bars on a Saturday night while dancing to hip-hop.

To give this a modern day implication, these southern states are at the forefront of legistlation to deny women the right to choose, deny gays their rights, and, surprise surprise, employ a poll tax so poor blacks can't vote. So much for freedom.

[Lizzy]

"But what could the kid learn from his parents that a hermit crab couldn't teach him?"
I laughed so hard at that. But then, it may have been because everything else was so depressing.

[marlys]

I'm never going to Wildwood or Jersey. Ew, that Rebel crap is gross.

[Ted]

Hey! I came across this post and thought I would toss in my 2 cents.
I've lived in North Jersey my whole life, and have never been to Wildwood, the closest I've come is Seaside Hights, which is the same idea, only smaller. These shops are only open for a couple months out of the year, most are only open from Memorial Day till Labor Day. Any jackass with a few grand can rent out one of these booths and set up shop. Who are these jackasses? mostly carnies from the south trying to make a few bucks. When they get here, they try to unload all of the garbage that they sell at county fairs.
So, please, don't view this as a New Jersey thing...It's a carnie thing...

[Me]

I went to T.F. North...how funny is that?

[Vanessa]

That is well...Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with those vendors? I can't believe this stuff actually gets sold. Maybe it's because I usually stick to North Jersey and haven't been to Wildwood in ages, but I have honestly never seen anything like that in this state. It's just mind-boggling.

[Bill Barbera]

Ugh. I think you could probably find this kind of retarded hillbilly shit in every state in the country, sadly.

Kill Hillbilly scum.

[PB]

South Jersey really is a completely different animal. It might as well be a part of Delaware.

I'd be curious to know if the boardwalks at Point Pleasant or Seaside sell this kind of crap.

[claudia]

I guess they wouldn't sell out of an 'Impeach the terrorist' Bush button, huh?

[bethany]

I'm from south Texas & even we don't have this much rebel shit. That's crazy to me that they would be trying to hack that stuff in Jersey. What's even crazier is that people are totally rockin' that shit.

[Jon]

Cmon...you have to have lived in NJ long enough to know that South Jersey is full of rednecks. Yay North Jersey!

[Keisha]

Hey Bethany, I'm in S. TX too, and (when I was in HS a few yrs ago) ppl had this stuff all over their trucks, shirts, hats, etc. I even had a kid tell me that slavery was the best thing to happen to the US, it was a necessary part of history, and implied that we should repeat it. This kid is SUPPOSED to be my friend...and I'm black too. Hot damn.

Oh well, maybe white Jesus can help me to feel that way too...I think I'm gonna get my hair braided and dyed to look like the rebel flag.

[Keisha]

Oh yeah - Rich, I love you even more.

[Patrick]

If you want to see something even more weird, go look for the Stars & Bars in...New Hampshire.

A friend of mine has worked some political campaigns in the Granite State; we're both native Texans and are therefore use to some of the rebel flag bullshit that rednecks put on their rustbuckets and that ignorant suburbanites scared of affirmative action slap on their vans and SUVs (at least in the Dallas area).

When I went to NH to visit her in '04, I almost broke my neck whipping my head around when I saw two cars in Concord with Stars & Bars bumperstickers and NH plates. I asked her WTF was up with that and she said apparently there are a small group of Confederate folks in New-freaking-Hampshire.

Seriously!

I found it all the more wacky considering every little town and small city in New Hampshire and Vermont has an obelisk or memorial dedicated to the boys who didn't come back from the War Between The States.

As several other commenters have pointed out or mentioned, this has to do with decades of cultural revisionism now being turned into nascent "white pride". There's been enough revisionism peddled about the South before and during the Civil War that folks can get away with this kind of nonsense.

[janine]

Perhaps I'm too perverse but my first impulse was that I wanted to wear these shirts. I'm a Black woman. I bet their heads would explode like the Death Star.

[Linds]

Man, I've read your site ever since I was linked to your fabulous Madonna post way back when, but I've never been so compelled to respond.

I'm from Indiana, also a Union state. I don't think many people here realize it though. I'm from Indianapolis, so it's not too bad, but I go to school in Southern Indiana. It's a nightmare. The local high school's mascot is the Rebels, which you would know even if it wasn't written everywhere. If we want to sing karaoke we have to sing in front of the huge Confederate flag that takes up a full wall of the local bar.

It just gets worse, but the more I talk about it the more it makes me want to set myself on fire. How are there enough people in this country supporting this shit? Why won't it die?

[Lauren]

I live in South Jersey, and this shocked me--NO ONE I know has ever worn a shirt like this, made pro- (or anti-) Confederate statements, or been publicly racist to this extent! It's ridiculous! I feel embarrassed seeing things like this degrading Jersey, because it doesn't apply to all of it. Everyone knows Wildwood is trashy, though. I've never been but at my school no one goes unless they crash there, drunk, after prom. The only time I've seen a shirt like that is when our class went to Gettysburg and my friend bought one as a joke. I'm ashamed that people are going to get such a bad idea of our state. The government sucks, but it really is a good place to live! Really!

[kashmunny]

i kinda felt the same confusion in niagara falls (canadian side) a few years ago when i saw shirts being sold that said "silly faggot! dix are for chix!"

[xnowhereboyx]

I saw some Confederate flags on monster trucks back in high school in Wisconsin. I never understood, since Wisconsin was about as far north as you could get. Last week on a trip around SoCal we saw Confederate bumper stickers on (what else?) a monster truck on the drive from Palm Springs to San Diego. It was driven by (what else?) this skinny, greasy white guy who probably hasn't had a date in a decade. Today people associate the Confederate flag with "white pride" and I think the resurgence in the Confederate flag goes hand-in-hand with anti-immigration sentiments. Ironically, I got five on it that the merchandise and t-shirts are not made in America. I also noticed the Bob Marley t-shirts right next to the Confederate flag t-shirts in the one photo. It cracks me up if people have to buy them from a foreigner....

[Kimberly]

Wildwood is INSANELY trashy. My husband and I were there on July 3 and we definitely noticed the upswing in all this crap. I'm from South Carolina and I grew up rolling my eyes at those who worship this flag in ignorance (the Civil War historians I knew tended to have more moderate and informed viewpoints). I was really surprised to see this when I moved up here!

I also noticed that every store we went into was run by someone with a Russian accent, and every store selling this type of material was selling it at a deep discount (buy one get one free, get the 2nd one $10 off, etc). So maybe all this crap was bought by recent immigrants who really didn't know what it signified, and now they're desperately trying to unload it all and make some of their investments back!

[kelly]

Oh, lord. I live in Canada, and when my brother was 10 he played on a boy's hockey team. The team's name was "Rebels" and their jerseys were -- you guessed it -- emblazoned with that flag.

In Canada for god's sake.

I was 13 at the time and I'm sure I was the only person who looked at those uniforms and thought, "What the fuck?" To everyone else it was just some vague symbol.

[Cathy]

Oh man, I went to Wildwood all the time in HS, and I never remember seeing anything of this shit. I'm lovin the hermit crab though. Poor little thing.

[Stephanie]

Rich, as a black woman and a devoted reader, I just wanna say that you fucking rock. You never cease to amaze me with your dead on insights. If only more people (black, white, gay, straight, old, young, male, female) were as open and thought as critically as you do. Keep posting. I'll keep reading.

[ash.]

that just goes to show you that its everywhere.im a african american woman in nj and my former employer (hence the word former)asked if i was negro.

this was in 2006.

thanks for the post.

[Elan]

It so odd that you would post this today, I was just talking to my boyfriend about how it is that we live in Western Michigan(specifically Kalamazoo, the halfway point b/tw Detroit and Chicago)and there are SOOOO many people with Confederate flag crap in front of their houses. He's a militant/revolutionary type so he was talking about blowing stuff up. It was kind of crazy

[Stormy70]

Here is the problem with the Battle Flag that I see. Much like the Nazis took the swastika, which has always stood for good luck, and used it to perpetrate atrocities against humanity, while the civilian population stood by, they ruined the symbol.

When the KKK approriated the rebel battle flag, and perpertrated atrocities against humanity in the 1950s, while a large segment stood silently by, the symbol was idelibly fused to their evil works.

However, this is America where tacky and inappropriate clothing reins supreme. I am equally offended by the latest in Soviet Chic or Che Chicas I am by the battle flag chic, but I consider the morons wearing all this symbol clothing are just self-identifying. I am on the right of the spectrum, politically, so I think Commie mass murderers should deserve as much derision as the KKK.

I live in Texas, and I see very few battle flags anywhere. We all have the great Lone Star State flag to wave. Oh, and breakfast tacos, food of the gods.

[Zell]

I witnessed this first hand last summer when my boyfriend and I went to the Warren County fair. I've lived in Jersey a little over five years and that was the first time I really ventured far enough in, and long enough, to see stuff like that. It's very odd. I tried getting some good shots of the t-shirt booths but being pretty much the only black person there I didn't feel like getting lynched.

The entry is in my link.

[Leila]

Aaaand, the list of places in the United States that freak me the fuck out grows again.

[Lawbot]

I've never been happier to live in the Pacific northwest.

[Cath]

Stormy, the "rebel battle flag" wasn't sullied by the Klan's activities "in the 1950s." For one thing, the Klan began its terrorism during Reconstruction. For another, it was always the flag of the pro-slavery side. You can't whitewash that (pun intended) no matter how much you try. It was never on the side of right. Ever.

[Bobby]

Dear "Nikos" (I'm going to follow your lead and use quotation marks to indicate anything I feel derisively toward),

That's quite a grip on the legal theory you've got there. If States lose their "right to make laws" when they enslave or mistreat a specific group of their citizens, I would assume the same rule applies to sovereign nations. Under this logic, The United States (for example) has no more right to "make laws" than the Confederacy did. See: Native Americans, Chinese, blacks, Southerners during the Reconstruction, the Japanese, Middle-Easterners, etc, etc.

None of my friends are or were actual slaves. I should have mentioned that my circle, while diverse, doesn't include any time travelers. I'm sure it's possible that some of their ancestors may have died in slavery. At least one had a grandfather killed during one of our imperialist wars in Asia during the last century, and yet he doesn't protest my American citizenship.

I already stated that I don't wear or display the Confederate flag. I do remember quite a few of my (black) classmates wearing t-shirts emblazoned with a Confederate flag rendered in what are commonly referred to as "African colors," which were quite popular at the time. I bet some of them even wore them to hip-hop clubs. It's too bad you weren't around to let them know how foolish they were.

I don't see what the current political climate in the South proves about a war fought over a hundred years ago, except perhaps that disenfranchising a large group of people tends to dehumanize them and make them easier and easier to subjugate. That's called "irony."

[Ashley]

I'm another TN reader, and wouldn't quite say it's fallen into kistch territory. To me, the rebel flag to me automatically means institutional racism, not states' rights. I mean, when is it going to be okay to airbrush swastikas on t-shirts? That's certianly a much older symbol than the stars and bars, and didn't always mean "Nazi!", but the associations are far too deep to ever ignore - and you don't see too many clever Germans wandering about with that on their boogie boards, pretending to be ironic. The rebel flag should be viewed in the same way. Slavery is NOT COOL.

[annabella]

Wow! Rich - your writing is incredible - I can't say it any better than - Summer -the person in above comments did. Amazing. The comments are an incredible read as well. What a world.

[Pink]

I am a big big fan of this blog, but I have never been more offended by anything. I am a Southerner & there is nothing that irritates me more than people taking our little slice of rich *American* heritage & twisting it all around to support their illogical pseudo-racist theories. Not every southerner is a racist or a redneck or drive a pick up truck with a gun rack or have 2 teeth or whatever ridiculous misconceptions people have about us. I think if you're offended by something as ridiculous as the Confederate flag & where it hangs or whose back it's on, then you have far, far too much time on your hands. There's poverty, war, AIDS, etc. in the world, and you're up in arms over a flag that had significance 100 years ago?? It blows my mind that someone compared the flag to a swastika. I don't really equate the battle flag of a war that had nothing to with race/slavery to a symbol of racist genocide... That's just my stupid Southern opinion of course. I'm proud of my heritage, and it IS a rich & beautiful heritage despite what people would like you to believe. Some of my best friends now & since I was 6 have been black, though I don't see how that or those questions of "how many black authors' books have you read" or "black directors' movies have you seen?" are really relevant. Is it only okay to support something potentially "racist" if you're "okay" with the group in question? Someone above commented that as a black woman her impulse was to wear one of these shirts. Here, people of all races where these shirts... (Yes, even black people!!) Basically, though I rambled due to my shock/anger/etc... It's unfair to attack an entire culture over what you THINK (key word: THINK) that flag represents. We also know how to put apostrophes in "it's/its." Hmph. I'm offended by that too. Yankees aren't that great with grammar & punctuation I'm sure.

[david]

what the hell?? arrgghh

[Chris]

Maybe I heard The Boss all wrong, was he really singing "Born in the C.S.A."?

[juliet]

Have any of you seen the movie C.S.A.?
Thank you Rich for pointing this out!

"pseudo-racist theories. Not every southerner is a racist or a redneck"

THE CONFEDERATE FLAG IS RAAACISSSTTTTT
READ A HISTORY BOOOOK

[Quentin Ergane]

Here in Seattle, WA, too. I have even watched some biracial gal wearing it. I guess she felt she was being edgy. I knew she was being dumb.

I was raised in the South, so I know a little something about this "rebel" flag stuff... like while you are laughing at it, more people have it than you even realize AND although your post may be the FIRST of its kind giving your positionality, etc., most people turn a blind, uncritical eye to it.

A confederacy of dunces...Oh Rich..I THOUGHT that I loved you and now I KNOW that I love you. I love that book and I miss you..seriously. I know you need your "beauty rest" but damn it I want my early Project Runway recap in which you discuss canditates solely on your pictures...damn you Rich!

[Mariko]

I live in Northern California and my ex-boyfriend's best friend used to "rock" this shit. Of course, his name is Bobbygene (spelling is not a typo) and all of his relatives are from Texas (although, I doubt any of them are stupid enough to act like he does). He once asked me if I REALLY knew the meaning of the rebel flag and I told him that it stood for states' rights over a stronger centralized government which would have given the each individual state the right to decide whether they were for or against slavery. He said that it stood for independence. I kinda though that the United States flag stood for independence, but whatever. The scary thing is that there was a group of "Proud to be Rednecks" at my high school, despite white students being in the minority. The rebel flag is not a motherfucking joke, nor is it a good symbol for heritage. Heritage is something of which you can be proud.

[sanguinivorous]

If anybody claims they wear this because they're proud of their "heritage", it's a f***ing joke. Being a traitor to your country and then getting your ass handed to you by the Yankees is something to be proud of?

Mmmmmmkay....

[sarah]

sanguinivorous, by your reckoning, we as americans shouldn't be "proud of our heritage", since the founders of our country were "traitors to their country" - england. but i suppose since they didn't get "their asses handed to them" that nullifies their 'treachery'. history is written by the winners.
this country was founded on the belief that if you didn't like the way things were going you had the right and the duty as americans to stand up and say something.
the confederate leaders were fed up with what they considered
to be northern economic aggression - which is why they chose to secede from the union. slavery was a small part of it; a way of economic life, without which the south couldn't hope to compete with the north. (president lincoln emancipated the slaves as much to have a fighting force as an ethical choice)
because our birthright as americans means standing up for our beliefs, fighting for our rights, when the war was over, sherman, davis and lee weren't demonized; they were recognized for the great military men they were. they had the courage of their convictions. the confederate flag was a symbol of those convictions. unfortunately today it's tossed around by people on both sides ignorant of its proud and ugly past. i don't know if it should be flaunted; all i know is history shouldn't be hidden away. we have to display it and talk about it, really talk about it. otherwise it's like painting auschwitz pink and calling it 'happy camp'; that doesn't make it okay.

[John]

Rich, having grown up in South Jersey this post reminded me why my sister and I always called it the Arkansas of the north. and p.s my brother would probably buy and wear that sh**.

[Gillian]

I'm so glad you posted this. I live on Long Island and for a while now I have been witnessing this kind of garbage. On LAWNG ISLAND. I have a racist, white trash neighbor who drives a pick-up truck with a confederate flag nascar sticker. And when he talks, he sounds like Joey Buttafuco. It's just really depressing and disgusting and disturbing. I guess I was naive in thinking that this kind of bullshit wouldn't go on around here, but i suppose I should have known better. If you haven't seen the documentary "Farmingville", check it out. You'll be shocked by the racism that exists in unexpected places (in this case, two towns over from where I live.)

[Meep]

I've seen far more rednecks and hicks up here in Yankee Central than I ever did growing up in Georgia and the Carolinas. Hell, even Myrtle Beach doesn't have this much Confederate paraphenalia. Also, I saw the same kind of crap in Indiana. The hell?

[carlos]

Jersey Trivia:
Only 'Northern' State to have secession papers ready to go if things weren't going so well. New Jersey, always the pragmatist. And I believe Wildwood dips below the Mason Dixon too.

[emily]

maybe it is time for a history lesson, the civil war wasn't about slavery and lincon didn't abolish it out of the goodness of his heart. the civil war was about states rights and economy, slavery was abolished as a way to further weaken the south, not to up hold the libreal ideals of abolitionists. the ending of slavery was similar to woman getting the vote in the 1920's, it was simply a political weapon. governmnets don't usually do something that is to this high an ideal unless there are some major benefits for them, so its not like the north was angelic or the south a horrible pit of backwardness. personally, i find the flag offensive, but people shold know that the role of slavery in civil war was more of an ideological weapon than the cause of the war

[Carl!]

And the stupid just keeps on coming. People: you can't divest the Confederate flag from slavery. You just can't. The two are totally intertwined. The "states rights" that Confederate apologists keep mentioning? Slavery. (The only issue that ever motivated a full secession attempt was over one race's "right" to own another.) The "economic issues"? Slavery. (The South's economy was based on slavery; it was the only system that would allow that economy to function.) You're only fooling yourselves (and the utterly gullible) if you insist that the flag and the Confederacy were only a teeny little bit involved with slavery.

No, not every Southerner is a racist or a redneck. Just those who fly the Confederate flag proudly or insist that there's anything remotely noble about its heritage.

And it's offensive to everyone with more than two brain cells to insist that those of us who can correctly correlate the Confederacy with slavery need a history lesson. (Particularly coming from people who can't spell, as Rich pointed out in his glorious entry.)

[Genevieve]

I like what Stormy70 said. While the confederate flag might have meant more than just owning slaves back in the day, it doesn't mean much more than that to everyone now a days. Just like the shwastaka meant peace or whatever a long time ago, it doesn't represent that anymore. It's sad some ass had to ruin it's original meaning, but tough, you just can't wear a shwastaka. And tough, you just shouldn't be proud with a confederate flag. Because to most all it means is slavery.

[jamie]

sooo... because the war was over "slavery" i guess that implicates the north as well to some degree, huh? everyone who says that the flag is racist seems to neglect that the war wasn't over slavery. they also seem to neglect that union members, not to mention the president had slaves & supported slavery. to say that the flag is racist still doesn't mean that everyone in the south is racist. people are always looking for something to whine about or be "offended" by & this is yet another tool. this isn't a north/south/black/white issue when it comes to being upset over it. it's about people like some of you who want to discredit a person's "heritage" because you don't agree with it. many southern people have an ancestor who fought & died in that war, and for the very way of life we ALL share today. just as people die today for a war that many don't beleve in.

[Talix18]

"...[this material] comes from a place of such...ultimate powerlessness that it's hard to take seriously."

Not taking it seriously is a mistake *none* of us can afford to make. NONE of us.

"...and then they came for me."

[Jen]

I live in Arkansas, and I see this stuff all the time too. It disgusts me everytime I see it. Fortunately, I wasn't raised to be an ignorant racist like many people around here, but I guess this view of thinking isn't just in the South. It's all over the country, but Jersey? I never would've guessed that.

[Tecki]

I was born and raised in the Great NC by parents from Buffalo, NY.

I understand the pride that many Southerners have in their great land, but find it sad and frustrating that this is the way they choose to display their pride.

Despite a long history of racism and oppression, the south really does offer a lot to be proud of. The architecture of cities like New Orleans, Charleston and Asheville, the music of Missisippi, Lousiana, Texas, and other states, the food, the friendly people. The rise of New South Cities like Charlotte that forged ahead with integration while other cities, even in the North, protested. The legacy of liberal white and black southern politicians who banded together to build a better society in the face of angry, violent opposition. The great literature. The beautiful natural landscapes. The great Universities, including the first charted public university in the south (UNC Chapel Hill), the first to open in Alabama and the one of the first in VA.

There is so much to be proud of without flying that ridiculous flag. Forget the flag. Buy a Johnny Cash T-shirt if you want to show your pride.

[Red Line]

I wanted to believe some of that was photoshopped. Wow.

[Rob]

I see a lot of this stuff in Plymouth, Mass. where I go in the summer. I will certainly admit that people around those parts have always been stuck up with Pilgrim rectitude, and have dismissed the confederatiana as merely pissing off the leading citizens. There is DEFINITELY an economic class thing here.

That being said, YOU WILL NEVER GET RID OF THIS CRAP. You can't MAKE people behave. All you really do is summarily fire them if they dare to show up in your office wearing this crap. Then they can go to Wildwood all they want.

[T]

Rich,
Thanks for highlighting that ignorance still exists, even in place such as New Jersey!!! I have never been to the shore in Jersey and now, I REALLY don't wanna go. I would probably be the only speck of pepper in a sea of salt if I went. So,maybe you can mail me some Italian style crabs!
I LOVE YOUR BLOG NOW AND FOREVER!
Peace,
T

[queenann]

There is no good defense for non-historical displays of the Confederate flag. (And I grew up in Georgia, with a family who dates back to the 1700s, so don't give me that heritage/history crap.)

Here's the deal. This flag represents a TREASONOUS group. If you're proud to be an American, how can you be proud of the Confederacy? I don't understand. I also agree that in Georgia, there isn't nearly as much of this crap- more bumper stickers & little stuff. (Of course, there are more african-americans in GA..., maybe bigots are more afraid!) What amazed me was moving to PA (a Union state, right? Gettysburg, etc...) and seeing all the Confederate flags on cars, in lawns, etc. Twice as much, easily.

Also, anyone who thinks that the Civil War wasn't about slavery is kidding themselves, or still holding on to the lies and distortions from school history books. I suggest you read "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your History Textbook Got Wrong" by James W. Loewen. It will open your eyes, if you have an open mind.