Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 23:25:25 -0500

From: TERRY IRONS t.irons[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MOREHEAD-ST.EDU

Subject: Re: redneck, nigger, good ole boy, kicker, etc.



David Johns writes:



In these

contexts, the non-rednecks or non-fans-of-the-Confederacy are a

captive membership.



This issue is not "political correctness", whatever that means this

month, but tyranny of the majority.



[The context was a t-shirt made by students--not every one had to buy one

and the minority could have made its own, if in fact there was one.]



In reply, Duane Campbell writes:





Would the exclusion of these symbols, beloved by the majority, be tyranny

of the minority?





To which Jeutonne Brewer responds:





No, it wouldn't. In this country a basic purpose of the Bill of Rights

is to protect the minority from oppressive acts by government and the

majority. When a symbol the Confederate flag is used by government or

majority groups to threaten or silence a minority, that is an

oppressive act, a form of tyranny.



Terry (current writer) responds:



I think Duane is right here. The issue Jeutonne raises is pertinent

though. The question is, when is the use of a symbol "to threaten or

silence a minority"? And when is it just an expression of a cultural

group?



I find the to-do about the Confederate Flag an rather interesting trivial

flap. For the flag of the USA govt actually represents a system that has

oppressed and harmed far more people than the Confederacy ever did. Just

how many people did this government kill in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Vietnam,

etc.? How much exploitation continues today in developing

nations, especially in the Pacific Rim, because the US military

keeps illegitimate govts in power? Jeutonne's statement would be

better written with "American flag" in place of "Confederate Fag."





Virtually, Terry

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Terry Lynn Irons t.irons[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]morehead-st.edu

Voice Mail: (606) 783-5164

Snail Mail: UPO 604 Morehead, KY 40351

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