Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 23:25:25 -0500 From: TERRY IRONS 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 (*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*) Terry Lynn Irons t.irons[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]morehead-st.edu Voice Mail: (606) 783-5164 Snail Mail: UPO 604 Morehead, KY 40351 (*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)=(*)