Spurrier and the Confederate Flag

Coach Steve Spurrier caused a bit of controversy when he called for the state of South Carolina to remove the confederate flag from the grounds of the statehouse. Undoubtedly, he thinks such a move might help him in recruiting black and Northern ballplayers, but the most likely result is to alienate many Carolina alumni.

As a Carolina alumnus, a South Carolinian, and a Southerner, I am proud to fly my rebel flag. A big reason why I like to do this is to piss off people who already think I am an inbred racist hick. By flying the confederate emblem, I am inviting the world to suck my rebel dick.

But I am also a libertarian, and I think it is an injustice to take tax dollars from the black citizens of this state and make them pay to fly an emblem that they find offensive. Some will say the amount is paltry, but it doesn't matter. That flag shouldn't fly on the statehouse grounds. My redneck readers will decry my disloyalty to the Southern cause, but I must remain consistent with the principles of liberty that I have come to love and have sworn to uphold.

If it were up to me, no tax dollars would be used for a memorial of any kind. Yes, this includes removing the portrait of Lincoln from the five dollar bill, selling off the Tomb of the Unknowns, or what have you. This will undoubtedly be extremely controversial, but the reason these publicly funded symbols cause controversy in the first place is because they are publicly funded. Like it or not, people want to have a say in how their tax dollars are spent. This is why we have controversy over things such as stem cell research, prayer in schools, etc. It is a riot of hogs fighting over who gets their snout in the trough of taxpayer money.

It is time to pull the confederate flag down (and maybe put it up somewhere else.) But with that said, it is also time to do away with the memorials to Martin Luther King because it is just as immoral to take money from a Ku Klux Klan motherfucker and make him pay for shit he doesn't like. But for the principals involved in this controversy, the whole point is to rub people's noses in it. This is why this culture war exists between flag supporters and groups like the NAACP. Neither side wants to respect the rights of the other. So, this is why you have this bullshit going on year after year.

Spurrier is a bit of an idiot for sticking his nose in this shit. But he's always had a big mouth. You can count on seeing a rebel flag at the home games this year. That's what happens when you tell Southerners they should be ashamed of who they are.

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