I was born in the South, and I am proud of that.
I am not proud of the sins committed by Southerners before me, but those sins all too often become a price it feels like we all have to pay at every turn for being proud of our heritage.
I have lived my whole life in the South and I’ve never owned a Confederate flag – or even the battle flag that commonly gets mistaken for the Confederate flag – and likely never will.
The Confederate flag is again under fire because of what some nutjob in South Carolina did at an historic church. It was heartbreaking and deplorable; a photo of him uncovered after his heinous crimes has linked him to the Confederate flag.
But what if the current poster child of hatred and lunacy had been wearing a New York Yankees jersey? Would that be the symbol of hate du jour? What if he was wearing a religious symbol or a controversial logo? Is the fallout the same?