[DomnNC]

Apolcalipstic, whether you know it or not you just hit upon the main reason the civil war was fought to begin with with this statement:

"There is so much resistance in the South to the Federal Government,"

Many people believe it was the issue of slavery that was the dominating factor, it was a factor indeed but not the main one. The main issue was the soverignity of states, the ability of states to govern their own and adopt what federal guidelines the young and loosely formed federal government came up with at the time. The states wanted the right to say no to some of those laws and guidelines, they were denied, seven states had already seceded from the Union before Lincoln was ever elected.

As for the flag, I don't own one, I don't fly one, however I believe all individuals should have the right to express themselves as they please, after all that is what we are asking for, the right to live our life in freedom, to be recognized as a group, to have the same rights and equality as "straight" people. I do not view the flag as racist, it was created as a battle flag and a way for southern troops to distinguish themselves from the northern troops. The original flag of the confederacy was the Stars and Bars and was to close to the federal flag, Bars and Stripes, in design that it was hard for the troops to distinguish themselves apart. To many people of the south it merely represents the ancestry of their forefathers in fighting for the rights of state soverignity against the federal government. It is people whom make it racist as people can make "anything" racist. That being said racism exists across all states/countries in one form or another and it always will. There will always be a class of people who will be frowned upon, looked down upon. Is it right, heck no, and I'll always stand up for those that I see being oppressed, bullied, beat, and spat upon. All of us know firsthand that oppression as it's the life that we lead. There will always be a bigot out there shouting to be heard. It is we (people) who empower the bigots of the world by giving them a platform to spew their hatred and rhetoric upon. If no one listened, if no one acknowledged them, if no one gave them a platform then it would merely fizzle out and die it's own slow death.

All that being said, am I proud to be a suthurner, damn right. Am I proud of my southern heritage, damn right. You will not find a more welcoming hospitable group of people anywhere in the US. There is a reason that people from the north and west move down here. It's the hospitality, the slower pace of life, the lower cost of living, the ease with which we go through our day, it's the food, it's the beauty of the land, the strong familial ties and our bond with the land.

Here in NC, in a couple hours I can be in our majestic mountains (the Smokies, there is a reason it's the most visited state park in the nation), in a couple hours I can be standing on the sand in front of the great Atlantic ocean. I love my home state and wouldn't think of moving out of it for anything or anyone.

It is my hope that one day that all of us can embrace one another, look past our differences and sit for a spell, have a glass of iced tea (suthurn style of course) and just chit chat about anything and everything without discord.

Have a great day and weekend everyone.

ps. If I've offended anyone with my post that was certainly not my intention at all. I can only be the one person I know I can be and that is me.