Blogtrek

Heritage without Hate?

I saw a bumper sticker yesterday when shopping. It read "Heritage without Hate" and it had a Confederate battle flag on it. By this the author of the sticker presumably meant that he intended to celebrate and revere his Confederate ancestry; this is where he came from. He feels the flag symbolizes the heroism that Confederate soldiers displayed during the US Civil War. The problem is that he does not get the message across. I can see his point to some extent; after all, one of my ancestors fought on the Confederate side. But what means one thing to one person means another to another. Many African Americans feel that it does mean hate, even when the originator does not intend that. I feel that such a celebration of Confederate ancestry, including my own, needs to be done in a private manner, and that other heritages are more worthy of celebration. It is like Germans celebrating their heritage by displaying a swastika.

There is even a dispute in Volgograd, Russia, about the name of the place. It was called Stalingrad in one of the most stupendous battles in history, the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II. Many Russians want to change it back to Stalingrad because that is what their ancestors fought for. But like with the Confederate flag, I think this should be done in a more subdued fashion, for Stalin was one of the most brutal men in history. The town should remain Volgograd, naming it after a river, representing our planet Earth - a heritage certainly worth supporting.