First, may I point out that nowhere in our Constitution are we guaranteed the right never to be insulted or made to feel uncomfortable.  God help us if such a “right” is ever added to our governing documents.

For many years the lunatic left has demanded such rights, and if they don’t get them, they feel perfectly justified in engaging in violence and intimidation to obtain and enforce them.  What about the rights and opinions of those who they are oppressing, you ask?  Why they’re unimportant, of course.  Only the needs of the left need be addressed. 

So, what issues offend Democrats, who are for all intents and purposes interchangeable with all the mainstream leftist movements?  The list is long, and getting longer.  First and foremost is anything dealing with the Confederacy or the institution of slavery.  That stirs up a hornets nest of righteous indignation, and must be expunged.  The problem with that is that history can’t be expunged, only studied, and used as an example of what should or should not be done by present and future generations.

One fact is undeniable.  No person alive today was enslaved in this country.  Furthermore, it is doubtful that any person born to a former slave is still alive either.  So, what we have left is some descendants of former slaves.  In addition to them, we have blacks whose ancestors immigrated to this country, legally or illegally, from Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa or other parts of the world.  Their ancestors weren’t enslaved here either.

On the other side of the historical ledger are all non-black Americans.  Since the majority of their ancestors arrived decades after the last American slave was freed, how can they be held liable to pay so-called “Reparations” to the ancestors of enslaved American blacks?  In a just society they can’t, but that doesn’t mean that with the wrong political party in power, they won’t be.

Just proving who is indeed a descendant of an American slave will be difficult.  So, will reparations end up just being paid based on what color your skin is, and the payment of such monies based on the same criteria?  That, friends is a Pandoras Box of immense negative proportions.

Now, back to the matter of “Freedom From Insult”.   If a member of the Sons or Daughters of the Confederacy chooses to display the Confederate Battle Flag, commonly referred to as “The Stars and Bars” but in actuality called “The Southern Cross” at the time, a racist?  Or indeed are they just honoring an ancestor who frequently paid the ultimate price for their service to their home state?

In the south, the “Civil War” is known as “The War of Northern Aggression”.  In fact, that is a more accurate description, since the north actually invaded the south to start the conflict. Yes, the south did indeed fire the first shot when Fort Sumpter was attacked by South Carolinians, but that occurred after the Federal garrison was given the chance to abandon the fort peacefully since it commanded the Charleston Harbor, and was technically, in their view, no longer United States property after South Carolina had formally seceded from the Union. After a token resistance, the Federal forces surrendered, and were allowed to leave in peace.

It is a fact that the vast majority of Confederate soldiers were not slave owners.  They believed in the concept of Federalism, which severely limited the powers of the Federal government, leaving the powers of self determination to the individual states.  A famous conversation occurred between a Union officer and a Confederate prisoner after a battle.  The Union man asked the Confederate soldier why he had taken up arms against the Union.  He simply said “It ain’t about the slaves. I ain’t got none. It’s cause YOU’RE down HERE”!  Remember?  “The War of Northern Aggression”.

So, if Black Americans are offended by the Confederate Battle Flag, the Gadsden Flag, or even the Betsy Ross Flag, they would do well to remember that many White Americans are offended by being called racists at the drop of a hat, or by Black Lives Matter flags flying while cities burn, but not allowed to say instead, “All Lives Matter!”  How in the name of heaven can THAT be considered racist?  If we can’t all learn to agree to disagree on matters like this, things will go down hill from here very fast.  It will get ugly, and it doesn’t have to be so.  That’s what those who hate our country want.  Let’s not give it to them.