Recently, Kid Rock has received some comments on him using the Confederate flag at his shows. This is because he is about to accept and award from the NAACP and some of it's members don't believe he should get it because of this use. They're even boycotting his award dinner in May. This is where I get started. The Confederate flag is viewed today as a sign of hate and bigotry and why? Most people think that it represents the south using slavery and when we fly it, it's because we want to strike fear into African Americans. We may be southern but we're not idiots. (Most of us) If that was the case we might as well keep a home for every black civil rights activist in every southern city because they'll be marching every day. These people that think that we do this because of prejudice are completely incorrect on several levels. First of all, the civil war wasn't fought over slavery. That was just a perk of the North winning (Not that I support it, that's just what it was at the time). The war was fought because of issues between separating the federal government and the state government and also over economics. The North was demanding more railroads and roads to get the goods out of the south and their taxes were outrageous. They were also not happy that the south was selling their goods to Europe and a lower tax rate. Abraham Lincoln, who is the man believed to have freed the slaves, had slaves himself. He didn't send the Union soldiers to the south because of the slaves but because we succeed and he didn't want the United States to be weakened by being divided. Even when he said the emancipation proclamation he was being forced by the radical republicans in congress because the situation needed to be addressed. But for years people have been taught in school that the civil war was fought over slavery and when they see a rebel flag, they automatically see hate. It's the same deal with the swastika, the swastika is a symbol that goes back 3000 years and it originally meant "good, power, sun, strength, and prosperity". But the Nazis got a hold of it and it is now seen as a symbol of hate. People who still fly the confederate flag in present day generally use it as a sign of southern heritage. We as southerners have a proud heritage and like representing it. Some people also believe that this flag is unpatriotic due to the rebellion but southerners are among the most patriotic in the nation and half of the military is  made up of men and women who are from the south. I hate that the flag is seen in a negative light but ultimately this will never change and this entire blog is for null. However I will finish with this. People who see the rebel flag as a hateful symbol, read a damn history book.

More From Highway 98.9