If the South should lose, it means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy. That our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers, will be impressed by all of the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors and our maimed veterans as fit subjects for derision.- Patrick CleburneThe above statement turned out to be even more prophetic than General Patrick Cleburne could have ever imagined, not only did his prediction come true in the United States, it has now proven true for our northern neighbor, Canada.
The Toronto Star reports:
A high school in York Region has banned a controversial flag long synonymous with America’s Deep South, but also with prejudice and racism.
The Confederate flag became popular at Sutton District High School in the last two years, said principal Dawn Laliberté, emblazoned on bandanas, lighters, belt buckles, backpacks and pickup truck windows.
After explaining the flag’s symbolism to students this week, the school implemented a ban.
Time after time, when asked about the Confederate flag, the majority of students be it in the U.S. or Canada say that it is not a symbol of racism, but rather a symbol of their heritage, a way of life, their culture, only to be scolded and told that it is racist and subsequently banned.“Our first step is always to educate. We are only dealing with a handful of students who view it as a white pride kind of thing, so we thought now is the time to get the message out,” Laliberté said.
Perhaps the most disturbing subject of this article seems to be that sporting the Confederate flag and celebrating ones culture is now a mental disease. Again quoting the Toronto Star:
A 2011 study in Political Psychology by psychologist Joyce Ehrlinger showed exposure to the Confederate flag resulted in “more negative judgments of black targets.”It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where this is heading, soon this study will be used far and wide in school districts across the U.S. , all the usual suspects appear in the Toronto Star article, diversity is good (unless you happen to fall into the pro Confederate flag category), lack of exposure to Black History Month etc.