Hi, Bad.

Wow. Talk about being singled out!

As usual, I guess I come in somewhere in the middle (or is it "muddle"?).

I have already been called a Marxist when I wrote a thing for the hard copy paper on the flag controversy a few years ago. I argued then that, even if we grant that the current Confederate Flag proponents are all about peace, love and heritage (not hate), the *meanings* of symbols are not fixed. What is perceived as obscenity in one era is normal speech in another (or vice versa. The King James Old Testament uses some words that are now quite vulgar and offensive but were not in 1611.) There are no intrinsically obscene words. And the same goes for symbols.

The fact is that the Confederate battle flag has, for whatever reason (likely for good reason), come to be associated with the segregationist south. The fact that most confederates "did not own slaves" is not relevant as I see it. The main concern is the general *perception* of its meaning.

I speak as someone who has, for a long time, been a Civil War buff. My son had his room painted with flannel gray walls and a Confederate flag hanging on the wall when he was young. Pictures of Lee on horseback adorned his walls as well. He and I both thought that Lee was one of the fascinating people of that era, along with Lincoln and Davis (and N.B. Forrest). We read and relished the works of Shelby Foote, a Mississippian.

Anyway, I argued a few years ago that the COnfederate flag should not be a part of the Georgia flag--and I got a lot of grief from the Sons of the Confederacy types.

But there are two separate issues here, I think: (a) whether we should, as a society, choose a symbol to represent our state that is (reasonably) offensive to a significant segment of the population, and (b) whether individuals should have the right to express their views. Years ago, my daughter attended school wearing a sweatshirt with a Christian message on it. She was told to turn the shirt inside out lest someone be offended.

Within reason, I support the right of students to wear clothing that is expressive of their beliefs. What does "within reason" mean? Wel, it's hard to draw the line. Outright obscenity has no place, of course. But a shirt bearing a Confederate flag has connotations that extend well beyond the racist interpretations that some people urge. It is, I think, reasonable to think that someone may distinguish between pride in their heritage and the racist policiesw with which the flag has come to be associated.

And I do wonder whether the policy is consistent. What are black students permitted to wear in the halls?

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Original Photo: Urinal, The Eagle & Child, Oxford, UK, circa 1952 (Lewis and Tolkien no doubt stood here, elbow-to-elbow and talked philosophy and literature)