Separating the rebel spirit from support of the Confederacy in old-time Phoenix

If you're a young person (born after the time of the Civil War), you may be puzzled as to why people continued to fly a flag that represented the horror of support for slavery, and a war that almost destroyed the United States of America. And if you're a history buff, like I am, it may puzzle you that people who wouldn't dream of supporting the KKK or Jim Crow laws, found enjoyment in seeing the confederate flag. And in recent years, because of the internet, more and more people have come to realize that flying the confederate flag is almost comparable to having Nazi swastikas painted on your truck. But not quite, and to understand that, you have to time-travel back a bit.

No, not back to the Civil War, let's go back to the 1970s. I was nineteen in 1977, and newly arrived in Phoenix, and I thought absolutely nothing of seeing confederate flags all over the place. The Dukes of Hazzard was a very popular TV show, and the main characters drove a car with a confederate flag on it. And it represented rebellion, especially against inept authority.

No, of course I would never fly a confederate flag, but I'm a rebel. I learned to question authority back when I was a kid, and saw a lot of what I considered silly and arbitrary laws pushing people around, like the 55-mile per hour speed limit, to name just one. This was known as oppression from "the Man". And you name it, every time a law was passed that was meant to "protect people from themselves", from gun control to requiring emission controls on cars, there were people there to rebel. And as I got older and wiser I came to understand the value of certain things, like wearing a seat belt, or nowadays (it's September 2020 as I write this, during the COVID-19 pandemic) wearing a mask in public, but I always, always, question it.

The American West, including Arizona, has historically been a place where people didn't buckle under easily under what they considered unreasonable and oppressive laws. I don't remember much about the Dukes of Hazzard, but it seemed to me that the boys always stood for what was right, not necessarily what "the Man" (Boss Hogg) wanted.

So, speaking for myself, I'm glad to see the confederate flag go away. If I were to see it now I'd be as shocked as if I saw a Nazi symbol, but I do support the rebel spirit, and that's different. Without the rebel spirit, people can be herded around like sheep. And people aren't sheep, they're intelligent beings, and if they truly believe that they're right, they'll stand up for it. I'm a rebel, and always have been. And if you don't believe it, just wave at me and I'll smile and flash you a peace sign. Power to the people!

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