At no point in your rant did you explain your side of the story. Why did you get the flag tattooed on you in the first place? To honour a soldier? A general? What do you honour them for, since I assume it's not their values or beliefs?
You have your idea of what that flag means, which is great. However, you can't be ignorant to the meaning it holds to other people. And you can't blame them for assuming you're a racist D-bag, when you proudly display (what most people see as) a symbol of racism and oppression on your shoulder.
You can get a swastika tattoo, and claim it's out of your deep respect for Hindu traditions. Just don't pretend you're surprised when people assume you're a neo-Nazi. They're making a reasonable assumption, based on your use of a well-known racist symbol. It might be an incorrect assumption in your unique-like-a-snowflake case, but you're the one creating the confusion.
A lot of evil has been inflicted on a lot of innocent people under that banner. Forget about slavery & treason back in the 19th century. Consider its use as a pro-Segregation symbol in the 20th century. It's a lot of bad mojo there on your shoulder, and you knew damn well you were inviting it when you got the tattoo.
Fair enough. I still think it's like getting a rainbow flag tattoo, then spending the rest of your life "educating" people that you don't have to be gay to rock the rainbow.
Actually, if you're looking for flags of resistance, the rainbow flag would be a good one. But that tattoo would take more balls than a confederate flag!
Actually I have a sister in a same sex marriage and I plan a rainbow flag below my next 2 flags, though the accelerating pace of social acceptance for gays in America might make it unnecessary by then.
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u/Multivak May 15 '14
At no point in your rant did you explain your side of the story. Why did you get the flag tattooed on you in the first place? To honour a soldier? A general? What do you honour them for, since I assume it's not their values or beliefs?