Old Glory and Racism

A group of college professors and students have signed a petition to remove the American Flag from their campus because it represents racism (Fox News).  As I read that first line on a news feed I was shocked at first, and then I read the article and I was angry.  We live in a country where people seem to have forgotten a lot about that American Flag, or Old Glory as some call her.

First off, I will admit the flag has been flown in some situations that are outright racist.  It was flown against Native Americans when our army slaughtered many of them for no reason other than to take their land, it was flown for many years over our country when we approved slavery, and it has been flown by some men and women at events meant to be racist in their very nature.  But, the choices of those individuals do not represent the whole of what this flag has represented and what it continues to represent.

1.  It represents a nation whose army marched into Little Rock, Arkansas to force segregation and protect school children trying attend public school.

2.  It represents a nation that wrote the Civil Rights laws and has upheld them since the 1960s in federal courts.

3.  It represents a nation where tax dollars are used for higher education (like that at the University of California) to pay for those regardless of ethnic backgrounds who can not afford to pay.

4.  It represents a nation that ripped across Europe against the Nazi powers to stop oppression and destruction of those viewed as not Aryan.

5.  It represents a nation that admitted the first African-American soldiers into the United States Army.

6.  It represents and flew for freedom after the historic proclamation freeing all slaves in America and then carried the blood of those supporters.

Yes, I was angry when I read the article, I was offended, and I was outright upset.  Take away the protections that the American Flag has stood for, and those same professors might find themselves without a job and perhaps without many of the freedoms they currently enjoy.  Yes, our flag has been misused, but a symbol of racism?  I dare think that if the men below were still alive today, those professors would not be nearly so bold:

Recruiting poster: http://civil-war-info.weebly.com/uploads/6/1/6/2/6162303/1300825024.jpg

Why I'm Giving Up on the Save Dallas Campaign

I'm giving up on the "Save Dallas" Campaign that is targeting networks in an attempt to gain a season 4 for the series.  As most people know, Dallas was cancelled by TNT back in October.  It was crappy the way they did it, but it was done nonetheless.  TNT had put out a poll asking viewers what they wanted to see in season 4, they ended season 3 on a cliffhanger - several actually- and they had a cast and crew working in the Dallas (you know, the city) area.  After all that, "Boom", they dropped the bomb and said Dallas was cancelled and would not be renewed. 

Most of the time when television series are ended, people get upset, but they go on with life.  You have a few people who will write the network and complain, but for the most part people go on about life.  This didn't happen when Dallas ended.  A petition went up, Facebook post started, and famous hastags (#SaveDallas, #SaveDallasTNT, or even #SaveDallas2015) started going all over Tweeter and other sites.  Heck, I wrote two articles about the drive and saw a huge spike in readers (thank you by the way!).  Then NetFlix got seasons 1-3.  There were rumors that they, NetFlix, might pick up the show in January and run it as a web based television show....now there was a historic opportunity that I thought they would take.  I really thought that NetFlix would realize that they could get more viewers and be one of the first streaming networks to take a popular show from network television and put it on demand.  I thought they will take a show that has been popular on two networks (CBS and TNT), transform major actors and actresses into streaming television, and move a major nighttime soap (or as TNT put it "Drama") into the world of the Internet streaming shows.....Apparently they didn't take the opportunity to make history.

While Netflix didn't take the opportunity, nobody else did either.  We have now gone since October 2014 without one positive word on a season 4.  Five months of no word is simply not good.  It now is becoming apparent to me that we will not season 4 anytime.  Sadly, I feel like it's time we hang up the "Save Dallas" campaign and move on.  A lot of my friends will disagree, and I'm glad because in truth, I'd still like to see season 4.  Maybe the Netflix folks will read my little blog and say, "Hey, this guy is right...we could make history!"  There's always a chance.  But in truth, I'm skeptical.  I really figure we'll never see a reunion show, or another series again.  If you're wondering why I'm skeptical, here's a list:

1.  We only had 3 seasons of Dallas before TNT dropped the bomb.  Not a good run to promote a reunion or even television movie.

2.  J.R. is dead.  Think about all the reunion movies...they were all centered around J.R. doing something.  He's gone, it's over, and what are they going to do now?  We did not have long enough for John Ross or any of the new characters to truly develop potential and the old characters aren't getting any younger (sorry guys).  

3.  It's been five months.  The longer it goes, the less likely the chances of salvation for the show.

4.  Face it, a quick read on Tweeter and search and you'll find a lot of the hastags are starting to disappear.  That's right, people aren't posting as much.

5.  The Save Dallas Campaign only has a little over 89,000 signatures.  In the TV world, that's not a lot (Save Dallas)

6.  The producers, who know TV way better than most of us, gave up back in November (Gave Up)

Now, all this being said and before I'm bashed for giving up, I'd like everyone to keep in mind J.R. would have always wanted TNT to think they won..... (Dallas Quotes)