Confederate Flag Flap

　　For many Americans, the South's Confederate Flag is an emblem of culture and heritage, a reminder of the Rebel troops who defended the South in the American Civil War.

　　But for others, the flag is better known as the "Confederate Swastika," a symbol of racism and hatred that has no place flying in public buildings and spaces. 　
Confederate Flag
　
Georgia state flag
　
Mississippi state flag 　摇摇欲坠的邦联之旗

　　　　　翻译：Bull


　　对于许多美国人来说，南方邦联旗帜是一种文明和遗产的象征，是在美国内战中保卫南方的“叛军”留下的纪念品。 　

　 　 但是对另外一些人来说，说它是“邦联十字旗”更好一些，它是种族歧视和仇恨的标志，本不应该在公共建筑和公众空间飘扬。

　　"Just as Jews hate the Nazi symbol, we hate the Confederate symbol," said Walter Butler of the NAACP. 　　全美有色人种协进会 (NAACP)的华特·巴特勒说：“我们痛恨邦联的标志，这就象犹太人痛恨纳粹标志一样。”

　　Fresh off a victory in South Carolina — where the Confederate flag was removed from the top of the state Capitol and moved out front on July 1 — the NAACP and a coalition of civil rights groups are now targeting all state-sponsored displays of the flag. 　　(NAACP) 和一个公民权利联合团体刚刚在南卡罗莱纳取得了胜利，7月1日，邦联旗已经从州议会大厦楼顶撤下并被带走。现在，他们的目标是所有在州政府支持下悬挂的邦联旗。

　　Top on their hit list is the Georgia state flag, which features the Confederate battle emblem. The Georgia flag, in fact, is causing such a fury that the National Collegiate Athletic Association has become involved. 　　他们的黑名单上首当其冲的是乔治亚州旗，那上面有邦联战旗徽记。实际上，乔治亚州旗在国内激起了广泛的愤怒，连全美大学生体育协会 （NCAA)也是其反对者之一。

　　The Final Four games in the men's college basketball championship are set to be held in Georgia in 2002, but Martin Luther King III of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference has sent a letter to the NCAA requesting the tournament be moved out of the state unless the Confederate emblem is removed from the state flag. 　　2002年大学生男子篮球赛的最后四轮比赛安排在乔治亚州举行，但是南方基督教领导大会的马丁·路德·金三世已经致信NCAA要求将比赛安排在乔治亚州之外举行，除非乔治亚州将邦联徽记从州旗上去掉。

　　"We're going to do everything within our power to get it removed," Butler said. "We're going to petition the General Assembly to get it removed. If that doesn't work, then we're going to try other methods," he said. 　　巴特勒说：“我们会在我们的权利范围内采取一切手段去掉这一徽记。我们会向州议会请愿。如果这不起作用，我们尝试采取其他方式。”

　　Georgia, however, is not alone. The NAACP opposes all government-sponsored displays of any Confederate emblem, like courthouse symbols and the Mississippi state flag. 　　然而乔治亚并非全美有色人种协进会的唯一目标。NAACP 反对所有在州政府支持下悬挂的任何邦联徽记。例如法院的标志和密西西比州旗。

　　The protests are not being well received in Dixie, where southerners say the NAACP is trying to rob the region of its history. 　　这些抗议在南方并未被广泛接受，南方人说NAACP 是想掠夺南方在历史上拥有的地区。

　　"The NAACP continues to scare people," said Alan Trapp, Jr., of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans. "The NAACP has to justify its salary by getting people upset over something. The new bogey man is the Confederate flag," Trapp said. 　　南部联盟士兵遗孤组织 的小查普说：“NCCAP 不断地威吓人们。他们必须让人们去推翻某些东西，因为只有这样才能证明他们没有白拿薪水。新的妖魔就是邦联旗。”

　　Trapp said the Confederate flag represents the courage of his ancestors, who fought and died at the hands of the Union Army. 　　查普说，邦联旗象征着他的祖先的勇气，他们英勇奋战，最终死于联邦军队之手。

　　"When we stop honoring those Confederate veterans, we are forgetting things like devotion to duty and honor," he said. "I think we are forgetting that they fought for their sacred right of self-governance," Trapp said. 　　查普说：“如果我们不再尊敬这些邦联老兵，我们会忘记诸如为责任和荣誉而献身这类事情。我认为我们正在忘却他们曾为神圣的自治权而战斗过。”

　　But the Confederate soldiers were also fighting for their right to own slaves. 　　然而，邦联战士也在为他们拥有奴隶的权利而战斗。

　　"We were brought here in chains. We had no rights," Butler said. "The war was about owning slaves," he said. 　　巴特勒说：“我们戴着锁链来到这里。我们没有权利。”他认为“那是一场关于蓄奴的战争。”

　　Georgia's state Legislature is expected to address the issue in January. For now, other state flags do not appear to be stirring up controversy, but the battle lines in this war of ideas have been dug deep — almost as deep as the scars left behind on all sides from one of the nation's most painful episodes. 　　人们期待乔治亚州法院能在一月份公布结果。目前其他州的州旗看来并没有激起争论的迹象，但是在这场观念的战争中，已经战壕深筑——这种分歧几乎和这个国家最痛苦的事件之一美国内战所留下的伤痕一样深。