Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 56 replies, 55 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 7 months ago by
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I live here in South Carolina where the battle flag has been in the news for years. Sure it can be seen as a racist symbol, so can the label on the Snapple Tea bottle, where a ship is said to be a slave ship, the Circle K stores, which are said, by many blacks, to be owned by the KKK. Black people look at the Stars And Bars and think of slavery. They look at labels on bottles and the names of stores the same way.
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Name : William24314, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 39, City : Columbia, State : SC, Country : United States, Occupation : Sales, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class,I would like to know why people still display the Confederate Flag. For example, I see it frequently on license plates. I think it is racist and a symbol of a very shameful and horrific time in our country’s history. I am curious about whether it is displayed as a racist symbol or as some form of Southern heritage and pride. I find it offensive and feel there are more appropriate ways of expressing pride in being from the South. So, do most people do this as a form of racism?
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Name : michelle, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 25, City : Kansas City, State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : sales, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Though I am from the north, I have many friends who are from the south, many of which take a great deal of pride in the Confederate Flag. They are not racist and take pride in the Confederate Flag becasue it’s a symbol of the history of the area. As for the typical liberal views of racism you can add the Confederate Flag to a list that includes other national horrors, such as the pledge of allegiance. Racism is a terrible thing, just a little less terrible then an over liberal view that can put a racist twist on just about anything.
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Name : Mark, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 42, City : Hartford, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : Police Officer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,many, particularly from the south, view the civil war as the hegemonic conquest of federalism and industrial concerns over the state-based libertarian autonomy prescribed in the constitution and agricultural concerns rather than simply a moral crusade by the ‘enlightened’ north to free the slaves. indeed it was probably a mixture of both. the north did have these motives as is apparent when examining the rhetoric euphamised as ‘preserving the union’, and the south came out of the war looking pretty third-world until the 70’s. advocates of southern pride offer proof that the north was no more progressive than the south in terms of race and that slavery would’ve been abolished in the south in short order had states been left to operate autonimously, but that is of course speculation. but to slander all southerners as racist as if northerners are somehow not is just wrong. for a southerner, watching the mainstream media must be a never ending string of insults as anytime someone needs to be portrayed as stupid, inbred, violent or most of all racist, they are portrayed as a southerner. and this is coming from somebody raised in connecticut. that the confederate flag can be applied as a racist symbol is evident in the way that many states only started flying it as protest to the civil rights movement, but that is not why most southerners fly it.
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Name : justin27081, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, City : chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I not only consider it racist, I consider it treasonous. After all, it is the flag of those who wanted to seceed from the US. But I am both Black and not from the South, so maybe I have more emotional reasons to view the flag with disgust than do some others.
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Name : Wayne-C24374, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 41, City : Parsippany, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : marketing, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Michelle, have you ever been in the south? It’s a lot different than anywhere else in the US. People are a heck of a lot friendlier than anywhere else I’ve been to in the US and there is a ton of ‘southern pride’. The Confederate flag does NOT represent slavery or racism in any way. Many young men gave their lives for that flag in the Civil War. In my opinion it should be flown next to the stars and stripes in EVERY state.
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Name : Marie22244, City : Philadelphia, State : PA, Country : United States,Unfortunately it is a given that many of the people who display the Confederate Flag are racist. I personally grew up in a racist little redneck town in rural pennsylvania. You must remember though that not all these flag owners are racist. I’ve learned through my small town experience that some of these people simply believe in a state’s rights. Many people are also fascinated with the history that is the civil war, and display the flags as a representation of their hobby. Slavery wasn’t even the biggest issue in the war, the main cause in fact was the battle for power between state and federal governments. General James Longstreet of the Confederacy was once quoted as saying ‘we should have freed the slaves before we ever fired on Sumpter.’
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Name : Tom Allen, City : Rochester, State : NY, Country : United States,what you are observing is a very interesting example of ahistoricity–many people in the south have tried to reclaim the ‘stars and bars’ as a symbol of regional pride, and make the claim that it is not intrinsically racist; however, historical documents from the civil war prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a belief in the right to own slaves was a key tenet of the secessionist movement. one doesn’t have to fly a confederate flag to show pride in one’s southern roots, but i think many people who fly that flag, unconsciously or not, are trying to show pride in something else. it is a very emotional issue for many people, and as long as people are unwilling to scrutinize their own history, one unlikely to be resolved any time soon.
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Name : jim30697, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : prefer, Religion : Buddhist, Age : 37`, City : seattle, State : WA, Country : United States, Occupation : writer/musician, Social class : Lower middle class,I believe that if one is from the South and his/her ancestors had participated in the Civil War on the side of the Confederates then I don’t believe it would be inappropriate. But if one is using the flag as a symbol of white pride than I think it is inappropriate. I find it humorous finding the flag displayed in ‘Union’ states. Displaying the Confederate flag on governmental buidlings does not make much sense either because it is paying homage to a treasoness government. The flag that most people recognize as the Confederate flag was actually a naval flag of the Confederacy.
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Name : kip, City : champaign, State : IL, Country : United States,I think it is possible to sport a rebel flag and not be a racist. I’ve known many who said it had to do with history, Southern Heritage, and the failed-attempt at secession that they claim was centered around state’s rights and independence from the Federal Gov’t. Certainly such concepts are valid given the scary reasons-for-serious-concern manuevers of the so-called Patriot Act these days. However, the Stars & Bars certainly have immense emotional and historical baggage attached to it. I don’t think it is 100% about slavery because Lincoln told them they could keep their slaves (I believe he might have even offered to amend the Constitution to make it permanent and irrevocable) if they calmed down, and they went to war anyways. However, Slavery was certainly a central issue, which was why in the closing days when they offered slaves freedom in exchange for going Grey, the slaves said ‘Screw you, we’re just going to sit here and wait for General Sherman to show up.’ This is not to mention the slaves that set off to join the North. It is also true that it is an oft-used symbol by white supremacist groups, most noticably the KKK and to some extent Neo-Nazis and others. However, most Southrons I’ve known who are into the Rebel Flag cannot stand them, and resent the fact that they’ve hijacked it to further their disgusting agendas. In the end, it depends on the person. If you see somebody that has a rebel flag on their truck or on their t-shirt, hold back judgement until you find out what they’re like. If they’re a racist then they’re a racist, and would be just as much of one if they had Old Glory on their truck.
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Name : Dan27355, Gender : M, Race : Chicano, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 24, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Well, I’m from Tennessee and I have grown up on miltitary bases. Being in this type of community I was hardly exposed to any type of racism. Because of my situation I can honestly say that the Confederate flag is a wonderful symbol of heritage. It represents the struggle of the Southern States to aquire freedom. Of course, this struggle began when Abraham Lincoln was elected president and the argument that developed was regarding slavery but the flag existed to represent the southern states. I can understand how it can be seen as offensive but I think the majority of people today use it to represent their heritage.
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Name : Janel20958, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 19, City : Nashville, State : TN, Country : United States, Occupation : College Student, Social class : Middle class,The bars on the confederate flag represent the cross, as a symbol of their religious belief. Who are we to judge them anyway. The southern homes were burned to the ground. Is that not bad enough? Now they get to be called racist? How do you know they were racist? They more worried about survival than disliking black people. Watch Gone With the Wind. The Civil War was not fought over racism, and only people can be racist.Not a flag. People need to read more about our history and stop being so ignorant as to think of the confederate flag as being racist. If that is the case everything is racist.
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Name : Cootie-Brown32021, City : East Point, State : GA, Country : United States,I live in the south and I see it everywhere, especially in school. They say it’s southern pride, but it offends me. I don’t see how someone could be proud of something so low.
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Name : Brandy19408, City : lexington, State : KY, Country : United States,Personally, I display a Gadsden flag on my wall. It’s a historical flag, and that’s it. I had a history teacher in high school who used to take my class to Civil War re-enactments, and I had this same conversation with one of the Confederate re-enactors. He said that if you accept that the war was over slavery, that you could see it that way. Those who display a Confederate flag, at least, those who are educated, are displaying it in, as Dr. Walter E. Williams said, an effort to draw attention to the shredding of the ninth amendment of the Constitution. Of course, I can’t speak for the uneducated.
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Name : Matt22021, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 21, City : Topeka, State : KS, Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Like you I find it offensive but I have asked some people why they display the flag and they say it is expressing pride for the other things that they accomplished other than racisim.
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Name : Maggie, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 20, City : Houston, State : TX, Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,
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