[wmzeto]

"It's been used in racist ways, but no symbol has one meaning," said John Coski, author of the book "The Confederate Battle Flag – America's Most Embattled Emblem" and a historian at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va.


Someone was saying this here recently about the swastika, and the article goes on to discuss it.

Personally, I can't comment on what the flag means to people, nor why people are flying it.

[squicscor]

The South has little to be proud of. The South, born out of greed, was able to create a society based around racism that was pwnd by the North, managed to culturally assimilate the North, and has been able to take the United States from the heigths of superpower status to that of a declining power.

Perhaps the Chinese should be flying the Confederate flag.

[maclaudser]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
The South has little to be proud of. Says the Utah native.

[bubborn]

I don't know about him, but I don't. More correctly, they should be allowed to.

[Clolmemaexata]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
I don't know about him, but I don't. More correctly, they should be allowed to.
Just because you would allow them to do so on the principle of freedom of speech, does not mean you would morally agree with such display.

So let me rephrase my question: Would you find it morally agreeable with others' proudly displaying the Confederate flag, or the swatiska?

[Oppofeescom]

I suppose I don't really see the point of this thread.

[Evoncalabbalo]

The South has been fairly constant in this regard.

Um, no. I've lived south of the Mason-Dixon line my entire life until a month or two ago, and that's just not true. Racism everywhere is waning, and among our generation it's virtually nonexistant.

[Apparpsmose]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
The South has little to be proud of. The South, born out of greed, was able to create a society based around racism that was pwnd by the North, managed to culturally assimilate the North, and has been able to take the United States from the heigths of superpower status to that of a declining power.

Perhaps the Chinese should be flying the Confederate flag.
This is so full of ignorance I wouldn't know where to begin, Tass.
The things you say, are a perfect example of things you condemn.

[deandrecooke]

Originally posted by SlowwHand



This is so full of ignorance I wouldn't know where to begin, Tass.
The things you say, are a perfect example of things you condemn. The difference is that my position is backed up by logic and reason, which is far more than I can ever say for Southern White-Supremacist culture.

[zilsolley3]

Racism everywhere is waning, and among our generation it's virtually nonexistant. Should I die out of laughter or shame?

[VovTortki]

From my own personal experience the confederate flag represents a person's own enjoyment and respect of the sout and not racism or slavery. But either way they should be allowed to show it.

[zoppiklonikaa]

I notice in the picture in the linked article, someone is illegally displaying the Confederate battle flag at the same height as the American flag. Only the flags of other countries may be displayed at the same hieght as the U.S. flag. All others must be flown below it. The Confederate battle flag is not, and has never been, the flag of another country. The Confederate flag was different.

[Nikkkola]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Racism everywhere is waning, and among our generation it's virtually nonexistant. We had a group visiting my workplace from Georgia not long ago. There were even numbers of blacks and whites.

A handful of the whites approached one of our waitresses, and asked "We would much prefer it if you could seat us apart, by color".


The waitress almost lost it.

[durootrium]

The Bonnie Blue

When Florida was returned to the Spanish Empire, West Florida rebelled and proclaimed itself the Republic of West Florida. Soon after it was annexed by the United States and incorporated into Lousianna, Mississippi, and Alabama. When the Confederacy formed, they had no flag for the first three and a half weeks, so this flag was used by default in those three states, and was used throughout the war.

The Stars and Bars

This was the first national flag (with various modifications for when states joined the Confederacy--including some that had stars for regions they hoped to conquer). This flag was abandoned because it resembed the Union flag too closely.

The Stainless Banner

This flag was abandoned because it was too easily mistaken as a flag of surrender due to the large white field. It was modified with a large red bar for the final version of the Confederate Flag.

3rd Banner

[Styparty]

Same.

[Shark&Nike]

What we think of as the traditional Confederate flag was actually a modification of the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, which was basically the red and blue cross with stars you see in the 2nd and 3rd Confederate national flags. The 1st national flag was too hard to distinguish from the Union flag. In the latter part of the 19th Century, Confederate veterans began organizing erunions and flew the what is today called the Confederate flag. When the Klan was reborn in1915, they adopted this flag. In the 1950s, states began flying these flags to symbolize their opposition to Federal attempts at desegragation. In the 1970s, it became associated with Southern outlaw culture, and then white outlaw culture in general. It is not, and has never been, a symbol of Southern culture generally.

[patrycjakolekk]

You take US history in high school?

[Fuerfsanv]

Perhaps a scenario a European might recognise more:

Would it be more offensive if a Jew asked to sit away from Germans, or if a German asked to sit away from Jews?

[Podosinovik]

I'm sorry Winston, I didn't say anything of the sort. I find racism, in either direction, to be deplorable. We should attempt to get to a point where the colour of a persons skin doesn't matter at all.
However, I can understand why blacks might be somewhat irate that they were subjugated and exploited in the manner that they were at the hands of, again, state-sponsored white supremacy. Thus, my emotional reaction to blacks asking to be sat apart is perhaps somewhat less negative than that of whites, because whites had and continue to have a history of racism when it comes to groups they don't consider "white" enough.

My example was an attempt to illustrate the situation for you in terms you may relate to more.

[carinsurancess]

The poor whites So oppressed. Just like teh Christians