Is the confederate flag a racist symbol?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Is the confederate flag a racist symbol? (Page 1 of 5)

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:23:43 AM EDT

I very seldom watch any news because it is generally a waste of my time. This morning I happened to catch the tail end my local news, and the was the VP/General Manager of the station doing his editorial. Pissed me off enough to shoot an email to him. Here is his editorial and email adress if you would like to join in. I personally would not have vanity plates of any kind. What I am confused about is why this guy gets to use his position as a voicebox to viewers about what he thinks or his opinions. Just report the news. That seems to be a hard enough job for most.

[email protected]

Link

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:25:06 AM EDT

[#1]

No.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:25:12 AM EDT

[#2]

IBTL

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:25:51 AM EDT

[#3]

no... can we just move off the racism thing all together... they are the only ones bringing it up

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:26:31 AM EDT

[#4]

No, it isn't................ but that doesn't mean that some people won't use it for racist ends, or that others will agree. Particularly Yankees.

LC

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:27:10 AM EDT

[#5]

Only if you really want it to be one.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:27:21 AM EDT

[#6]

No. It's not.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:27:49 AM EDT

[#7]

Non inherently, but it has been adopted/hijacked by racist organizations and, through this association, has become viewed as a racist symbol by a good portion of the general public (possibly even the majority).

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:28:15 AM EDT

[#8]

No but the idiot leftists don't see it that way.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:28:57 AM EDT

[#9]

Blah, blah, blah, heritage!

Blah, blah, blah, slavery!

Blah, blah, blah, War of Northern Aggression!

Blah, blah, blah, Secession!

Blah, blah, blah, Racist!

There, that will cover just about any response that is going to follow.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:29:30 AM EDT

[#10]

There were slaves held under the Stars and Stripes. Does that make the US a racist flag.

Can you name me a country that has been around for more than 200 years that has not held slaves at one time? Are the flags of those countries all racist?

Is the Union Jack racist? The real racists are those who are looking for racism where it does not exist.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:30:46 AM EDT

[#11]

For some it is, for most it isn't.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:31:25 AM EDT

[#12]

no.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:33:15 AM EDT

[#13]

Well, to be honest, we do sort of use it as a guidepost here in Alabama.

Let's just say that if an establishment chooses to fly a gigantic Confederate battle flag on it's premises, they usually don't sell rims and Tyler Perry videos.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:35:09 AM EDT

[#14]

If the Confederate flag is racist, then the United States flag prior to ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 must also be "racist", since it represented a nation that legally allowed slavery.

Frankly, I find the 2008 Obama election logo to be "racist". It represents the greatest orgy of race-based voting that this nation has ever witnessed.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:35:10 AM EDT

[#15]

If the political symbol of an entity that based its economy on the owning of human beings should be bereft of emotional significance to the progeny of the formerly owned, can i display the Hakenkreuz around my house with impunity?

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:36:33 AM EDT

[#16]

I'm not racist and I have one. Of course some people promote a controversial image and others are just uber sensative about it all.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:37:19 AM EDT

[#17]

I'm not racist and I have one. Of course some people promote a controversial image and others are just uber sensative about it all.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:38:58 AM EDT

[#18]

No.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:39:10 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
If the political symbol of an entity that based its economy on the owning of human beings should be bereft of emotional significance to the progeny of the formerly owned, can i display the Hakenkreuz around my house with impunity?

Why should anyone be able to tell you what you can and can not display at your house? The swastika was used by many people and many cultures long before the nazis.

Navajo rug:

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:42:42 AM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
If the political symbol of an entity that based its economy on the owning of human beings should be bereft of emotional significance to the progeny of the formerly owned...

And how many generations should milk that "emotional significance" in the name of affirmative action and reparations? The people benefiting from these race-based special advantages were never slaves, and never knew any slaves. And the people paying for these advantages were never slave owners or benefited from slavery.

I never accepted that damages owed carry forward indefinitely to future generations, and can never be satisfied in full.

"Racial justice" is not about race or justice; it is about wealth and power.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:44:18 AM EDT

[#21]

It entirely depends on the usage.

Do I automatically think someone who is a CSA reenactor is a racist because he's running across a field with a battle flag? Nope,I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt as to having a- if perhaps biased and skewed to a degree - better working knowledge of history and reasons the flay existed than most.

Do I have suspect doubts about most people who casually display them in the South? Generally speaking ( and I am a native Georgian),I do tend to think that a person displaying a decal of one on the back of your truck raises the likelyhood that the displayer thinks of blacks as at bare minimum "Obama voting welfare trash"...unless that black person is a professional athlete and then any semblance racism disappears,which in my experience is the goddamdest thing in the world... However,I think most have them just for the hell of it. I'm kind of an asshole like this but if you want to trip on the "heritage not hate",at least know something about the War of Northern Aggression other than "we almost had 'em whooped".The average decal displayer knows jack shit about the actual lead up to the war or conflict itself but OTOH,the average Northerner who thinks that all Southerners are a bunch of racist hicks hardly has much handle on things either.

Is a Klansman or 88 holding a rebel flag holding a symbol of racism? Yes,they are displaying the flag not out of cultural practice or of any connection to the CSA but rather because they know it imparts a specific,emotional reaction

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:45:08 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:

Non inherently, but it has been adopted/hijacked by racist organizations and, through this association, has become viewed as a racist symbol by a good portion of the general public (possibly even the majority).

Pretty much sums it up.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:47:06 AM EDT

[#23]

It's only as racist as the liberals who use it to further their agendas make it.

Beyond that, the rest of us adults with a brain realize it's just a flag.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:49:09 AM EDT

[#24]

No. IBTL

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:49:14 AM EDT

[#25]

I think it depends on where you are. Here in the old confederate states people fly it to honor their home and ancestors, people in Ohio on the other hand. . .

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:49:31 AM EDT

[#26]

Wasn't it them people

that said "Every White Man should own at least one"

IBTL

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:49:46 AM EDT

[#27]

Yes....unfortunately, it has been hijacked to represent racism.

Many see it as the symbol of a government who went to war to preserve the institution of slavery

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:53:11 AM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
The real racists are those who are looking for racism where it does not exist.

Times 87 with 87 zeros after it.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:53:29 AM EDT

[#29]

Treasonous rather than racist.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:54:09 AM EDT

[#30]

No

My great-great grandfather. A poor farmer, not a slaveowner.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:54:40 AM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:
No.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:55:09 AM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:

Blah, blah, blah, heritage!

Blah, blah, blah, slavery!

Blah, blah, blah, War of Northern Aggression!

Blah, blah, blah, Secession!

Blah, blah, blah, Racist!

There, that will cover just about any response that is going to follow.

Well, that pretty much took care of everything I was going to say.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:56:22 AM EDT

[#33]

There's a reason every single white supremacist or white separatist hangs it along side Old Glory. And it ain't because they are liberal.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:56:40 AM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:
No

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c124/GAcop/IMG_0550.jpg

My great-great grandfather. A poor farmer, not a slaveowner.

My GGG Grandfather probably met your GGGrandfather. My GGG Grandfather was 41st GA.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:59:23 AM EDT

[#35]

Same topic, different design elements.

Red or Blue?
Orange or Green?
Cross or Crescent?

Which ones are offensive and why?

All of the above are inherently devoid of meaning. Meaning is imbued by the user/ beholder/proponent/detractor. Offense is in the eye of the beholder.

Is refusal to acknowledge this child like blind optimism or dark hearted intentional infliction of a thumb in the eye?

Not making a judgement. Just exploring the topic.

Posted: 9/20/2011 9:59:59 AM EDT

[#36]

Several years ago when there was a huge stink here in SC over the flag, a lot of attention was focused on Maurice Bessinger's BBQ restaurant in Columbia.

He flew the Confederate flag over his establishment, as well as distributing literature about how the South was right.

During that period I went to Columbia and decided to have lunch there to see for myself what the hype was about.

That's it - it was hype.

Sure, he had the flag and pro-Confederate literature. But as far as racism went, I saw plenty of black folks coming in for lunch and being treated with the same courtesy and respect as all other customers.

In the end, the flag is a symbol.

Who gets to define what a symbol stands for? The group that claims it as part of their heritage (like SCV), or their opposition?

Posted: 9/20/2011 10:00:00 AM EDT

[#37]

It depends on the context in which it is being displayed.

If used by the KKK or racist organization, then the answer is yes.

If carried by re-enactors or used for historical display, no it isn't.

It doesn't bother me to see re-enactors carrying the battle flag. It doesn't bother me to see it used as part of a historical exhibit or at a museum. It doesn't bother me if it is a historical flag in some collection. It would disturb me if a bunch of people march down the street waving it and shouting, "White Power!"

Posted: 9/20/2011 10:01:12 AM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:

Quoted:
If the political symbol of an entity that based its economy on the owning of human beings should be bereft of emotional significance to the progeny of the formerly owned...

And how many generations should milk that "emotional significance" in the name of affirmative action and reparations? The people benefiting from these race-based special advantages were never slaves, and never knew any slaves. And the people paying for these advantages were never slave owners or benefited from slavery.

I never accepted that damages owed carry forward indefinitely to future generations, and can never be satisfied in full.

"Racial justice" is not about race or justice; it is about wealth and power.

This is very very true.

Posted: 9/20/2011 10:02:02 AM EDT

[#39]

No its not. It represents a group of people separating
themselves from another group.

Posted: 9/20/2011 10:02:42 AM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:

Quoted:

No

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c124/GAcop/IMG_0550.jpg

My great-great grandfather. A poor farmer, not a slaveowner.

My GGG Grandfather probably met your GGGrandfather. My GGG Grandfather was 41st GA.

in a crazy thread we find a somber moment , nice

Posted: 9/20/2011 10:02:47 AM EDT

[#41]

No

And I'm a Yankee

Posted: 9/20/2011 10:03:48 AM EDT

[#42]

No.

Posted: 9/20/2011 10:05:05 AM EDT

[#43]

What it is, and what it's perceived as are two different things. Arfcom doesn't ever seem to understand this.

Posted: 9/20/2011 10:07:19 AM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:
What it is, and what it's perceived as trying to be twisted into are two different things. Arfcom does n't ever seem to understand this.

Fixed it

Posted: 9/20/2011 10:08:17 AM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:
What it is, and what it's perceived as are two different things. Arfcom doesn't ever seem to understand this.

More like most folks refuse to play thier silly ass games.

Posted: 9/20/2011 10:10:33 AM EDT

[#46]

Quoted:
If the Confederate flag is racist, then the United States flag prior to ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 must also be "racist", since it represented a nation that legally allowed slavery.

Frankly, I find the 2008 Obama election logo to be "racist". It represents the greatest orgy of race-based voting that this nation has ever witnessed.

One your first sentence, good point, I had never heard that.

On your second sentence, I always thought the Obama symbol looked like the new Pepsi symbol. Conspiracy?

Posted: 9/20/2011 10:11:31 AM EDT

[#47]

Quoted:
There were slaves held under the Stars and Stripes. Does that make the US a racist flag.

Can you name me a country that has been around for more than 200 years that has not held slaves at one time? Are the flags of those countries all racist?

Is the Union Jack racist? The real racists are those who are looking for racism where it does not exist.

Yes under the stars and stripes slaves were held. The biggest difference is that the flags of the confederacy represented the effort to RETAIN slavery. Call it states rights or whatever you want, slavery was at the core for the Confederate government and the reason for secession. Were there honorable men who simply fought for the honor of their state? Undoubtedly. Were there men who fought the Yankees because "they're here"? I'm sure there was a lot of that too. But at the end of the day, the flags were the symbols of the government.