Do you find the Confederate Flag offensive?

[CommanderKirov]

Good ol' south you say?

Take us away Tom!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra3qnLXmJDM

 

[ThatDaveDude1]

Not at all. I find the American flag to have much more hatred and violence behind it, actually.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Not really. Its a flag, and no flag really offends me. Besides, its not the only Confederate Flag. I more associate
<spoiler=this flag>http://www.world-free-printable-flags.com/images/bonnie-blue-rebel-flag.gif

Then any other flag, just cause that was the first flag I was introduced too.

 

[Giest4life]

Yes.

You might wanna change your answer, there. The mods here don't like your kind--the kind that posts one word replies.


And....

No, I don't. I don't believe the past has any role in the present.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Nope. That'd be like being offended of any symbol from an era where things weren't as they are now. Slavery was the norm for a long time before that.

 

[Merkavar]

i dont find it offensive but i can see how people could. its a symbol used by people of the south to promote rasism, slavery, white power and all that sort of stuff.

 

[clicketycrack]

I am a white guy on the verge of moving to Georgia so...

Don't do it! It's all the heat and humidity of Florida without the beaches and regular rain.
Anyway, I can understand it being used as a sign for something historical, if you're into that. Really though, it is much more commonly used by people who only understand that they live in an area that once went to war with someone else, lost, and must therefor yell about the confederacy risin' again and so on and so forth. Personally, I think it stands more for southern culture, a culture that died out quite a while back,but I like the design, so I keep a flag in my closet.
One more thing: what's all this talk about Kentucky? It was never even an official member of the Confederacy.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

Interestingly enough, Lincoln was also of the mindset of fixing the issue by simply deporting all the blacks back to Africa, or where ever else the European slavers got them from.

Weren't they sold to the slavers by other Africans? I can see a lot of trouble coming from deportation, though that's getting off topic.

OT: I wouldn't say I find it offensive, but I don't think I'd be very impressed if I saw someone just flying it, or for that matter any flag.

 

[velcrokidneyz]

I don't believe so, I think it stands for more than racism, it is representative of pride and independence.

 

[Grond Strong]

A flag is a flag and is seen however the person looking at it determines it to stand for. At the root, a flag is nothing more than a symbol with colors.

This is doesn't mean it isn't dangerous though. Some things due to their nature are more controversial than others because of the discretion people judge it with themselves. I see the confederate flag as a past symbol to unite the states that split from the north over the issue of slavery amongst other things. I wouldn't wave it, but I don't care if others do. Technically, one is free to do display whatever flag they desire in this country. I might not find waving a confederate flag in certain areas tasteful, but that doesn't negate their right to do such.

Now, I believe that the confederate flag represents the current southern pride and heritage rather than the awful acts of slavery committed about 150 years ago. I doubt that most of the people who display this particular design still justify those crimes. Some people are still sore though. It's a shame we have this dispute altogether.

 

[WanderingFool]

Oh damn... where is it?

*searching*
...
*searching*
...
*searching*
...
*searching*

AH HA!!! FOUND IT!


Only good thing, IMO, about keeping the confederate flag alive...

 

[CRAVE CASE 55]

I am a white guy on the verge of moving to Georgia so...

Don't do it! It's all the heat and humidity of Florida without the beaches and regular rain.
Anyway, I can understand it being used as a sign for something historical, if you're into that. Really though, it is much more commonly used by people who only understand that they live in an area that once went to war with someone else, lost, and must therefor yell about the confederacy risin' again and so on and so forth. Personally, I think it stands more for southern culture, a culture that died out quite a while back,but I like the design, so I keep a flag in my closet.
One more thing: what's all this talk about Kentucky? It was never even an official member of the Confederacy.

No but it was a southern slave state so alot of men on that state went either way to enlist since it was a border state

 

[silverleaf81]

I do find it offensive, but what the hell do i know?

 

[EvilPicnic]

There are many great things to celebrate about Southern culture and history. And there are many other ways to celebrate it than flying a flag which is the symbol of, and strongly associated with, the oppression of one group of people by another.

 

[WrcklessIntent]

Honestly yea I do think its offensive. You might not believe in racism but that flag practically stands for racism in America. Even if you don't see it as such other people will look at it and think almost instantly of a white southerner with black slaves. Its ok to be proud of your heritage but some things you have to realize don't really symbolize what you think they do.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Fun fact: Not everyone in the south was a racist hick back in the day.

True, but in order to be in the Confederacy you had to be a slave state, and as such support slavery and the behavior that goes with it. I am from Indiana, I can literally see Kentucky from the windows of my school, and these stupid flags are everywhere and no one seems to know that it does, in fact, show a belief in the subjugation of African Americans.

Fun fact: Kentucky sided with the Union in the Civil War.
OP: It isn't racist. It represents the fight for States' Rights. Which is what the Civil War was fought over.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Maybe it just means the owner really like The Dukes of Hazzard.

EDIT: Ninja'd... so very ninja'd...

EDIT the EDIT: also, there is a very good chance that there are some people in the world that wouldn't exactly consider the American flag to be a welcome sight in their country either.

 

[KingmanHighborn]

I think it's a symbol of a past time where hatred was rampant, and this can be misconstrued as offensive. It's part of America's history, it's not a racial slur.

No more, if not less then the sixties and seventies when African Americans have freedom. What a lot of people don't know is slaves were often treated better then most free people of the time. Not every white southerner owned a plantation. In fact there is a term called 'indentured servant' where a man had to work in often horrible conditions to pay off his debts, couldn't leave his place of work, and could be arrested or worse happen to them, and unlike slaves they weren't required to be feed or given adequate medical care and housing.

[/quote]Hate. What pride is there in losing a war over an evil cause?[/quote]

What about pride in losing a war where invaders attacked and burned, raped and pillaged without mercy killing whites and blacks alike? What about pride in fighting to keep someone from taxing you, and destroying your way of life in a chokehold of forced industrilization?

Why does everyone think the civil war was just about slavery? Abraham Lincoln didn't declare that they were fighting against slavery until well into the war. In fact, he said that the south could keep their slaves should they rejoin the union.

The civil war was not "PRO vs ANTI slavery" it was about the unfair treatment of the federal and state courts in the south. They were not given a voice in government. This, prohabition, and the election of Abraham Lincoln (Who was a great president, but the south practically had ZERO say in his election.)Slavery was wrong, but the confederate flag is NOT a pro-slavery symbol! The south was treated unfairly, they rebelled. Slavery WAS an issue that helped fuel the tensions between the North and South but it was NOT the basis of the war.

That being said: Slavery is terrible. Rebelling against oppression is not. It's a double edged sword. It depends on the person flying the flag. Hell, Thor's symbol used to be a swatstika.

Even though I think Lincoln and Grant could both burn in hell for all I care, your absolutly right on with your post. In fact Lincoln's own wife owned slaves and kept them until AFTER the war was over. Not to mention the North practiced slavery as well, they just cleverly worded the terms differently. After all at least southerners had to buy slaves. The north just took people off the boats and shoved them into industrial slums or 'drafted' them into the army to fight in the war without thier say or prior knowing. In addition to that when blacks served in the Union army, Union generals often thought of them as just bodies to absorb Confederate bullets, and nothing more. Thier role was to take the first volley's of fire so white troops didn't get hit as soon.

Yes, it represents a nation that upheld several immoral values.......since I've been to the South, and there are some people who are quite kind, but I can't respect or express anything but contempt for the Confederacy, though I understand that their reasons for succession were more complicated than just slavery,

No more or less then the union. Take away slavery, and the values are family, life, and being able to own properity that couldn't be taken away without compensation. And while I'm sure there are some northerners that are nice, I have spent time in Philly and there wasn't a kind word or person to be found, it's just violence, and filth there. Dayton, Ohio where I spent time at the Air Force base with my service in Civil Air Patrol was pleasent though.