And the n-word is just a noise. Be realistic. If organised colours on cloth can signify a nationality, a flag can also signify racism and violence. And it indeed does. I think you have a very unrealistic idea of what racism involves. The morals which led to slavery in the Southern US are not dead, though they are milder. It's not idiocy, it's hatred and violence and you mustn't ignore or downplay that. Racism isn't limited to the KKK or a bunch of old whites in the minority.
The civil war was fought over states rights not slavery. As a citizen of the south I can tell you that the confederate flag is not racist in and of itself.
I can understand where they're coming from, not just because of the Confederacy's history with slavery. White supremacy groups like the KKK used it as a symbol of "white power," and they still use it to this day. Of course, if a non-racist wants to use it, that's fine by me. I'm sticking to my peaches. ---------- Post added 7th Jun 2014 at 07:04 PM ---------- Thanks for correcting me.
My dad uses the same arguement. He also believes we all should team up and rage another civil war against all non-southern states. While I'm all for state's rights, I think this is a pretty lame excuse to justify the Confederacy.
whenever I see a confederate flag I instantly think racist. Honestly, it's not southern pride, and how is that something to be proud of? The only reason it existed is slavery. It has no connotation now because it's not a separate country. So, they're all racists to me.
Mississippi still has it on their flag: In my hometown, you'd think you were in Mississippi. There are so many people who fly them on the backs of their pickup trucks and have the "Don't Tread Upon Me" flag in their front yard. A lot of them also throw around a word that starts with N.
As a person in the south I don't get southern pride like Duck Dynasty comes on while I'm getting tires changed and it's like, damn i fucked up, we fucked up guys, I'm sorry....
As a Texan, I do find the Confederate flag racist. The whole "Southern Pride" excuse is a load of crap. There are several different ways to express Southern pride besides waving around a highly offensive flag with a history that us southerners should be embarrassed about.
Southerners fly it as a way of show pride for their heritage, and for their ancestors who died fighting for what they believed in. I wasn't born or raised in the south, but I've lived in southern GA for some time now. MOST southerners don't idolize the flag for its ties to slavery and oppression. In fact, MOST southerners recognize the fact that what their ancestors fought for was inherently wrong. But they recognize the confederate flag as a symbol of their heritage. But to me, personally, it is a symbol of terrorism. It is a symbol of disunity, it is a symbol of unequality, and it is a symbol of hatred. To me, "righteous" as their efforts may have been, the confederacy's goal was to break America. Their actions threatened to tear apart the nation. That is not something I would be proud of, regardless of whether or not my ancestry was intertwined in it. Not to come off as harsh, but you don't see folks flying Nazi flags to honor their ancestors who fought under Hitler's regime. And when I see my stupid, stupid classmates hanging a giant confederate flag out of their car window as they cruise through the student parking lot, I don't doubt that they're using it as a symbol of racism.
I like the "Don't tread on me" flag, but the stars n' bars is a little racist. It's fine to be proud of the south, but it's like Germans flying swastikas in an effort to show national pride. And you'd better believe they would prefer to leave the Nazi parts out if they could. It's about time we distance ourselves from the Confederacy as it was.
Ditto. At least in Houston, it's not that bad. We have a large black population. If you're racist, you wouldn't be able to walk outside.
Oh great, another argument over something that ended nearly 150 years ago. Is it a racist symbol in itself? No! But yes, for the most part the people who proudly display it are racist. But as a symbol in itself, calm down you guys, it's a freaking flag! Why don't we just stop displaying the American colonial flag! After all, many of the founding fathers were slave owners. Come on people... And I also see it as a part of my heritage. I have relatives who fought on both sides of the war. I see this flag the same way as the Union flag at the time: a symbol of a war that killed hundreads of thousands of people. A symbol of history, not of racist slave owbers who hated all non-whites.