Is the Confederate Battle Flag Innately Racist?
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Top Soil
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Posted 11:58 am, 06/22/2015
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hipower (view profile) | Posted 11:46 am, 06/22/2015 | There were lots of reasons why soldiers on both sides chose to fight in the civil war. To insinuate that every soldier who fought for the confederacy did so to perpetuate slavery would be a preposterously simplistic and erroneous position to adopt. As one poster has pointed out many from wilkes chose to fight for the union, many chose to represent their home state. Many volunteered so that they could fight alongside their brothers, uncles, cousins and friends. I believe that probably few were only thinking of supporting the preservation of slavery. It was a far more complicated set of conditions that led to the war than just slavery.
For me the stars and bars also represents rebellion. And rebellion is not always a bad thing. Our country after all was founded on it. |
Isn't this just the Nuremberg defense?
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titus1971
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Posted 11:55 am, 06/22/2015
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How can an inanimate object be racist? I think people give too much power to things. For those who think its symbolic of systemic racism what about the Union Jack? The British colonized and enslaved people on several continents while flying the Union Jack yet it is still their National flag and people don't seem to be offended like they are over the "star and bars".
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hipower
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Posted 11:46 am, 06/22/2015
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There were lots of reasons why soldiers on both sides chose to fight in the civil war. To insinuate that every soldier who fought for the confederacy did so to perpetuate slavery would be a preposterously simplistic and erroneous position to adopt. As one poster has pointed out many from wilkes chose to fight for the union, many chose to represent their home state. Many volunteered so that they could fight alongside their brothers, uncles, cousins and friends. I believe that probably few were only thinking of supporting the preservation of slavery. It was a far more complicated set of conditions that led to the war than just slavery.
For me the stars and bars also represents rebellion. And rebellion is not always a bad thing. Our country after all was founded on it.
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Top Soil
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Posted 10:59 am, 06/22/2015
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to be or not to be (view profile) | Posted 10:51 am, 06/22/2015 | ...Therefor if you say that the confederate flag represents the fight for southern economy...southern economy was based on slavery(paraphrase) |
I've also heard people try to say that the civil war was about states rights and not slavery. Which this argument also fails the test, because the rights that the southern states were trying to keep, was their ability to regulate slavery themselves.
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to be or not to be
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Posted 10:51 am, 06/22/2015
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the United States produced roughly 750,000 bales of cotton, in 1830. By 1850 that amount had exploded to 2.85 million bales. This production was concentrated almost exclusively in the South, because of the weather conditions needed for the plant to grow. Faster processing of cotton with the gin meant it was profitable for landowners to establish previously-unthinkably large cotton plantations across the south. But harvesting cotton remained a very labor-intensive undertaking. Thus, bigger cotton farms meant the need for more slaves. The slave population in the United States increased nearly five-fold in the first half of the 19th Century, and by 1860, the South provided about two-thirds of the world's cotton supply. Southern wealth had become reliant on this one crop and thus was completely dependent on slave-labor.
the key words there are: Southern wealth had become reliant on this one crop and thus was completely dependent on slave-labor.
So there would have been no southern economy without slavery. Therefor if you say that the confederate flag represents the fight for southern economy then you are saying that the flag which you hold so dear and almost worship represents slavery.
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Top Soil
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Posted 10:45 am, 06/22/2015
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I wonder how many children of SS soldiers fly the NAZI flag out of respect for their heritage? Not saying the two are the same, but that's what other countries view it as.
source, I lived in other countries, that's how they view it.
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snapshot
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Posted 10:29 am, 06/22/2015
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in my opinion, it's racist if you want it to be. other than that, no. i don't hear native americans wanting the stars and stripes taken down.
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to be or not to be
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Posted 10:25 am, 06/22/2015
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1) Many of my family fought and died for the south during the civil war. 2) Had it not been for the slaves doing the work in the fields (the south was an agricultural based economy) who would have worked the fields? Surely not the white landed gentry. Hence the "slavery = economy" connection to the war.
3) Now I am going to quote the Bible. It says by their fruits you will know them. I am not saying that all who fly a confederate flag are racist and haters and poor whites but statistically this seems to be the case.
4) Most who fly the flag do so with a hateful attitude and mindset. And we know this because they are very vocal about this.
Civil War history is remarkably clear about the fact that maintaining slavery was the primary motivation for Southern Secession in 1860 and 1861. The agricultural South was dependent on cotton production and the economic and political elite there feared that as more new states entered the union they would choose to be free-states, shift the balance of power in Washington, and ultimately lead to higher tariffs for the South as well as threats to the institution of slavery.
6) It has been my experience that most of the people That I have met who fly/wear the confederate flag are "KJV Christians " who use the bible as an excuse : Genesis 11 the tower of Babel where God confused the languages. Also many say that the mark of Cain is that God made him BLACK as punishment for killing his brother. This belief gives certain christain whites the idea that blacks and other darker complected persons are evil by the nature of the color of their skin.
7) In conclusion the confederate flag can and is often used as a means to intimidate others as is the bible.
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Top Soil
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Posted 9:34 am, 06/22/2015
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logger#1 (view profile) | Posted 9:23 am, 06/22/2015 | No be proud of it and let it fly it comes down what is next the Stars and Stripes? |
I LOL'd
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~glitter and glamour~
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Posted 9:32 am, 06/22/2015
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We don't know and shouldn't assume the intent of the individual flying the flag on their own property whether it be on a dirt road or a gated neighborhood.
That said, we should be considerate of it being displayed on publicly-owned property and if it's offensive it should be placed in a museum.
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logger#1
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Posted 9:23 am, 06/22/2015
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No be proud of it and let it fly it comes down what is next the Stars and Stripes?
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FAL762
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Posted 9:03 am, 06/22/2015
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The flag means different things to different people. Coming from a non-native (I guess you could call me a Yankee) I see the flag a few ways: as a way to represent southern pride, and also as a way to represent rebelling against something.
The flag itself doesn't instill racism, or poverty, or whatever...That is peoples own visions of it. Just because the flag began as a battle flag used by the South during the Civil War, does not mean it is a flag that represents racism. That is just foolish to believe that.
People look to hard into things and want them to be what they believe so much they get completely bent sideways about it... it is a flag, plain and simple. There are plenty of other things in this world to be worried about besides a dang flag.
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hope75
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Posted 8:40 am, 06/22/2015
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Like it or not, agree or not, the flag IS offensive to a large portion of the population. If that doesn't bother you, for whatever reason (be it that you actually are a racist or you are just displaying your southern pride), good for you, fly your flag proudly. You have the freedom to do so.
But at least acknowledge that there will be those who are offended, who will take you for a racist, or will think you are an insensitive redneck.
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Bestill
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Posted 6:58 am, 06/22/2015
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it is offensive. Which is no big deal. be offensive. Love what you love and do not worry that the flag is offensive. Free speech!
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sgtkracka
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Posted 3:06 am, 06/22/2015
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For folks that say it's history, not hatred, tell me what history it represents?
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nc268
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Posted 2:02 am, 06/22/2015
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I LIV EIN A NICE HOME I DISPLAY A CONFIDERATE FLAG YOUR POINT IS BIGOT
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Hepsibah
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Posted 2:00 am, 06/22/2015
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longdriver, you are so right about the many beautiful homes in Wilkes and surrounding counties! I referred to that earlier. I wonder how many of those nice homes sport a confederate flag in the front yard? I would think virtually none....at least, I've never seen one.
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Grayson
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Posted 12:49 am, 06/22/2015
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"The Confederate flag is a symbol of history not symbolic of slavery"
A symbol of history indeed. It is the history associated with this flag and that this flag represents that sparks controversy.
"Here is some more interesting read on myths and facts about the Confederate battle flag and the civil war..."
Here's an interesting fact about Swastikas: They weren't created by Nazis, but adopted by them. The original intended meaning of the Swastika didn't have anything to do with genocide and world domination. Be that as it may, I wouldn't want a Swastika flying in front of our government buildings. Like the confederate Flag, the swastika also has a history and it is the history associated with this flag that sparks controversy.
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decsurvey
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Posted 11:44 pm, 06/21/2015
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I would trade the smell of Charlotte for manure, crops, and labor of a farm. Money is not happiness. Sometimes the simplest life in a run down shack is happier than a life of rich luxury.
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