Posted on Aug 22, 2014
Feelings on displaying the Confederate flag on your POV or person while on a military installation?
370K
2.13K
957
111
111
0
Recently, I had a long and heated discussion with a fellow veteran about this issue. I don't know for sure whether a branch-specific reg or a DoD-wide reg exists that prohibits/allows personnel on a military installation to display the Confederate flag on their personal vehicle or on their person (e.g. a belt buckle). Maybe this is a base-specific policy and left to the judgment of the installation commander. Display of the Confederate flag is a divisive issue and people often feel really strongly one way or the other. But today, it is still a relevant topic and touches on other military leadership/discipline areas, including the actions of one member deeply offending another member -- regardless of whether said action is legal/authorized. That can create huge problems in a military unit, and this happened in a unit I personally served in. So, below are my questions for the RallyPoint community about this issue.
Please try to keep comments professional (don't attack one another) and explain your thoughts as best you can.
Questions:
(1) How do you feel about the Confederate flag being displayed on the vehicle/person of a service member if he/she is ON post? How does your opinion change if the member is OFF post?
(2) What does the Confederate flag symbolize to you personally? What do you think it can symbolize to other people around you who may perceive it differently?
(3) If you have personally experienced a military-related situation where a symbol/flag caused someone to be offended, what happened and what did you/would you have done as the leader?
I look fwd to everyone's thoughts on this. Personally, I have some strong feelings about this issue, though I don't want to bias people's answers upfront. Please be as honest as possible.
Tag: SSG Emily Williams Col (Join to see) 1SG Steven Stankovich SSG Scott Williams 1LT Sandy Annala CPT (Join to see) SSG V. Michelle Woods MSG Carl Cunningham
Please try to keep comments professional (don't attack one another) and explain your thoughts as best you can.
Questions:
(1) How do you feel about the Confederate flag being displayed on the vehicle/person of a service member if he/she is ON post? How does your opinion change if the member is OFF post?
(2) What does the Confederate flag symbolize to you personally? What do you think it can symbolize to other people around you who may perceive it differently?
(3) If you have personally experienced a military-related situation where a symbol/flag caused someone to be offended, what happened and what did you/would you have done as the leader?
I look fwd to everyone's thoughts on this. Personally, I have some strong feelings about this issue, though I don't want to bias people's answers upfront. Please be as honest as possible.
Tag: SSG Emily Williams Col (Join to see) 1SG Steven Stankovich SSG Scott Williams 1LT Sandy Annala CPT (Join to see) SSG V. Michelle Woods MSG Carl Cunningham
Regulation
Policy
Respect
Confederate Flag
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 325
0
0
0
That flag is as disgusting to me as is the Nazi flag the Soviet flag or The ISIS flag. Regardless of your "Heritage" (I am from Virginia) it's the flag of an enemy of the United States of America. That symbol is responsible for a lot of Americans Dead. It represents Hatred and prejudice and there is no room for that in the Military of the United States. You swore an oath to defend the United States not the CSA. The excuse of heritage is also bullshit! We all came from somewhere as far a heritage goes. Doesn't mean because my ancestors came from Norway I should display their Flag, nothing against Norway, I'm sure it's a fine country, it's just not my country....
(0)
(0)
CW2 (Join to see)
Lots of Americans from both sides, same families. I have some graves just by my house. I drive through a civil war battlefield everyday. I had relatives in the South, North, and West. I married into a family that suffered slaughter at the hands of both Germany and the Soviets twice during the back and forth control. I am also a decendant of two tribes in the US that lived here first and were relocated or slaughtered here. I have Jewish lineage and I could say they haven't had a good rap (not maternal). My wife is related to Gypsies. The world is complicated and there are no real good answers. Can we support our ideas or not? Where do you really draw the line? Nazi was a party similar to Democrat and Republican, and like all good Germans, they followed their leaders. The Soviet flag represented a modern nation-state and some additional alliances and pacts of strategic positions and an ideal that thought slaughtering my wife's family met their requirements (nice access to shore front property). I support the ideas behind the United States, part because it was what I taught, but I believed in the principles behind what we were experimenting with. A nation that is not one nation. A country that isn't a county, a federation of states where people could have a voice, evolving into a modern-nation state with some well thought out ideas. My ideas have evolved, but those principles helped guide me in my pursuit to answer the most difficult question we have faced at us: can we get along in this nation of ours, with all our different cultures and identities, our families and our heritages, some here for generations, some just getting here, no national language, a wide variety of viewpoints and impressions? I'd say we are off to a pretty good start, but we have so far to go. There are no easy answers. Communists, Socailists, Environmentalists, Conservatives, Modern Conservatives, Modern Liberals, Classical Liberals, many flavors of anarchists, Free-Market Libertarians, Voluntaryists, Republicans, Democrats, Social Democrats, Every religion, Native Peoples and the Indian Affairs Bureau, Immigrants, Illegal Immigrants, Criminals, Crazy people, Imperialists, Corporations (that think they have rights), the list is long, this is just a few. Most modern countries have many of these problems, but we decided we would welcome everyone from everywhere and deal with their ideas too (since almost the beginning). Now, that's a fun experiment. How do you think it's going?
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
There's a lot of racism against native Canadians indigenous Canadians also known as Indians in Canada and it seems like a lot of the guys who mouth off to these people have Confederate flags on their car or covering their window so the thing to do with the South nothing to do with the it is to do with racism at least up here in Canada.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
so?
First Amendment, second part...you don't agree w/it but since this doesn't have any effect on a troop's military performance it's tough it may hurt somebody's feelings...
We ARE discussing something that is happening in the armed forces and not some college right?
First Amendment, second part...you don't agree w/it but since this doesn't have any effect on a troop's military performance it's tough it may hurt somebody's feelings...
We ARE discussing something that is happening in the armed forces and not some college right?
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
0
0
0
I live in Mississippi and there is a constant and ongoing debate about the confederate flag being on our state flag. My thoughts on it are that if it offends people, remove it. With that said, I don't think society should cater to every single person who is offended by something but the confederate flag flew over a country that enslaved people and treated them like animals. Like it or not, that's grounds for being offended. Does anyone get mad at Jews who are offended by swastikas? Maybe at one time the confederate flag wasn't offensive. But groups like the KKK and neo-Nazis have gone out of their way to ensure it's offensive by flying it while they commit atrocious hate crimes. Does flying the flag make you a member of the KKK? No, but can you see how someone might draw that conclusion? Here's a hypothetical: I'm a Christian and as such I have things with crosses on them. It's a symbol of my faith. If some terrorist group started using the cross as their symbol to the point where the general populace saw a cross and immediate thought of a hate group, I'd stop displaying the cross. It wouldn't make me less of a Christian. It's simply a symbol. If my practice of Christianity offends you, that's a different story. I won't stop being a Christian just like people don't have to stop being proud of their heritage. This philosophy can be applied to anything. I drink alcohol. That's my right. And it's also my right to talk about it around those who don't and those who are recovering alcoholics. But why on earth would I do that knowing that I was offending these people? I don't have to stop being who I am but I don't have to celebrate it in front of everyone either.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
NEWS FLASH.....Almost anything you do could offend or upset someone.... We are becoming a nation of wimps.... for me the racist I can see is better than the racist hiding behind a plastic smile.
FIRST For some people this flag is a symbol of racism and the ugliness of slavery....for others it has nothing to do with racism but is a symbol of heritage and southern pride.....
SECOND Does forcing someone to take down this flag make them NOT a racist anymore.....
THIRD the US Constitution....the Constitution we swore to uphold, defend and protect ....guarantees EVERYONE the right to fly or burn whatever flag they want..... that includes the rebel flag....the Marcus Garvy colors....the Black Power banner ..... the constitution gives you the right to be an IDIOT if you want to be an idiot.
The logical question is there a correlation between yelling fire in a crowded theater.....inciting a panic.....getting people hurt.....AND flying this or any other flag that could or might cause a violent outburst / riot? ..... MY OPINION....the comparison is weak .... the risk is small..... and the violation of the first amendment is a greater danger
SOLUTION....Grow a set and stop letting STUPIDITY or your imagination create problems
TRUE STORY At an 82nd Div CSM meeting.....we had a racial mixture but the division CSM was a known racist good old southern boy..... as he was about to take a drink of his coffee..... one of the black CSM's said, "Careful sergeant major....black coffee will turn your skin black!"....the sergeant major almost broke the cup setting it back down.... everybody laughed..... racism is REAL....DEAL WITH IT..... nothing is more important than you make it
FIRST For some people this flag is a symbol of racism and the ugliness of slavery....for others it has nothing to do with racism but is a symbol of heritage and southern pride.....
SECOND Does forcing someone to take down this flag make them NOT a racist anymore.....
THIRD the US Constitution....the Constitution we swore to uphold, defend and protect ....guarantees EVERYONE the right to fly or burn whatever flag they want..... that includes the rebel flag....the Marcus Garvy colors....the Black Power banner ..... the constitution gives you the right to be an IDIOT if you want to be an idiot.
The logical question is there a correlation between yelling fire in a crowded theater.....inciting a panic.....getting people hurt.....AND flying this or any other flag that could or might cause a violent outburst / riot? ..... MY OPINION....the comparison is weak .... the risk is small..... and the violation of the first amendment is a greater danger
SOLUTION....Grow a set and stop letting STUPIDITY or your imagination create problems
TRUE STORY At an 82nd Div CSM meeting.....we had a racial mixture but the division CSM was a known racist good old southern boy..... as he was about to take a drink of his coffee..... one of the black CSM's said, "Careful sergeant major....black coffee will turn your skin black!"....the sergeant major almost broke the cup setting it back down.... everybody laughed..... racism is REAL....DEAL WITH IT..... nothing is more important than you make it
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
To display the rebel flag on a military instillation should not be a question. You should be allowed to display it. Hell Fort Bragg is named after confederate general Braxton Bragg who was a North Carolina native. Its not a big deal. Let soldiers be happy.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
My statement to you on this is if you worry about what others think all of the time you will never live your life and never have your freedom of speech because you will always worry what others think. Try living your life and let others live theirs with out being so thin skinned that if they glance in your direction you get offended. What others have on their vehicle is none of my business as long as it isn't obscene or crude or blatantly racial on post what difference does it make it is their choice to put it there. They have just as much right to free speech as you do that is why they put on the uniform. if you take things like that to heart then you need to do away with every thing that could be remotely be offensive and that would be just about every thing. No bumper stickers no logo t shirts no logo shoe's nothing but 1 style hair cut no ring tones because some one might over hear it and be offended. Live your life and let others live theirs stop the decline grow up be an adult let others live free to the real limits of good taste quit being so easily offended.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
I personally have no feeling on this issue and think people spend too much time debating it. All I care about is the Confederacy was defeated to keep the nation unified. and slavery was abolished.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
(1) How do you feel about the Confederate flag being displayed on the vehicle/person of a service member if he/she is ON post? How does your opinion change if the member is OFF post?
If it is someone who is still serving active, guard, or reserve then they aren't allowed to have a political view. This means bumper stickers, flags, other stickers, social media everything is off limits. This is on and off base. If it is a veteran then it is up to them until something comes out saying that this kind of thing is not allowed for veterans.
(2) What does the Confederate flag symbolize to you personally? What do you think it can symbolize to other people around you who may perceive it differently?
I look at the flag as a piece of history. While I don't agree with slavery I do understand that it was a rampit problem all over the world at the time and not just in the South. I do hate to see all the monuments getting destroyed, vandalized, and taken down across the South even as we speak. To me even if you don't agree with the message or what they stand for it is still this countries history and you can only learn if you teach history. If you erase the past we are likely to repeat it again in the future.
(3) If you have personally experienced a military-related situation where a symbol/flag caused someone to be offended, what happened and what did you/would you have done as the leader?
While I have never seen anyone punished for a flag or symbol I did receive a verbal reprimand because I identified myself as a redneck and a hick and another NCO was offended that I identified myself that way even though I was country boy growing up.
If it is someone who is still serving active, guard, or reserve then they aren't allowed to have a political view. This means bumper stickers, flags, other stickers, social media everything is off limits. This is on and off base. If it is a veteran then it is up to them until something comes out saying that this kind of thing is not allowed for veterans.
(2) What does the Confederate flag symbolize to you personally? What do you think it can symbolize to other people around you who may perceive it differently?
I look at the flag as a piece of history. While I don't agree with slavery I do understand that it was a rampit problem all over the world at the time and not just in the South. I do hate to see all the monuments getting destroyed, vandalized, and taken down across the South even as we speak. To me even if you don't agree with the message or what they stand for it is still this countries history and you can only learn if you teach history. If you erase the past we are likely to repeat it again in the future.
(3) If you have personally experienced a military-related situation where a symbol/flag caused someone to be offended, what happened and what did you/would you have done as the leader?
While I have never seen anyone punished for a flag or symbol I did receive a verbal reprimand because I identified myself as a redneck and a hick and another NCO was offended that I identified myself that way even though I was country boy growing up.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google