Posted on Jun 27, 2015
Millions of Americans still embrace the Confederate flag. Should we dismiss them all as racists?
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After the horrific, racially motivated massacre last week of nine black Bible study participants at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, there has been a righteous rush to remove the Confederate flag from government property and the goods of many national retailers. And it seems we've reached a landmark tipping point: After decades of defending the Confederate flag, many conservative lawmakers have publicly and aggressively joined the fight against this longtime symbol of the South.
However, there are still millions of Americans in the South who (probably quietly, these days) remain deeply invested in the Confederate flag. I am not one of them. But I do believe their concerns and beliefs are worth considering without dismissing them wholesale as a bunch of backwards racists, as much of the American left seems eager to do.
Some defenders of the flag worry about a slippery slope. They oppose its removal from state capitols and insignias because they think there's no logical stopping point.
First came the calls to take down the Confederate flags flying over state property. Then Virginia moved to scrap a small license plate program for the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Before long, private companies said they would discontinue selling Confederate-themed products. Now everything from roads to statutes commemorating Confederate figures could wind up on the chopping block.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/millions-of-americans-still-embrace-the-confederate-flag-dont-dismiss-them-all-as-racists/ar-AAc9zqW
However, there are still millions of Americans in the South who (probably quietly, these days) remain deeply invested in the Confederate flag. I am not one of them. But I do believe their concerns and beliefs are worth considering without dismissing them wholesale as a bunch of backwards racists, as much of the American left seems eager to do.
Some defenders of the flag worry about a slippery slope. They oppose its removal from state capitols and insignias because they think there's no logical stopping point.
First came the calls to take down the Confederate flags flying over state property. Then Virginia moved to scrap a small license plate program for the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Before long, private companies said they would discontinue selling Confederate-themed products. Now everything from roads to statutes commemorating Confederate figures could wind up on the chopping block.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/millions-of-americans-still-embrace-the-confederate-flag-dont-dismiss-them-all-as-racists/ar-AAc9zqW
Confederate Flag
Political Correctness
Military History
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 89
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Categorizing people who embrace the confederate flag as racist is the same as categorizing all whites as racist.
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I honestly don't dismiss those that embrace the Confederate Flag as racist's. To many people it stands for something different. For some it's culture, for others it represents rebels, there are a small number of people that use the flag to promote hatred. I'll be honest prior to joining the Army the only thing I associated the Confederate Flag with was the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard.
I still do not support it's use on government buildings or even states flags because of what it's real representation is.
I still do not support it's use on government buildings or even states flags because of what it's real representation is.
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Sounds like a lot of the comments are from people who watched Gone with the Wind too many times.
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People are calling the Confederate flag "offensive" or "racists" well what about the following items: music that contains the "N" word or any form thereof; items containing the Iron Cross which symbolizes Nazis; items that are in violation of United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, §176 (i) (The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard.). Seems like hypocrisy to me.
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Our history shouldn't be waved away. As far as I'm concerned the war was about state's rights being trampled on by federal lawmakers. I've never viewed the flag as "a symbol of racism." I suppose it means different things to different people, but I'm pretty tired of trying to make everyone happy.
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CPT Ahmed Faried
I'm getting weary of this echo chamber. Alright CPT Siebert. Let's follow this to its logical conclusion. I agree with you that states' rights was a pre-eminent issue that led to the Civil War. What exactly was the right that these states wanted the Federal government to get its hands off? If you can answer that honestly you will see why millions of people are sick and tired of the symbolism the flag represents. It isn't an issue of it meaning different things to different people. The reason for the flag's creation are clear as day, you only have to take the creator's own words for it. What is different is people's attempts to whitewash the atrocities that were committed under that flag, not to mention the fact that over a million American patriots died to preserve the Union when a collective of traitorous states attempted to dissolve it.
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I want to mention one important fact that many Americans may have overlooked subsequent to the recent dramatic Supreme Court rulings in favor of “Obamacare” and gay marriage and the recent controversy over the confederate flag. The conservative cheetah flips have been spectacular! Lol
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SCPO (Join to see)
Okay, a 21-year-old "white supremacist (paranoid loser - my words) who wanted to start a "race war" all by himself, shoots up a church...let's ban a flag. That make it sound better???
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SCPO (Join to see)
Only certain folks are. Most Americans only remember it when they read a book or watch a movie and it's referred to in the plot.
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SPC (Join to see)
So was Charles Manson, but I didn't see all the civilians go bat shit crazy over the flag!
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No, the flag is part of our history and doesn't necessarily dictate that a person that wears it or flies it is a racist. However saying this I also must make note that the KKK was formed by the hard core southern democrats prior to and after the Civil War, however now, today, the NAACP and other black groups and liberal democrats have used the racist card against anyone that believes in conservative values. One other thing About 40 years ago, the United States Congress passed a law that ALL Southern Confederate Soldiers are to be considered Veterans of the United States Military and they are to be accorded all rights and privileges and any other soldier. Right now its liberal democrats, the NAACP, ANTIFA, Jessie Jackson, and especially Al (racist) Sheraton that are pushing the agenda of rewriting history and erasing everything dealing with the Confederacy. That is just wrong. The only regimes that tear down monuments honoring the past, because now they want Christopher Columbus' statue tore down, are socialist and communist and terrorist type regimes.
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