Offended By Confederate Flag

[KrisHawkXXX]

I was doing online research and it seems that the confederate flag is still being used. This is extremely offensive seeing that I am part Mexican besides being an Italian, being a gay democrat, and that i grew up with many african-american friends and even dated one.

Alot of southerners claim it as part of "Southern Culture" and "Southern Pride." Bullshit. So we can hang swastikas and say its GERMAN PRIDE? People find loopholes for anything.

The state of Mississippi still has the confederate symbol as part of their flag.

Any views on this subject? It may be freedom of speech, but the constitution also states you can NOT scream fire in a crowded theater. Meaning some people might argue your free speech if you were to visit a Jewish/Gay Neighborhood and wave a swastika around.. and you WILL offend people of different cultural and racial backgrounds waving a confederate flag. Anyone can say its southern culture.. it doesn't change what it REALLY is and HOW IT BECAME!

 

[MystikWizard]

I was doing online research and it seems that the confederate flag is still being used. This is extremely offensive seeing that I am part Mexican besides being an Italian, being a gay democrat, and that i grew up with many african-american friends and even dated one.

Alot of southerners claim it as part of "Southern Culture" and "Southern Pride." Bullshit. So we can hang swastikas and say its GERMAN PRIDE? People find loopholes for anything.

The state of Mississippi still has the confederate symbol as part of their flag.

Any views on this subject? It may be freedom of speech, but the constitution also states you can NOT scream fire in a crowded theater. Meaning some people might argue your free speech if you were to visit a Jewish/Gay Neighborhood and wave a swastika around.. and you WILL offend people of different cultural and racial backgrounds waving a confederate flag. Anyone can say its southern culture.. it doesn't change what it REALLY is and HOW IT BECAME!

Why don't we just separate them from the United States, like you suggested?

 

[momp57]

Some might argue that it's all in how YOU look at it. I went to a large racially mixed high school in West Texas that used the confederate flag as it's symbol for years. To my knowledge there was never a complaint raised. I've often looked back and wondered how this would have been handled in our overly PC world today.

 

[KrisHawkXXX]

Nobody finds these photos offensive? I find them very offensive. I don't tolerate racism or discrimination and nobody should stand for it.

 

[springboksfan]

It's a historical artifact; nothing more, nothing less. If you give it power, it says more about you than the inanimate object.

If you really want to be offended by something, be offended by the American flags that were in use until 1865. After all, those were also the flags of a slave-owning nation.

And what being Mexican has to do with the Confederate flag, I have no idea. Additionally, it is not the Constitution which says one cannot yell "Fire!" in a theater. That would be the result of a court case. ICO7 will undoubtedly give you more information.

 

[Orlandude]

I would agree with Springboxsfan in the sense that the confederate flag is more symbolic of a time that has long passed, more than anything else. Does displaying it give credence to those darker days in this country? I don't think so, unless one is so totally ignorant and uneducated as to believe all that. Maybe it's because of where I live but the only time I ever see a confederate flag anymore is laying around some novelty store collecting dust. Most intelligent people see it as a joke or hold it up to ridicule. It has lost most, if not all, of it's former symbolism. We have a flag for our nation and that's not it. I'm not offended by it, it just makes no sense anymore and has become irrelevant.

I see no correlation between the confederate flag and Mexico or Mexicans or Mexican-Americans. I also don't understand what the State of Mississippi is thinking. Why foster something that no longer has a place in the 21st century?

 

[opinterph]

Nobody finds these photos offensive? I find them very offensive. I don't tolerate racism or discrimination and nobody should stand for it.

I find it offensive that you are promoting a digitally-altered image as an official flag from the State of Georgia.

Here is the unaltered image:

Georgia State Flag, c. 1956-2001​

 

[Sammie13]

Why don't we just separate them from the United States, like you suggested?

LOL!!!! And people think southerners are living in the past....

Oh, I happen to like the old GA flag pictured above much better than our generic PC version. The past is who we were.....it's a part of our history....it can't be forgotten, as the only way to learn going forward is to remember where we've been. But, unlike the OP seems to understand, you CAN bridge the past to the present without all this "I'm too sensitive" B.S.

I know of a high school that plays "Dixie" as their fight song; it's 50% black school and the students sing along and enjoy a beautiful song that is, on the one hand associated with the South, but, on the other hand, was written by a Northerner and had nothing to do with race. It's all about attitude.

 

[KrisHawkXXX]

If its really that ok... then why have I never heard of a black southern American openly hanging one in their living room and embracing it like so many white people do?

As for the image i Uploaded.. i found it online and technically anyone can create their own flag... the fact that someone was able to create such a flag.. means THAT particular sort of flag exists.

Why Are KKK members and Neo-Nazi groups waving the Confederate flag saying WHITE PRIDE? Why is the Confederate flag always being announced as a White Pride symbol on the KKK website? I feel anyone defending it deep down has hidden issues with the black or another racial culture and its a defense to protect that racist thinking.

Saying its southern culture and where they came from.. whatever.. is a reason to justify the means on showing it so they fly around a confederate flag everywhere with an excuse saying its not racism to reassure themselves that what it stands for is right.

If someone had a grandfather from the original nazi Party.. they can argue that they have German heritage and complain they are not racist and are looking for shock value from others waving a swastika and saying they are proud of where their grandparents came from..

The KKK who show the Confederate flag more then anyone else are deeply associated with the Neo-Nazi Party.

May i remind people that THOUSANDS of blacks were forced to do hard labor without pay.. and were treated like ANIMALS and objects.. nothing more. Were not allowed to read or write. And the South wanted to separate and flashed that flag... putting in their constitution that Slavery would be part of their union!

They argued we were trying to CONTROL them. What southern history books will want you to think is that they were the poor victims here. How they had some big bully take away their free labor so they had to spend money and/or do it themselves because they were so lazy.

A few years back i remember a story of this young black guy being dragged on the back of a truck by a rope as his skin was yanked off. I cried at this story.. and guess what was on their truck... THE CONFEDERATE FLAG.

I feel that anyone that justifies this flag is ignorant and looking for ways to justify their mixed and uncomfortable emotions with blacks. A black man or woman has no less or more value then someone of white ethnicity! This is nuts.

The KKK doesn't like anyone of Hispanic decent.. they wave their confederate flag and display it proudly.

As for someone who thinks its a joke.. its not. It's called study history.. because history repeats itself, and racism still exists today. It may be a joke... but its not. I don't care if it was 500 years ago or yesterday.. it is what it is.. do you think time changes what that flag was based on? Because YOU didn't go through it? Don't forget the harsh treatment of these "slaves" and that many died in the civil war. But you didn't know anyone.. so you don't care what the hell happened. Because its all good now?

The true intelligent people are ones who do their research in history and consider how others will feel upon seeing such a thing! Why do you think we have Holocaust museums... because it was JOKE?! To remind people of the seriousness so this does NOT happen again. The harsh cruelty of southern black slaves DID happen, It's PROVEN, they WERE mistreated, its the CONFEDERATES who wanted to keep slavery. End of story

Can we make a Nazi Flag and say its just a good ole' joke and its in the past?

 

[jackoroe]

How about we all just grow up and quit being offended by all this trifling nonsense? I can think about plenty of other things to be pissed about. The recent beer price increases, for one. It's getting to be like $8.00 for a six pack for gosh sakes! The really good stuff is even worse! An outrage, I tell you! Let's take to the streets with pitchforks and torches!

 

[KrisHawkXXX]

I feel nobody cares because THEY themselves did NOT go through it and see the seriousness and hear it on the news.... it didn't happen in our lifetime.. hence.. its not important and its all a joke! So lets forget the slavery and lets disregard what happened.

 

[springboksfan]

Why forget about it? It's a historical truth and something that needs to be taught and remembered. But why are you getting so worked up about it? You haven't been personally affected by slavery. Get off the burning cross already, Cher. You're grasping at straws.

 

[jackoroe]

^No one has suggested anything like that, Cher. Most all here can read fairly well and we're all aware that slavery happened. But we got rid of it. Had quite a war over it, as I recall reading. Over 100,000 Americans from both sides of the Mason Dixon line died.

If you want to express outrage over slavery, it's still being practiced in Africa. Perhaps you might direct your outrage over that direction.

 

[White Eagle]

The Confederate flag is one of the six flags of Texas. To do away with it would change the history of Texas. Texas did not have much to do with the Civil War but it still is a fact that we were a part of it. You never forget the slavery but you can adjust your attitude to how you see the Confederate flag.
While in the Navy I grew tired of fighting the Civil War all over again. Believe it or not it was mostly Northerners that brought up the War.

 

[irydion]

A couple of years ago police arrested two boys in Poland because they put a Confederate flag on their fence. The police claimed it's a racist sign. I thought that the police has way overdone it, and now I see more people share this view.
It's idiotic. Hitler, nazis etc were almost pure evil: extermination of Jews, Roma, gays, polish and soviet POWs, polish intelligentsia, enslavement of milions of inferior races, stealing hungreds of thousands of children with blue eyes and blond hair from their parents, destruction of innumerable works of art, and starting a war that costed milions of lifes.

And The Confederacy? Just defending slavery, which was still common in its times. Yes, JUST defending slavery. If some party today wanted to reintroduce slavery, it could deserve such hatred. But 150 years ago - no. It just wasn't obvious then.

 

[MystikWizard]

How about we all just grow up and quit being offended by all this trifling nonsense? I can think about plenty of other things to be pissed about. The recent beer price increases, for one. It's getting to be like $8.00 for a six pack for gosh sakes! The really good stuff is even worse! An outrage, I tell you! Let's take to the streets with pitchforks and torches!

Amen to that. The more people let stuff bother them, and the more they get up in a fit over it ... the more it becomes an issue.

Like it or not, to some it is a symbolic part of their history. Why should what you say carry more weight against someone else's thoughts?

Imagine if all everyone did was simply take the "I don't give a Fuck" approach ... "It's just a piece of Fucking cloth. Nothing more. Nothing less." Bam. No issue.

As most people know, I have registered Democrat recently from being Republican all my life ... but just a bit of criticism ... there is quite a bit of whininess on the Liberal side. Some of it is well-deserved ... granted. But some of it, like this ... is bitching for the sake of bitching.

Time to grow up, move on, and quit letting stupid shit like this get under people's skin.

 

[letme]

I find these flags most disgusting IMHO

http://images.google.com/images?q=m...&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

 

[letme]

http://www.united-states-flag.com/1stnavyjack1.html

Do the Brits find this offensive ?

Damn Pix would not post

 

[MystikWizard]

When we talk about the Confederate flag, we're not just talking about Civil War Era conflict - we're also talking about the knight riders of the KKK and the lynchings that occurred as late as 1965 ( in my childhood ). I have no trouble with Civil War reenactors using the flag. But waving it over a Statehouse is divisive in the extreme.

But what you are doing is giving your side of the argument more weight. What about the people who do view it as a symbol of history? What about their rights? Why do you feel like your views are more important and should be given more consideration than theirs?

Some overly-sensitive people look at that flag and immediately think "slavery" and "racism". When it is the practice itself (racism) which should be condemned .... not the flag itself. Like it or not, the problem is that flag means different things to different people.

Just imagine if every person who was bitching and moaning about that flag, took a serious chill pill and said "you know what, I am not letting that flag bother me anymore. I accept that it is a symbol of our history, I'll let it be, and move on with my life. As long as I am not discriminated against." No conflict.

Honestly, aren't there more important things going on in the world to get up in arms over?

 

[letme]

Toffer & Cher

the "Don't Tread On ME " flag created by Ben Franklin . was a sign to the Brits to Fuck Off.

That flag is being flown on every Navel Ship of the U.S.A. today.

Should it be removed and place in a box in a museum ?

Hell NO. It tells the WORLD to piss off , and don't piss on US.

It is living History. The Confederate Flag is history , and stands for much much more then the south and slavery. Slavery was only the tipping pint for the Civil War.

1860
November 6 Lincoln elected President

1861
March 4 Lincoln inaugurated
April 12 Firing on Fort Sumter, S.C., initiated the Civil War
July 21 1st Battle of Bull Run

1862
June-September 2nd Bull Run Campaign
July 13 Lincoln read initial draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to Secretaries Seward and Welles
July 22 Lincoln discussed Draft of the Emancipation Proclamation at a Cabinet Meeting.
September Antietam Campaign
September 22 Cabinet discussion of Emancipation
First printing of preliminary version of Emancipation Proclamation

1863
January 1 Lincoln signed the Final Draft of the Emancipation Proclamation
April-May Chancellorsville Campaign
June-July Gettysburg Campaign
November 19 The Gettysburg Address