Do you consider the Confederate flag to be racist

[United Prefectures of Appia]

Nah. But I find it really funny when "patriotic Americans" dispaly the Confederate Battle Flag to demonstrate how proud of being Americans they are. It doesn't even make sense.

In the South during the 4th of July events, you can sometimes find towns where they'll fly both the Nazi and the Confederate flags together.

[Zaldakki]

Nah. But I find it really funny when "patriotic Americans" dispaly the Confederate Battle Flag to demonstrate how proud of being Americans they are. It doesn't even make sense.

In the South during the 4th of July events, you can sometimes find towns where they'll fly both the Nazi and the Confederate flags together.

Umm... I've never seen that?

[United Prefectures of Appia]

In the South during the 4th of July events, you can sometimes find towns where they'll fly both the Nazi and the Confederate flags together.

Umm... I've never seen that?

Now you have.

[Geilinor]

Umm... I've never seen that?

Now you have.

Is there any verification for that photo? That could be a KKK rally and not representative of the South.

[Zaldakki]

Umm... I've never seen that?

Now you have.

Probably Neo-Nazis or Klansmen or something like that. There's very, very few of those kinds of people.

[Tekania]

Umm... I've never seen that?

Now you have.

I see a several different individuals holding things including a California state flag, a Hitlerjugend flag, a WW2 German national flag, a Confederate Naval jack, two US flags and a sign that says "This land was Mexican".... without any background context that image means little. Can't even honestly deduce that that image is even from "The South" could be just as easily be California Arizona or New Mexico.

[Oaledonia]

Umm... I've never seen that?

Now you have.

Generalizations are bad.

[Wisconsin9]

(Image)
Now you have.

I see a several different individuals holding things including a California state flag, a Hitlerjugend flag, a WW2 German national flag, a Confederate Naval jack, two US flags and a sign that says "This land was Mexican".... without any background context that image means little. Can't even honestly deduce that that image is even from "The South" could be just as easily be California Arizona or New Mexico.

http://art-for-a-change.com/blog/2005/08/neo-nazis-picket-art-festival.html

That was the only "news" link I could find.

[Tekania]

I see a several different individuals holding things including a California state flag, a Hitlerjugend flag, a WW2 German national flag, a Confederate Naval jack, two US flags and a sign that says "This land was Mexican".... without any background context that image means little. Can't even honestly deduce that that image is even from "The South" could be just as easily be California Arizona or New Mexico.

http://art-for-a-change.com/blog/2005/08/neo-nazis-picket-art-festival.html

That was the only "news" link I could find.

Interesting, so the example of finding Nazi flags and Confederate flags together in the south is an image at a protest by a California hate-group outside of an art festival in Orange County, California.

Odd that someone has to pull that though, I can find a better one actually taken in the south:

This was is South Carolina.... not much better in actual context though as you're looking at a Minnesota Nazi group. See what many people don't realize is that Nazi'ism barely exists in the south. Most of the big Nazi groups in the US are in places like Illinois (I hate Illinois Nazis), Iowa, Minnesota, mid-west types. And truthfully while many southern pride groups tend to be racist there really is no solidarity between them and Nazi groups. So it really is not common to see Nazi flags down in the south at all, except on rare occasions..... and usually it is the Nazi's themselves flying them to try to say "See, we're like you" to them..... but doesn't work

[Dyakovo]

(Image)

The confederate flag isn't racist. It's just a symbol of southern pride and has nothing to do with racism. The commonly used confederate flag was not even the actual flag used by the CSA. Many people that display this flag are completely unaware of it's history and a lot of them think it represents either Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Dukes of Hazzard. Even if it was racist, its display is protected free speech under the First Amendment.

Yes, the Confederate Flag does represent racism. It was the symbol of a nation founded on the principle of racist slavery. Also, yes, that was the flag of the Confederate States of America (or at least it was from May of 1863 until the fall of the CSA).

[Nazi Flower Power]

Of course it is. Nationalist, treacherous, and racist. And very ugly.

It's not ugly. I actually like the design, even though I don't agree with what it stands for.

@OP: It can have different meanings depending on context, but it is often a sign of racism. It is protected by the 1st Amendment, but so is my right to tell you that it makes your butt look big makes you look racist.

[The Liberated Territories]

It's not offensive to me.

Of course not. You're not a holocaust survivor. How an uninvolved third party feels isn't the criteria for whether something's offensive.

Offensive is subjective. Labels...criteria...varies, even amongst minorities. Rights shouldn't be denied to a larger majority because a small amount of people find it offensive.

[Nazi Flower Power]

It still happened! It represents racism!

No, it does not represent racism in a single bit. What it does represent is the tireless effort of a downtrodden class of American citizens (NOT talking about the slaves here, remember they weren't people then) to defend their homes and their rights to property from a supposedly benevolent force that had in previous years under a different President, taken up arms against the Southern people and forced them to defy their personal beliefs and do as the government says. The flag represents a people who were tired of being shafted by presidents they didn't elect and decided to finally do something when the time was right. Not racism.

Just because they said blacks weren't people doesn't mean it was true. Gotta love a post where you say blacks weren't people and then pretend there's no racism going on.

And the rest of your post is so out of touch with reality it's hard to know where to begin. Southerners had the vote and actually had more representation in government than they deserved because of the 3/5 compromise. To say they got shafted by presidents they didn't elect is simply untrue. Northern states were forced to recognize slavery and allow Southerners to bring their slaves into the North, even when the local authorities and the people were opposed to it. How would you like it if tourists from other states were not required to follow the state laws of your state when they visited? That's basically what the federal government did to free states in an effort to appease the South.

[Nazi Flower Power]

My point is that just because both sides thought something doesn't mean it was right.

Exactly. So if both sides were just as wrong, it should be no different if I fly a CSA flag next to my American flag.

Just because both sides got things wrong does not mean they were both EQUALLY wrong.

[Marsisian]

Of course not. The only reason people get mad at it is because the CSA allowed slavery.

[Wisconsin9]

Of course not. The only reason people get mad at it is because the CSA allowed slavery.

Which kind of seems like a good reason to be angry at something.

[-Greenland]

No as my roommate flies one.

[Nazi Flower Power]

Of course not. The only reason people get mad at it is because the CSA allowed slavery.

And seceded from the Union and started a massive war...

Personally, my biggest problem with it is because of slavery, but there are people who get very hung up on the secession part of it.

[Nervium]

Not all treason is evil, treason in the name of an institution that degrades a fellow human being is, however, pretty damn evil.

Are you saying that Treason versus an evil State is a Virtue and Treason versus a Good state is aVice

|If so, I agree MbO.

Yes, I am saying that.

[Cymrea]

This is the flag of the Confederate States of America.




The one commonly flown and referred to as the Rebel or Dixie Flag was the banner only of the Army of Tennessee. That said, it's come to represent different things to different people. I think the question of whether it is racist or not comes down to the intent of the one waving it about. To many, it's simply another form of expressing a sense of independence. Like the Don't Tread On Me flag.

But some wave it as a way to express their bigotry. That is when the flag becomes one of racists.

[Dyakovo]

This is the flag of the Confederate States of America.

(Image)

The one commonly flown and referred to as the Rebel or Dixie Flag was the banner only of the Army of Tennessee. That said, it's come to represent different things to different people. I think the question of whether it is racist or not comes down to the intent of the one waving it about. To many, it's simply another form of expressing a sense of independence. Like the Don't Tread On Me flag.

But some wave it as a way to express their bigotry. That is when the flag becomes one of racists.

That flag was the flag of the CSA from 1861-1863. The other was the national flag from 1863 until the CSA fell.

[Kyuji]

America has done horrendous things worthy of condemnation and through which opposition to its flag is understandable, but unlike the Confederate flag it was not representing a nation whose reason for being founded was the preservation of slavery. The American flag represents some vile things; the Confederate flag only represents vile things.

You should look into Confederate relations with Native American tribes.

To summarize, and to paraphrase a Native American academic who gave a lecture on the topic six months ago or so, "They weren't gigantic dickweeds intent on taking our land and civilizing us or killing us, whichever was more convenient."

There were also a large number of native american slave owners.

[Cymrea]

That flag was the flag of the CSA from 1861-1863. The other was the national flag from 1863 until the CSA fell.

The first one was the flag from May 1, 1863 to March 4, 1865. The other from after March 4, 1865. The point though, is that the commonly flown version today is an almost arbitrary representation. But again, the flag itself is not inherently racist. It becomes a symbol for racisism when waved about by mush-headed smacktards who are the first to complain about their own rights being oppressed while simultaneously denying them to others based on the most superficial excuses.

[The Lone Alliance]

It sort of is, depends on the type of people who are using it. Some people have them simply for historical value, those aren't really waved though.

Others do it as their symbol of how they 'defied the federal government' (forgetting the little matter that they lost) or because of underdog appeal.

And then there are some who simply do it because they're racist like a house that only started flying a confederate flag after the 2008 elections.

In the South during the 4th of July events, you can sometimes find towns where they'll fly both the Nazi and the Confederate flags together.

Nazi flags?
Seriously, I'd like some proof of this because from what I know from the South putting up a Nazi flag is "Spitting on World War 2 veterans" and you know how the South is on their Veterans.

Especially on 4th of July.

[Grave_n_idle]

I think it would show that the claim that the south was (awesome because it is) friendly is not true in any kind of overall, or general way.

Which is where I came in. I'm sorry if this seems too complicated.

Let's compare information here.
Me:
I lived in the South, and saw people being friendly to each other
You:
You lived in the South, and saw people being unfriendly to each other
You have a study which shows that racism is a bigger problem in the south.

You can try to frame it however you want. Doesn't change the fact that you have nothing.

You're right. Just because my experience shows that your claim wasn't true in any general or universal way, and just because the objective evidence shows that your claim wasn't true in any general or universal way, doesn't mean that I have a point.

Oh wait. Yes. Yes, it does. It means EXACTLY that, doesn't it.