confederate flag

[lexx_1997]

i was born and raised in the dirty south. i am black...and the only people who feel a deep seated pride in that flag are those who agree with its ideologies.

i don' like...it offends me...but you know what..that isn't gonna stop me from doing my job.

[emt_hound]

Thank you, Lexx.

[MEDwyerIC]

Personally I think if you want display your heritage in a non discriminant way (to some people) You might has well just use the state you were born in or live in. Be more specific. to some people that flag just has to much hatred involved with it.

[MEDwyerIC]

pros

The rebel flag's modern association with white supremacists makes it a flashpoint for racial confrontation. Many support the viewpoint of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, who hold that it is unreasonable to ask African Americans not to react to someone wearing the rebel flag. To ask black people to respect a flag that was flown by a group whose political priority was their desire to totally subjugate and dehumanise them is unreasonable.

What is the positive contribution of this symbol? Why should the Confederate flag be regarded any differently from the swastika? Those who fly it are proclaiming their support for racist principles that belong in the past. Indeed the Confederate flag did not enjoy renewed popularity until the civil rights era of the 1960s, when it became a symbol of opposition to the movement.

Schools should be able to outlaw this flag just as they might ban gang colours or miniskirts: all are disruptive to the school learning environment. The mass production of clothing aimed at the student market by companies like Dixie Outfitters exploits bad feelings amongst ethnic groups and encourages clashes between them.

Those who wish to flaunt the Confederate flag in public are backward-looking, rejecting the diversity and dynamism of the “new South†that has developed since the civil rights era. By persistently promoting a divisive symbol, they undermine continuing efforts at integration and generate negative views of the South in the rest of the nation and internationally, reducing investment and prosperity.

cons

This is an issue of freedom of speech. First Amendment rights are being trampled in the name of political correctness - hence American Civil Liberties Union opposition to banning plans. It is especially unreasonable when other flags - those of Iraq or Palestine, for example, highly contentious symbols themselves - are not subject to such bans.

Furthermore, slaves were brought to the USA on ships sailing under the Stars and Stripes - there is no suggestion that that should be banned; rather, in many states the national flag is present by statutory requirement in every public building.

In a nation that encourages minorities to celebrate their own cultures more and more, to demand a cessation of such celebration regarding the culture of the South (of which this is the most vivid symbol) is little short of perverse. The Confederate flag forms a significant element of several state flags, Georgia’s being a prominent example. As such it means more than Confederacy of the past - it also means pride in the south of the present. Slavery ended nearly 150 years ago; the flag means something very different to the people that proudly display it now. A comparison with Nazism is both repulsive and unfair.

This is very different from the other ‘disruptive’ influences identified here. They have no positive contribution. On the other hand, pride in one’s region is a legitimate, even laudable passion. This is an attempt to refute Southern heritage; it shouldn’t be allowed in schools or anywhere else. In 1969 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that school officials could not prohibit students from wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War - why can’t students show their support for their home?

It is discriminatory to ban Confederate symbols because they do not fit in with some people’s views of what the South should be like. Southerners who respect their Confederate heritage and wish to preserve traditional ways are now an embattled group, assaulted by politically correct liberals and others who want to publicise their own minority rights agenda. If we value diversity and respect each other’s cultures, why should that of the old South be uniquely singled out for attack? If others did not claim to be offended by traditional symbols, then there would be no negative publicity.

found this on a website

[radaret]

If history and tolerance rather than hatred the Confederate flag would be a non-issue. I am no less offended by it than I am by the American flag which slavery was first started under. Not to mention the persecution and genocide of the Native American people. Yet, I support both flags not for the issues they represent but the people who fought and died under it.

[RebelRay]

i was born and raised in the dirty south. i am black...and the only people who feel a deep seated pride in that flag are those who agree with its ideologies.

i don' like...it offends me...but you know what..that isn't gonna stop me from doing my job.

And the term "dirty south" offends me,as does a lot of other things,but guess what?No where in the constitution does it say we have a right not to be offended.

As far as "the only people who feel a deep seated pride in that flag are those who agree with its ideologies" you presume much and know very little.

[Richard B the EMT]

Prior to the posting, I'd never heard the phrase, "dirty south", so, as a New York, New York resident, have no idea of what it implies.

While on that line, aside from the foodstuff of a "Ritz", what is a "Cracker?'

[radaret]

Prior to the posting, I'd never heard the phrase, "dirty south", so, as a New York, New York resident, have no idea of what it implies.

While on that line, aside from the foodstuff of a "Ritz", what is a "Cracker?'

From urbandictonary.com:

dirty south: the southern part of the US, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida Ect. Also Known as "The 3rd Coast"

Cracker: Originally the white slave driver because he would "crack" the whip, hence the noun cracker.

[Richard B the EMT]

10-Q, radaret.

[emt_hound]

Aww, jeez...please don't label Texas as part of the South.

Yeah, I know they fought with the South...but Texas is Texas and the South is the South...it's like saying Miami is part of the South...or Vienna, Virginia...

I mean, Texas's arch-rival is freakin' Oklahoma!