The Confederate Flag

is a symbol of hate

Published on May 15, 2005 By dabe In Politics

It dredges up racism, the KKK, white supremist scumbags, Nazis, Jew haters, and just plain hate. Some people claim that the confederate flag is a symbol of a wonderful southern heritage. Bullshit. If anyone choses to display this controversial symbol, s/he should not be surprised if others question the sanity of this act. Or, the outright stupidity. Racism is, after all, institutionalized insanity. And flag-waving hatred is dumb, at best.

Although people have the right to display whatever they want (hell, my avatar is one of very specific hatred), and I defend the First Amendment of the Constitution that protects free speech, I will never forget the message that hate symbols represent. And, I will also exercise my right of free speech and protest such symbology whereever and whenever I encounter it.

A website you might find rather entertaining on this subject is here http://www.cagle.com/news/flag/

Other good is the ADL site http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/default_graphics.asp which includes all kinds of hate symbols, including the confederate flag.

Comments (Page 1)

ParaTed2k

on May 15, 2005

True Dabe...

There are two sides to every symbol, that which the displayer implies, and that which the observer infers. I'm often amazed at the directions posts to an article can go. Facets of the topic I would never have imagined are pointed out, dissected and even made fun of... Just as the meaning of an article can be taken as many ways as there are readers, the meaning of a symbol can mean as many things as there are people observing it.

I admit, I have a 3x5 Confederate Flag. It is folded up in a box somewhere in my basement. I bought it when I lived in Florida, to me, all it meant was "The South". I bought it with a few other mimentos of the Southern Living that I enjoyed. I've now spent about 1/4 of my 42 years in The South; I have had a great time living there. To me, the South does not mean Slavery, Racism or Hate. True, there was slavery, there is racism and there is much hate in the South, but that is not the end all be all of living there. I've lived in 11 States and 4 countries. Each had its version of hatred, and examples of racism. None should be defined exclusively by them.

Up until the year 1978, there was a law on the books in Missouri called "The Mormon Extermination Act". It was passed in the 1840s. It literally made killing Mormons not only legal, but considered a "patriotic act". If we (as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) were to follow the logic of the Confederate Battle Flag, we would consider Missouri a Hate-filled, Religiously bigoted state. However, we don't. Why? Because we don't choose to define the people of an entire state by the acts of a few.

Yes, you have every right to have visions of whips, chains, slave ships and human auctions when you see that flag, but if it impells you to further the hate and bigotry you loath about "The South", why would you?

MasonM

on May 15, 2005

Wow dabe, I'm really impressed by the fact that you know what's in the minds of other people when they display a certain flag. You should be on Letterman or something.

-----

on May 15, 2005

Citizen ParaTed2k

I 2nd that.....

The symbol does not define the person,kinda like...racism...so i gues dabe could be considered racist...(not saying she is, but could.)

MythicalMino

on May 15, 2005

and we might as well damn the Dukes of Hazard and that hate-filled bigotry of the General Lee!!!!!!

Give me a break...

-----

on May 15, 2005

General Lee

ironically, Lee only joined the south because he loved virginia,his home state, he didn't give a damn about the south's ''cause''....

ParaTed2k

on May 15, 2005

and we might as well damn the Dukes of Hazard and that hate-filled bigotry of the General Lee!!!!!!

I've wondered how that is going to be taken in our modern PC era. Bo, Luke and Daisy were tearing up the dirt roads of Hazzard County on TV long before PC reared its ugly head. I wonder how an institution as "diverse" and "un racist" as Hollywood could have forgotten such a blaring detail. ;~D

Ionolast

on May 15, 2005

Link

"For most people, the image of the Confederate Flag conjures up the "blue cross with white stars on a red background" which is more properly known as the Confederate battle flag, but in fact, there were a number of Confederate Flags used during the war, and many regiments and companies had their own unique flags."

Ionolast

on May 15, 2005

I've lived in Tennessee most of my life. I think interpreting that flag as racist is ridiculous. If the south wanted a racist flag, why didn't they make one that is obviously racist? Why doesn't it depict a slave being whipped? Would they have cared that it offended black people? I don't think so.

dabe

on May 15, 2005

And you all think I invented this? It's just my interpretation? I don't think so. I'm just pointing it out. And, as I said, I recognize the controversy. But, if you're gonna post this flag, expect both sides.

As for the Dukes of Hazard, this is a dumb argument. Hollywood was clearly lilly white until very recently. It wasn't about forgetting a minor detail. It was about complete disregard of anything and anyone non-white. Besides, I hated that trashy show.

bakerstreet

on May 15, 2005

If someone claimed Islamic symbolism was too steeped in hate you'd be all over them like white on rice. I have known many black people in the South, and the only ones that ever seemed bothered by the flag were overtly racist themselves.

This arguement from the Left is always so transparently hypocritical. These people are supposedly concerned with pcensorship and freedom of expression, and would probably defend any terrorist or swastika-wearing monster that walked in.

If you can find yourself a means of expression that only pertains to people you HATE, though, well, then blanket judgmentalism and persecution is a grand thing, even if you know the majority of people who used the sybol down through History WEREN'T hateful or bigoted.

Manopeace

on May 15, 2005

I see your point Dabe...BUT... if you present it in a friendlier way, sans condemnation and name calling, people might listen to what you have to say.
The 'crimes' comitted in the southern states were unforgiveable. The mentality that lingers on there as a result is frightening.
As one that participated for years in the civil rights movement, I encountered people with mentalities that could frighten anyone with a thinking mind. I also met warm, wonderful people from the south that were totally opposed to the attocities that took place in their areas.
The flag to many might represent a south that "could have been", not necessarilly the south that was.
Dabe, the only way to change a persons mind is to first listen to what they say... again I stress to you the importance of opening your own mind and being more tolerant of others without condemning so quickly.
That is really the only way " We Shall Overcome".

-----

on May 16, 2005

Another Symbolic thing that people now attribute with hate is the Swastika.

Here's a link about it. --> Link

It only became evil when the Nazi's used it.

Manopeace

on May 16, 2005

Lucas... there is NO comparison between the swastika and the confederate flag. True, it had a history before the nazis stole it, but it has become the symbol of the nazis and their evil deeds as a result.
No symbol in recent history has become as hated as the swastika and the ideology associated with it.

dabe

on May 16, 2005

there is NO comparison between the swastika

Actually, I disagree. The one and only comparison is that a symbol with an entirely different history, the swastika, was forever ruined by the Nazis. When my son was about 13, he came home from school one day with the swastika drawn on his pants. When I got upset, he told me that it was really a symbol of love and life, or whatever. I told him that the ancient historical meaning was irrelevant today, as it was coopted by the Nazis. I threw away the pants, and he understood.

Maybe, just maybe the confederate flag did have some historical notion of a southern pride absent racism. But, not anymore. It is clearly a symbol of pride that only whites would display, and it is now, without a doubt, mired in hate, having been coopted by a repressive and hateful segment of southern thinking. Any sense of good representation has been ruined by them. And, anyone who denies this is in LaLa Land. Whatever it meant then is no longer. It's a symbol of hate.

I'll maybe concede that all people who display this flag are not racists, maybe. But, they sure are in LaLa Land. It's an offensive symbol, plain and simple.

Spectat0r

on May 16, 2005

Reply By: Lucas BaileyPosted: Monday, May 16, 2005Another Symbolic thing that people now attribute with hate is the Swastika.Here's a link about it. --> LinkIt only became evil when the Nazi's used it.

Well, actually, the Nazis did invent the swastika, or at least the 45 degrees rotated version of it. So this symbol is rightfully considered evil, because it is evil.

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