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Nope. It's clear that he meant it as a racist statement. No doubt he knows that it gets Black folk quite worked up. As the post I was responding to, whether it's racist or not, is determined by the party flying it.
I'm surprised you are not able to figure out this difference.
Quote:
And to those who wish to fly the flag, it does not represent racism.
Your post is worded in such a way that suggest that those who fly it do not use it as a symbol of racism.
I personally do not care who flies the flag, black, white, etc, nor what their intentions or beliefs are.
The flying of the flag does get a lot of people worked up, it's not limited to one group of people.
You fell for it too. The leftist Washington Post columnist that stated that "fact" was 7 years old at the time. That is nothing more than his opinion.
No, it was raised in 1961 at the centennial ceremony after the Ft Sumpter re-enactment.
South Carolina has not always flown the flag. The state’s first modern hoisting of the standard came in 1961, as part of official commemorations of the centennial anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. . . . The flag’s place at the Capitol was officially confirmed by the state legislature the following year.
Speaking at the celebration, State Senator John D. Long reminded the crowd that hanging the Confederate flag in the state house, which he supported, was about more than regional heritage. According to the remembrances of Daniel Hollis, who participated in the planning of the state’s Civil War anniversary celebration, Long said that Reconstruction had been “more insidious than war and equally evil in consequences, until the prostrate South staggered to her knees assisted by the original Ku Klux Klan and the Red Shirts who redeemed the South and restored her to her own.”
Nope. It's clear that he meant it as a racist statement. No doubt he knows that it gets Black folk quite worked up. As the post I was responding to, whether it's racist or not, is determined by the party flying it.
I'm surprised you are not able to figure out this difference.
Not really. If I wear a cross, it's still a symbol of Christianity regardless of my personal beliefs.
The swastika is a cool looking symbol, but would you fly it on a flag in front of your house.
This is why your comparison is flawed:
The Swastika was the national flag of the nazi party. The Iron Cross was the battle flag/symbol of the wermarcht and still used today.
The "stars and bars" was the national flag of the Confederate States of America. The "St. Andrews Cross" flag was uses as the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia and later the CSA, but should not be confused with the national flag.
I would not fly the swastika obviously. The German's have no problem with the Iron Cross while the swastika is outlawed from public display. I have no problem with the confederate battle flag, unfortunetly it's been adapted as a symbol of hatred by a minority of those ignorant about history. Regretfully we have allowed the feelings of a minority intent on hate to reflect on an symbol who's originall intention was anything but.
One solution is, instead of moving it to the underground, where it will make the problem worse, to embrace it, show it everywhere, teach about it, make it a topic of discusion...take it back from those that converted it to a symbol of hate.
Thanks for an outstanding post on Quora, I learned something that many Americans, it seems don't know about their own history. Sadly, this is a common theme on many issues. Its even worse that outsiders know more and points toward what I feel is a high degree of propaganda perpetrated on what is overall many decent people, both black and white, who sadly are simply misinformed.
This issue refers often to the 'Confederate Flag', but simply put, it is no such thing. What it is, is a symbol of the KKK, used specifically to protest the civil rights movement and the growing equity of African Americans. The flag that is under discussion has no other meaning other than racism. It doesn't exist for anything else.
The above flag did exist, in the same aspect ratio displayed. It was called the Army of Northern Virginia Battle Flag and it was designed by William Porcher Miles.
However, it was used only as a part, of the Confederate flag;
This was in fact the second Confederate flag, the story goes that on a windy day, it could have been mistaken for a surrender flag, which is why it was changed.
You may have seen the first Confederate flag before with the stars added to represent the states added;
Another, with more stars added;
The third (improved) confederate flag looked like this;
Anyway, around 1930, there was a revival of the KKK and their flag was an invention; it had never existed before. The flag of the Army of Northern Virginia had a different aspect ratio than the KKK Flag;
This flag, the KKK one, not any Battle Flag, Army flag or Confederate Flag has been flying over the State House at Columbia, South Carolina since 1962 as an emblem of resistance to the civil rights movement.
It can be argued that the Confederate flag is not racist; that it represents 'Southern Pride', or the blood of their ancestors and that although others have used the flag to mean other things, their own belief is sound and wholesome.
But they are not using the right flag to do so. I would suggest that someone so concerned regarding their heritage, would take some time to learn about it, and respect the correct emblems and not racist ones.
Furthermore, this heritage, is unarguably linked to slavery; its in every speech the leaders of the South ever made and highlights how the movement of the south was not financial, but moral, based upon arguments of a 'superior race', specifically refusing to agree;
And on and on it goes, speech after speech. This one from the Vice President of the confederate States, Alexander H. Stephens, Savannah, Georgia, March 21, 1861.
It is my view, and I believe of most reasonable Americans, who know a little of their history, to accept that the past was a very racist place; values were different, our current enlightenment on many issues have changed.
However, once the truth is known, there can be no other conclusion - the Emblem is soaked in the blood of innocents, of African men, women and children throughout American history. It is a thing to be ashamed of, regardless of who fought for whom. Here, in Europe, we have an understanding of the power of symbolism and the harm it causes. The Nazi flag, whether co-opted from elsewhere, has a history none can deny, I would argue, because the history is well taught and incontrovertible.
Its time for many Americans to learn something about their history, accept the facts which cannot be changed.
For me, the flag we are referring to, the KKK flag always means this;
Lets stop pretending that symbols do not have power, that imagery has no history, that acts have no context and people are not shaped by the society in which they live. We are better than that. Accepting some basic truths would go a long way.
The Swastika was the national flag of the nazi party. The Iron Cross was the battle flag/symbol of the wermarcht and still used today.
The "stars and bars" was the national flag of the Confederate States of America. The "St. Andrews Cross" flag was uses as the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia and later the CSA, but should not be confused with the national flag.
I would not fly the swastika or the stars and bars in front of my house. The German's have no problem with the Iron Cross while the swastika is outlawed from public display. I have no problem with the confederate battle flag, unfortunetly it's been adapted as a symbol of hatred by a minority of those ignorant about history. Regretfully we have allowed the feelings of a minority intent on hate to reflect on an symbol who's originall intention was anything but.
The symbol-bearers' intent was to destroy the United States. How is that not a symbol of hate?
Not really. If I wear a cross, it's still a symbol of Christianity regardless of my personal beliefs.
By that logic then, the Confederate Flag is a symbol of the CSA. Nothing more, nothing less.
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