Is Georgia's state flag next to fall? (Columbus: buy, cost)

[bUU]

If you read the page you linked to, you'll see how much of the point made was about objection by Georgia to being ruled over by what they perceived as a northern-dominated national government ... "they shall not rule over them". Yes, slavery was an issue, but as a symptom of the objection not the entirety of it, and there is only one, almost tangential, mention in the page you linked to that asserts white supremacy. You can say that it was assumed, and you would be correct, but that's what I said above ("any more than the Union was"). Racism was practically universal, not limited to the Confederacy, although it varied by degree between slave-owners and abolitionists, for sure.

Regardless, the point is not so much about what was but what is. I know of no identifiable white supremacist groups, or groups with racist tendencies, that use the first flag of the Confederacy as their icon. Perhaps you can point out such cases, as a means of defending your implied assertion that the state's use of that flag is explicitly an endorsement of racism. Such evidence would help me see your side of the argument better.

[cnd33]

Originally Posted by Southern man

Ok, erase the embarrassing monument and remove the flag at the base, then life will be good, just milk and honey? Or is their something else? We know there is.

Nope, but removing symbols that represent a bad time in history where a group of people was oppressed would certainly be a good first step to making things better for everyone. You keep saying that removing the flag won't make things milk and honey, but will keeping it there make anything better for anyone? NO. I think your logic is a little flawed. Why would you even want to continue to fly a flag that become a symbol of racism against a group of people, unless you were racist yourself? Is it there making anything closer to milk and honey or better for anyone? NO. Is it offensive to many people. YES. So, why would you want to keep it up if its not helping anything?

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by cnd33

Nope, but removing symbols that represent a bad time in history where a group of people was oppressed would certainly be a good first step to making things better for everyone. You keep saying that removing the flag won't make things milk and honey, but will keeping it there make anything better for anyone? NO. I think your logic is a little flawed. Why would you even want to continue to fly a flag that become a symbol of racism against a group of people, unless you were racist yourself? Is it there making anything closer to milk and honey or better for anyone? NO. Is it offensive to many people. YES. So, why would you want to keep it up if its not helping anything?

I'm all for removing the Confederate flag, but the fact that hate groups have adopted it is not a good reason. Hate groups also use the American flag...a hate group can adopt any symbol they want, but we shouldn't vilify the symbol just for that reason. There are plenty of reasons to take down the Confederate flag, but its use by a murdering lunatic shouldn't be one of them.

[Southern man]

Originally Posted by cnd33

Nope, but removing symbols that represent a bad time in history where a group of people was oppressed would certainly be a good first step to making things better for everyone. You keep saying that removing the flag won't make things milk and honey, but will keeping it there make anything better for anyone? NO. I think your logic is a little flawed. Why would you even want to continue to fly a flag that become a symbol of racism against a group of people, unless you were racist yourself? Is it there making anything closer to milk and honey or better for anyone? NO. Is it offensive to many people. YES. So, why would you want to keep it up if its not helping anything?

Like I said,"erase the embarrassing monument and remove the flag"
Is that all? What about all the streets, counties, and statues. Is that enough? I suspect it will never be enough.

[aus10]

Has anyone but me ever wondered exactly why the U.S. South is the only thing people think of when they think of slavery? As if no other area of the world nor no other people have ever suffered through it? And the fact that as of this very morning human trafficking still does exist. I find it sad that as Americans, of any race, we don't put near the effort to stop what is going on today as we put in complaining about the past.

[jeoff]

My initial reaction was--"no, not again--didn't we fix this last time?" But, the truth is that no, we didn't. The most recent Georgia flag was a step in the right direction--but Georgia needs to stop being defined by its relationship to the Confederacy--and the current flag does not do that.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by Iam4USC

I'm exaggerating, obviously. But the way things are going, you will only be able to buy Union soldiers, union hats and union souvenirs. Pretty one sided for a historical site. Pretty soon, the PC people of this country will vilify and wipe out the memory of the cowboy. Because the Indian was so oppressed.

It's already happening. History will be wiped clean.

You poor thing. What's next, we start shunning slavery and other forms racial discrimination?

The Civil War is nothing to trifle about. We lost more Americans in that war--and I am counting both sides--than in every other war that we fought. And when you look at the percentage of American lives lost, particularly older boys and young men, the numbers are even more staggering.

[toll_booth]

For some background, note that every flag of the state of Georgia since 1879, except for the one we briefly had over a decade ago, was very similar if not identical to one of the two major Confederate flags.

The "Stars and Bars":



Georgia's current state flag:



Aside from the state seal, it's practically the same flag. But, as some have noted, it's not the one commonly referred to as the battle flag.

Personally, this is my favorite Confederate flag:

[TUMF]

If anybody thinks that taking down a flag, removing a symbol that's been around as long as it's been around - a symbol that was NOT ever intended to become the radical racial, hurtful symbol that it has become - will stop violence and hatred? Then may I sell you a bridge in New York?

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by Tumf

If anybody thinks that taking down a flag, removing a symbol that's been around as long as it's been around - a symbol that was NOT ever intended to become the radical racial, hurtful symbol that it has become - will stop violence and hatred? Then may I sell you a bridge in New York?

Not even looking at violence or racist intent--the flag is modeled after the "national" flag of the Confederacy--all of the citizens of a state should be able to be proud of its flag--this flag is so tied to a past that is so hurtful to so many--it belongs in the past.