Quote:
Originally Posted by AlfieBoy
Already answered your question. The American flag represents the greatness we have achieved and the greatness to which we aspire, the unity we once knew and the unity we may, may, again achieve. It represents our finest, most noble instincts. The Confederate flag, not so much.
I hope I clarified your question, and thanks for being civil. I know this is a controversial topic, and we need to reason, not argue.
Best,
AB
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No worries, I don't take any of this personal, just expressing my opinions. If you've read my posts you know I'm looking at this at a high level trying to see a bigger issue in all of this, the slippery slope this is all heading towards in my view.
Understand your point and I agree, the American flag shouldn't be banned from any place within our country, public or private, being flown or on a shirt, emblem, sticker, button, etc. And no one has the right to tell us otherwise even if they disagree. Freedom of choice is a good thing!
Ooops. Some don't agree with us though. Look what happened just about a year ago.
Court OKs school's ban on U.S. flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo - CNN.com
And this was decided at a high level court that it was ok to ban given the circumstances(!). The American Flag, symbol of our own country, a trigger of violence. Without it being displayed on a shirt/clothing item, everything apparently will be a-OK because banning the American flag on a kids shirt is the go-to solution in fixing the underlying violence problem in a school.
So given something that you and many feel represents "greatness", "unity", the "finest" in us, etc., how in the world did we get to the point where others and a high court feel otherwise, 180 degrees from your view/others and most importantly, take such drastic actions in my view to suppress a symbol that represents our country that is such a positive image to many to "solve" a problem?
And there lies my issue/parallel with the Confederate Flag. Some feel just as justified that the Confederate flag represents something positive to them. They might have had relatives fight for it and honor it for this reason, part of their history, just like the POW-MIA honors fallen soldiers with a flag that fly's over public/gov grounds in North Carolina.
NC Historic Sites - State Capitol - Flags Over the Capitol
So I think we might be able to understand if we open our mind a little on why some feel the Confederate flag should be flown on gov grounds in some southern states. Some see it as hatred like you do. Who's view trumps the other?
And that's the issue in my book. Who decides who's opinion is more important/valid? I can tell you it shouldn't be decided by idiots like myself on city data who don't live in the Confederate southern eastern state yet want to tell them what to do with their flag within their own borders and what it stands for?
Just a tad too arrogant in my book. But I digress......
In the case of the American Flag above, some felt it would incite violence/stir hate as the above URL indicates in that situation. Isn't that ironic? Interesting parallel given that some like yourself see the Confederate flag in a negative light and feel it shouldn't be displayed in certain circumstance(flying on public grounds). 2 symbols, each can be viewed as positive or negative, depending on one's perspective/our own bias/ignorance/prejudices/a given situation. And again, who's view is right/who should tell the other side their side is "right"? And who's "wrong"?
The slippery slope element in all of this is painfully clear to me. The no gray thinking that permeates this thread is pretty sad in my book.