Confederate Flags in the Portland Metro Area (Joseph: construction, design)

[Drake744]

Originally Posted by Rob Allen

The Japanese and the Germans changed their flags after the war because those flags had become symbols of discredited regimes. The Confederacy is nothing to be proud of, and flying its flag is comparable to flying a Rising Sun or swastika. If you're proud of your home in the South, fly the state flag of your home state.

Slavery is nothing to be proud of. Outside of the south, people don't really understand that there's more to the Confederate States than slavery.

I realize it's Oregon, not the south, but in the south if you told a guy waving a Confederate flag that he was a slavery-loving racist stuck in the Civil War era, most of the time you'd probably get slapped in the face.

[Rob Allen]

The Confederacy was founded to protect and defend slavery.

[Drake744]

Originally Posted by Rob Allen

The Confederacy was founded to protect and defend slavery.

Yes I know. I guess all I can say to sum it up is this. To many present-day Southerners, the Confederate flag represents more of a "Southern Redneck" culture, not one of slavery or racism. In other areas of the country, I'm well aware that it's not seen this way, rather as a symbol of hate. I get that.

[kapetrich]

As an east coaster this has always baffled me too. Always.

I went to a Mcmenamins 'talk' a few years back titled "Oregon and the Civil War." Short end of the story? Oregon has no 'real' history in the Civil War.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by kapetrich

As an east coaster this has always baffled me too. Always.

I went to a Mcmenamins 'talk' a few years back titled "Oregon and the Civil War." Short end of the story? Oregon has no 'real' history in the Civil War.

In Oregon I get the Cascadia flag over the Confederate flag.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

So what I am getting from this thread is this:

1. Somebody saw a confederate battle flag on a car.
2. Some people are saying it's a sign of clueless racists hicks.
3. Some people are saying that it is a display of southern pride, not racism.
4. Nobody knows why these stickers are on a couple of cars, but are making a ton of assumptions.
5. The flag means different things to different people from different parts of the country.
6. Nothing much anybody can do about it except grumble about it, or try to defend it.
7. This thread is pointless, but it's a slow day anyways, so why not.

BTW, THIS is the Confederate "Stars and Bars":


THIS is a Confederate Battle Flag, the one being discussed:

[karlsch]

I read somewhere where 76.8% of them are displayed for no other reason than to make libruls angry.

[Mattks]

The Confederate flag is just the cool thing for rednecks and mostly southern conservatives who don't like what the US currently stands for. If I drove to the south with my John Brown holding a gun and bible license plate, I'd probably get some negative looks and comments as well. The Confederate flag isn't really accepted in the north and for good reason. If southerners want to claim some sort of pride or heritage in the Confederate flag, whatever, but I'd have no pride in that and would be ashamed of displaying it. People can do what they want, but I think the, "Don't tread on me" flag is much more relevant and something to be proud of for all Americans.

[zitsky]

I only lived in Oregon for 2 years so I consider myself an outsider. I live in Raleigh, NC now. I didn't see many confederate flags in Oregon, nor do I see many here in Raleigh. But I think it's rather strange to ignore the history behind it. Is it not true that Oregon has it's own history of racism and KKK activity? It's one thing to be proud of your culture. It's something else altogether to think that it was OK to support slavery.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by zitsky

I only lived in Oregon for 2 years so I consider myself an outsider. I live in Raleigh, NC now. I didn't see many confederate flags in Oregon, nor do I see many here in Raleigh. But I think it's rather strange to ignore the history behind it. Is it not true that Oregon has it's own history of racism and KKK activity? It's one thing to be proud of your culture. It's something else altogether to think that it was OK to support slavery.

Yep, Oregon has a real history of racism.