Southerners: Why is the Nazi flag considered offensive but the Confederate flag is not? (racist, speech)
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This is an honest question. Most Southerners who adorn Confederate flags on their house, cars or clothes, would also agree that the Nazi flag is an offensive symbol and shouldn't be worn as a symbol of German pride. However, both flags were established by political organizations who envisioned and even fought for their ideology of a nation-state based on white supremacy and the subjugation of minorities. Jefferson Davis' Corner Stone speech clearly said the Confederacy was primarily based on preserving the institution of African-American chattel slavery. The Confederate battle flag is thus a symbol of the struggle for Southern white supremacy and preservation of slavery, while Hitler stated the swastika was the symbol of the struggle of the Aryan man to regain his supremacy. If they both have such similar histories, why is one now a symbol of regional pride while the other is considered a hate symbol?
This is an honest question. Most Southerners who adorn Confederate flags on their house, cars or clothes, would also agree that the Nazi flag is an offensive symbol and shouldn't be worn as a symbol of German pride. However, both flags were established by political organizations who envisioned and even fought for their ideology of a nation-state based on white supremacy and the subjugation of minorities. Jefferson Davis' Corner Stone speech clearly said the Confederacy was primarily based on preserving the institution of African-American chattel slavery. The Confederate battle flag is thus a symbol of the struggle for Southern white supremacy and preservation of slavery, while Hitler stated the swastika was the symbol of the struggle of the Aryan man to regain his supremacy. If they both have such similar histories, why is one now a symbol of regional pride while the other is considered a hate symbol?
It's all according to who is offended by which flag. When I see a confederate flag it doesn't make me proud, it makes me think the flag bearer is ignorant. And I'm southern, born and bred.
The person who displays that symbol is the one who defines what it symbolizes.
The Confederate flag isn't a symbol of White supremacy and slavery to the people who display that flag. It symbolizes other things.
When people display symbols, it's an invitation for those who notice those symbols to ask what that symbol means to the person displaying it. It's not to provoke a rush to judgment.
This is an honest question. Most Southerners who adorn Confederate flags on their house, cars or clothes, would also agree that the Nazi flag is an offensive symbol and shouldn't be worn as a symbol of German pride. However, both flags were established by political organizations who envisioned and even fought for their ideology of a nation-state based on white supremacy and the subjugation of minorities. Jefferson Davis' Corner Stone speech clearly said the Confederacy was primarily based on preserving the institution of African-American chattel slavery. The Confederate battle flag is thus a symbol of the struggle for Southern white supremacy and preservation of slavery, while Hitler stated the swastika was the symbol of the struggle of the Aryan man to regain his supremacy. If they both have such similar histories, why is one now a symbol of regional pride while the other is considered a hate symbol?
Your understanding of the Confederate cause is very very limited and is no doubt a result of being taught all of your life that the war was regarding the question of slavery. Slavery was an issue of course but not the primary issue of the war. A very small % of the boys fighting for the south owned slaves or even cared about that particular question.
The main issue of the war was about the freedom of the people of a sovereign state to plot their own destiny against an overbearing central power of a federal government detirmined to prevent that. It was nothing new in the Republic and in fact had been an issue right from the start. It was the Hamiltonian vision of the USA pitted against the Jeffersonian vision taken to the battlefield. The Jeffersonian vision of State's rights was of course and still is constitutional. The Hamiltonian vision of immence power and control by a federal government was and still to this day is not constitutional.
Lincoln, who is idiolized today as a great leader was the President who destroyed constitutional government in the country and it has continued on to this day. This action of course greatly altered the history of the entire world. If the civil war had never been fought it is extremely unlikely that the USA would have participated in WW1. That fact would have changed the outcome of that war completely causing most likely a stalemate and the rebuilding of Europe on that basis. Instead we had the rape and destruction of Germany that directly lead to Hitler, the Nazis and WW2.
Because the winning side in the civil war would like people to understand, this was a war to free the slaves, while it was not in any way a war about that. It follows that these same central power supporting people would like to show any and all confederate symbols as racist and negative in any light. It's difficult to undo revisionist history that has been taught from the end of the war to this day.
This is an honest question. Most Southerners who adorn Confederate flags on their house, cars or clothes, would also agree that the Nazi flag is an offensive symbol and shouldn't be worn as a symbol of German pride. However, both flags were established by political organizations who envisioned and even fought for their ideology of a nation-state based on white supremacy and the subjugation of minorities. Jefferson Davis' Corner Stone speech clearly said the Confederacy was primarily based on preserving the institution of African-American chattel slavery. The Confederate battle flag is thus a symbol of the struggle for Southern white supremacy and preservation of slavery, while Hitler stated the swastika was the symbol of the struggle of the Aryan man to regain his supremacy. If they both have such similar histories, why is one now a symbol of regional pride while the other is considered a hate symbol?
Here is the way I look at it.
The majority of the people that fought for the south were fighting for their home, not to maintain slavery. Should someone not be proud of their ancestors who fought to defend their home? Personally, someone flying the Confederate National Flag would be much more offensive than the Confederate Battle Flag, since flying the national flag could definitely be seen as supporting every idea that the South had. The battle flag could simply honor ancestors that fought for their home.
Now of course, there are ignorant people that use all kinds of symbols everywhere.
I sincerely hope that this is an honest question and you are not trying to bait.
Quote:
Originally Posted by carterstamp
It was cloaked in states rights. The plantation owners wanted to keep their slaves. It was more profitable for them to do so.
We have a winner. I like the idea of states taking more responsibility with a more limited government at the federal level, but the quoted statement is definitely true.
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