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The Confederate Flag is a source of Pride by those who display it. It says without words that
" I am an illiterate redneck and I like it"
" the north won the war but they didn't deal with me"
"I am not a racist ( but I wish minorities would get lost and America would be white again)"
" Even with only a 3rd grade education I knew George W Bush was a great president- how come most college educated people can't figure that out"
"My state has one of the lowest literacy rates- but read this flag!"
" I am from one of the fattest states ( Ala Miss then GA etc) - We eat good"
How many Blacks or professionals do you see with this flag?
I only knew one black person who frequently wore a Dixie Outfitters t-shirt. Other than that, nearly all of the black people I know detest the Confederate flag without any apology. I don't blame them for it either. Many of them are proud to be from Georgia, but they don't see the Confederate flag as part of their heritage, but more, something horrible.
So are they aware of this? What is the reason they give? I honestly never saw this in South Florida, the first I saw it was when I moved to Tennessee....
The NAACP, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is still trying to keep racism alive.
A while ago they sued the state of South Carolina over flying the Confederate flag over the state capital building. They instituted a "boycott" of SC.
A compromise was reached and the flag was taken down. It is still displayed on state property.
The boycott remains in effect.
The Myrtle Beach Dept. of Tourism was just turned for getting the ACC basketball tounament held in Myrtle Beach because the Flag flies in Columbia, SC. The local NAACP has made no objections. just the national office.
Many state events are held here an no one objects.
The local NAACP even supports Black Bike Week which is held every year.
Ant time the NAACP can stir the pot they will/have.
Why doesn't the NAACP go after SC for flying the state flag? After all it was in place when the civil war took place.
To me, the NAACP goes after the Battle flag only because the KKK hijacked it and used it in as thier own.
If all black people are offended when they see the flag, then they need some education about the war.
By the way, i am offended by the NAACP, because they haven't changed thier name and taken out "Colore People" from thier name. I would think more people would be offend by that description than a flag.
I reside in the South and when I look at the Confederate flag, I am reminded of many things, none of them good. If you look at the history of the Civil War, you will understand why many people do not like the Confederate flag. I have researched the history. Many of the plantation owners were prepared to secede from the Union because they wanted to keep slaves. They felt like the North was telling them what to do. They used other people who had nothing to do with the cause as pawns to fight for the South. Yes, there were other problems. It was said that the USA was getting close to "nanny state". I personally don't care. If I was living in the South back in 1861, I would have been a slave.
Exactly.
Which is why northern states, such as Maryland which fought against the south on the union side for example, outlawed slavery long before the emancipation proclamation. Right?
Actually wrong.
First thing you need to learn is the civil war wasn't fought over the issue of slavery. Sorry to pop your bubble but it just wasn't and it is stupid to think it was so.
Hundreds of thousands of white Americans on both sides died in this war and do you really believe for a moment tens of thousands of white northern mothers and fathers would tolerate for a minute their sons dying to free black slaves in the south? Do you really believe this because if you do I got a bridge I would like to sell you.
Then there was the south. Most whites in the south didn't own slaves and the fact is the vast majority of southern whites didn't own slaves. Do you think white mothers and fathers would tolerate sending their sons off to die in a war so farmer Jones could keep his 100 plantation slaves?
By 1860 the institution of slavery was almost over and it would have ended as economically nonviable by 1870 be there war or not.
Which is why northern states, such as Maryland which fought against the south on the union side for example, outlawed slavery long before the emancipation proclamation. Right?
Actually wrong.
First thing you need to learn is the civil war wasn't fought over the issue of slavery. Sorry to pop your bubble but it just wasn't and it is stupid to think it was so.
Hundreds of thousands of white Americans on both sides died in this war and do you really believe for a moment tens of thousands of white northern mothers and fathers would tolerate for a minute their sons dying to free black slaves in the south? Do you really believe this because if you do I got a bridge I would like to sell you.
Then there was the south. Most whites in the south didn't own slaves and the fact is the vast majority of southern whites didn't own slaves. Do you think white mothers and fathers would tolerate sending their sons off to die in a war so farmer Jones could keep his 100 plantation slaves?
By 1860 the institution of slavery was almost over and it would have ended as economically nonviable by 1870 be there war or not.
Think about this for a moment. The slave owners could find ways to get other people to fight their battles, and not necessarily use the subject of slavery to get the poor, white farmers who didn't own slaves to fight their cause. Yes, there were other issues, such as a risk of a "nanny state". Slave owners could have used that to get people to fight for the south.
I am aware there were people in Maryland who held slaves, but Maryland was also more industrialised than places such as South Carolina and Mississippi. Maryland didn't depend totally on slavery. There are other things to think about. When you think about. slavery was a major issue in the Civil War. Why else would the Confederate Army issue a decree to re-enslave black Union soldiers that were captured and put their commanders to death?
First thing you need to learn is the civil war wasn't fought over the issue of slavery. Sorry to pop your bubble but it just wasn't and it is stupid to think it was so.
.
I'm sure a large number of Confederate soldiers felt like they were simply defending their homes and didn't really care about or maybe even opposed slavery.
However, there is the little matter of the battle of Fort Sumter, the opening engagement of the Civil War. The Confederates fired first.
Why did they want independence and "State's Rights"?
What state right were they fighting for? The right to keep slaves. What was the difference in the economic system? Slaves.
Sure, they had to be fed. But they did not have to be paid a wage.
From the Cornerstone Speech, Savannah, Georgia, 1861 its corner- stone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery -- subordination to the superior race -- is his natural and normal condition
Look at the Declaration from Texas, the state's reasoning for its secession: That in this free government all white men are and of right ought to be entitled to equal civil and political rights; that the servitude of the African race, as existing in these States, is mutually beneficial to both bond and free, and is abundantly authorized and justified by the experience of mankind, and the revealed will of the Almighty Creator, as recognized by all Christian nations; while the destruction of the existing relations between the two races, as advocated by our sectional enemies, would bring inevitable calamities upon both and desolation upon the fifteen slave-holding states.
I understand that some folks could be as rednecky as all get-out, and still not be racist. I know some of them.
I realize that everyone has the right to pick a symbol they identify with.
To me that flag usually says "Yeah, I'm a rebel, I identify with the War Between the States, you know, that war that involved the ownership of human beings."
Just today I passed by a pickup with these bumper stickers:
Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Palin
American By Birth, Southern By The Grace Of God (with Battle Flag)
I think that guy is sending a message. Some might say, aw, it's just his Southern heritage. And like it or not, it is his right to display it.
The Battle Flag, like it or not, is a shorthand symbol for the South.
It's probably going to be a part of American heritage forever.
And the intent behind displaying the flag *can* vary.
It is interesting to see how its meaning can be used ironically.
Check out Ludacris. (http://blogs.sohh.com/atlanta/archives/Luda.jpg - broken link)
The civil war was not fought for the purpose of abolishing slavery. Lincoln says this in his own words.
Quote:
If there be those who would not save the
Quote:
Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.
We perpetuate that myth because it sounds better and instills more Patriotic pride to say that the civil war was fought for the noble cause of freedom rather then economics or politics. There were true abolitionists in that day, but they were viewed as extremists really. It is amazing how we have skewed history to our favor, over the years.
That said, I still believe flying the Confederate flag is offensive, even if it is done without the intent to be. I have always wondered why it seems the most patriotic of people would fly a flag that in essence goes against what patriotism stands for. I always though that ironic.
The civil war was not fought for the purpose of abolishing slavery. Lincoln says this in his own words.
Yes, The Union did not demand abolition of slavery until after the war started--the Emancipation Proclaimation did not appear until September 1862.
But the thing is, the Republican Party was founded as an explicitly anti-slavery party, and in 1861, the South "threw the first punch."
The Confederate version of state's rights said that states had no right to outlaw slavery.
The motivations behind the war amount to political and economic power, but the struggle between the North and South hinged on slavery. From, Article 1, Section 9-4 of the Confederate Constitution: (4) No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.
link
Quote:
. I have always wondered why it seems the most patriotic of people would fly a flag that in essence goes against what patriotism stands for. I always though that ironic.
Sometimes slogans and symbols take the place of critical thinking skills.
Last edited by BlueWillowPlate; 07-13-2009 at 10:22 AM..
Reason: typos, typos, always typos
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