Poll: Confederate Flag: Hate symbol, symbol of pride, heritage, historical meaning, or other?

[Jake the Snake]

Nah, It's pretty damn racist, I don't care how anybody tries to justify it. There is no way in hell I could ever see being proud of a heritage that was so morally just...selfish and wrong. The south wanted slavery because it was the cheapest labor they could have...free. Never mind that it was extremely cruel and inhumane. The blatant disregard for human life is obvious. It disgusts me. I guess its a good thing I'm from the north.

 

[Shoqiyqa]

To me, it means someone's flying a Confederate flag.

Without knowing who's flying it and why I can't know more than that.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

Historical racist heritage.

Sure, the Civil War wasn't fought JUST over slavery, but the undeniable fact is that the South fought to keep slavery, the North to abolish it.

 

[Valkyrie101]

There should be an option for all of the above.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Depends on the person, but generally if didn't come from/live in the south, it's rascist.

 

[Connor Lonske]

All of the above, and any one who open uses it today needs to learn that they lost!

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

I can be a symbol of racism. Or pride. Or heritage. Or states rights even.

It depends entirely on what context it is used it to what it represents. If a Libertarian uses it, its probably a sign of states rights and anti-government ideology. If a non-racist southerner uses it, its probably a sign of pride or heritage. It someone in white robes and hood uses it on the other hand, then you need to watch out.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

And let's not forget that if this just a case of racism, here's Abraham Lincoln quotes:
"If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it...."
"I never have been in favor of bringing about the equality of the white and black races."
"whatever negroes can be got to do as soldiers, leaves just so much less for white soldiers to do..."

And here are Jefferson Davis'(president of the Confederacy) beliefs:
"On the economic side of slavery, Davis fully believed that slavery was a temporary necessity in order to develop the cotton trade in the South as New England's textile industry at that time depended on southern cotton.

In spite of this dependency on Black slave labor, Jefferson believed that gradual emancipation, at some time in the future, would come for the Africans and that they should be prepared for this responsibility called freedom."

He also taught his slaves to read and write, and hold their own courts to decide punishments.

So yeah...

 

[Vuljatar]

Amazing that 33% of voters in this thread think it's racist.

Probably a lot of overlap with the 26% of people who don't know who the United States declared independence from...

I guess that ignorance stems from the still-rampant misconception that the Civil War was primarily about slavery. (It wasn't... L2History.)

Historically, it was flown to show your support of slavery. And other ideals, but this one kind of overpowers everything else.

Err, how so? It wasn't the primary issue of the Civil War, and the North was hardly any more progressive back then.

Historical racist heritage.

Sure, the Civil War wasn't fought JUST over slavery, but the undeniable fact is that the South fought to keep slavery, the North to abolish it.

The South fought for freedom, the North fought to control the South. One of the "freedoms" (ironically) that the South was fighting for was to own slaves. As crimson5pheonix has pointed out, Lincoln didn't give a damn about the slaves, he just wanted to keep the Union together by any means. Since history is written by the victors, many people are now under the misconception that the Civil War was about slavery because that makes it appear that the South were the "bad guys", when the real situation was far more complex.

 

[lostzombies.com]

Let me put it this way, some of my ancestors were German, but I couldn't get away with wearing a swastika by saying that it was part of my heritige.

Like the Confederate flag, the Swastika's origins are not necessarily related to what we think of when we see one, but that's not the point. These symbols are tied to very painful moments of our history, and people need to understand that "heritage" doesn't justify the display of these symbols. It could be that somewhere out there there are people with the flag who genuinely want to view it as a symbol of their heritage, but most of us won't view it that way, and considering the memories it brings up, I think it's one symbol of heritage that is best left to rest.

I love you. I love this post. I couldn't explain it like this in my OP, because of my exhaustion.

That sums up my opinion too. When I see a swastika I will automatically think of Nazis, when people say they see it and automatically think of buddism...well I don't believe them.

While the confederacy obviously had a long way to go before being in the same league of Germany 1933-45, the flag automatically brings up thoughts of racism and slavery regardless of what it was originally meant to signify.

No matter what your intentions are, if you wear a swastika you will be seen by learned people a nazi rather than a buddist, and if you fly a confederate flag it will also be interperated (rightly or wrongly) that you are not altogether too keen on black rights and black freedom.

 

[Breaker deGodot]

I'd say history. I mean, any symbol that Lynyrd Skynyrd uses can't be all bad.

 

[demoman_chaos]

The flag itself is historical, the racist people it gets associated with make it racist. The flag is not racist, the people are.
Just like with racial slurs. The words themselves are not bad, its the racist asshole who is saying it you have to worry about.

 

[Shadowfaze]

Straight up Racism, i cant look at it without thinking og the KKK scene in "Oh brother, where art thou?" where the head klan guy screams "Dont let that flag touch the ground!!"