With the mass killings last week in the church in South Carolina by a guy hoping to start a race war, there have been renewed calls for the South Carolina state government to remove the Confederate Flag from the state capitol. I understand the calls that the Flag is a historic article that should be preserved, whether in Civil War reenactments or as historical teachings. However, it should, in my opinion, NOT be a sanctioned flag that is flown by any local, state or federal government. Because then we move from it being a historic item to be debated and discussed to a state sponsored reminder that not everyone is welcome.
I agree with you. It should not be banned in certain instances because it is part of history. It should be on city or state buildings though.
Have a fabulous day. 🙂
Thanks Sandee!!
There will always be idiots, but it seems a good idea not to use the old flag in any official manner.
I am not against the flag in general as I am in specific instances like this.
It’s hard to break tradition.
Definitely
I couldn’t agree more.
Thanks Michael
The Japanese no longer use the Rising Sun flag. Sometimes you gotta leave history where it belongs …in the past.
Damn now I have House of the Rising Sun in my head
I think removal of the flag is a stepping stone. I’m afraid that if it is removed the media/everybody against the flag will feel like this is THE victory against the shootings last week.
I keep wondering what the plan will be after the issue of the flag is over.
Removing a flag will not end racism. Sad thing is, racism will endure until the end of time. It’s a human condition that has always existed.
Sadly you are right. But at least removing government sanctioned is a right step
frigginloon makes a good point. I suspect Germany doesn’t use the Nazi flag anymore either.
Thankfully for Germany, the Nazi’s came up with their own flag that we can hate versus turning the Germany flag to the dark side.
The White Supremacists’ use of the confederate flag makes the argument to remove it a lot easier.
I think whatever pride or historic value that it once had is long gone with the supremacists use of it
That flag is a hate flag. It has the same connotations the Nazi flag does. It represents bondage, rape, & cattling humans as property. I have the same opinion about how southern Plantations are rebranded as places to romanticize about during our antebellum past. In case people have forgotten, thats where people were cattled, raped, sold and killed. …book your wedding there now-eh? [glares]
I am sure there are plenty of places in the North with a dark past. I think romanticizing a lifestyle is different than romanticizing slavery.
Of course there are! I live among some of the first lands Europeans cleansed the Native Americans from. I have ancestors who wiped clean tribes along the coast of NH and interior Maine, Canada and Newfoundland. Every family member from that era that died at the hands of Indian defending their home, had it coming! Hopefully, once this nation sheds itself of its brutal slave past by stripping the symbols of its worst moments, we will eventually turn an eye to the genocide of Native Americans. …but one atrocity at a time! We can’t atone for it all at once.
Romanticizing a lifestyle that was built on the blood of slavery, its one in the same. Frankly Scarlet, I don’t give a damn! [wink] I’ve lived in the south, you don’t keep flags and statues of the oppressors of human beings standing as a monument to the suffering of those who endured it. Poland doesn’t have a Hitler statue at the entrance to Auschwitz, now does it? They don’t fly the nazi flag in their Jewish neighborhoods, now do they?
I have a low tolerance for bigotry. I actually have a low tolerance for humans being mean to other humans who aren’t like them. Who the f*ck died and decided one person is better than another, based on their geography and skin color? [insert Chevy Chase tirade from Christmas vacation HERE]!
Well Said. I have always said it even from a religious standpoint. I have my beliefs and you have yours. I don’t have a monopoly on being right whether you are Jewish, Catholic or Atheist. The bottom line is we don’t know so why should I think I am superior to you in that I am right and you (you in the collective not you personally) are wrong.
This is brilliant!
I try
My first instinct is to agree. Part of me wonders if we are reacting to the 3% of people who are out of control and use this as a banner of hate. Or is it 97% of people who see that symbol think of it as a symbol of hate? I don’t have “The South” and “Confederate” ties and can’t relate to any of it. I do imagine there are people who have some attachment to the flag without a racial issue I hope?
It occurs to me that the Klan used the cross as a tool of hate so maybe we should get that removed from all public places next. Then we need to look at this free speech thing a little closer…………………. I’m not saying I’m against what’s happening. I just find it interesting when we pick and choose which things are free and which are not. I personally wouldn’t mind if big brother had a camera on every street corner but I know everyone wouldn’t agree to that.
I understand where you are coming from and fully don’t believe that everyone that wants the flag in place is racist. And as I said, if you want to keep buying it and using it from a personal issue that is one thing, however because of the ties that the KKK and other racist groups have to that flag, it should not be a part of any government property.
I’ve talked to a lot of people about this just to get opinions and that is one thing everyone has agreed with. It doesn’t belong in government.
We’re trying to solve the problems of today without looking at the root of the problem; from inception to now. Why would a man commit such a crime? Is he an anomaly or have we made out culture a breeding ground for such atrocities? From what we’re seeing in the news, it’s the latter. The United States is in a weird place. And we’re anything but united.
That is completely true. No matter how evolved we become we still have an us vs them mentality when it comes to differences.
Much better just be careful which neighbourhoods you go wandering through.
I’ve seen a few Youtube videos where people have dressed as KKK members as a prank & approached groups of negro guys & make a racist statement only to have the absolute crap beaten outta them. Can’t say I blame them, some people go too far & some pranks are just not funny
Some things that you have to be ready for the rebuttal if you joke about it.
Pretty accurate there Bearman!
Thanks Enrique
I couldn’t have said it better, Bearman.
thx D
Society changes. We evolve. Just because it’s historical doesn’t give it a pass. There’s too much negativity with the flag, It offends, it has hurt and hurts people, why run it up the flag pole with that much controversy? Granted, anyone can be offended by anything, but this has such a popular negative connotation. The confederate flag shouldn’t be flown by government institutions.
Thanks Jack. Great points
The problem I see here, it that the overreaction by a lot of huge corporations (Amazon, Warner Bros, Apple and Viacom, to name just a few) only proves that those corporations have no spine and no brain. They seize the moment to prove that their moral superiority is second to none, in spite of what the facts may dictate.
Question: would corporations be doing this if the killer was draped in the American flag or a flag from a foreign country? Would we be even talking about this if the killer was draped in the Union Jack?
Maybe not. I agree that the corporations had no issue making money off the flag before it became unwise from a PR standpoint to do so.