From the time the Confederate flag was thrust into the limelight after the Charlestown shooting they've been numerous discussions on the net. Is the confederate flag a symbol of racism? Those who think it is [a symbol of racism] believe that the Confederate flag has always been a symbol of an ongoing fight against equality. Those who think the flag isn't a symbol of racism declare that the flag is a symbol of Southern heritage and history. Your thoughts?
Hmmm... I think the latest Charleston shooting is an eye opener for everyone that the presence of the Confederate flag is interpreted differently by different people. Some may see it as an integral part of history and not a form of racism but some just see it as a way of pointing out that whites dominate blacks. However people see it, I think it was a wise move to take the flag down at the moment until some solutions would be thought of on how to display it without the stain of racism along with it.
I think this is a tricky situation. While taking the flag down for now is probably the right thing to do just to show some respect to the people that died and their families, it's not going to fix the problem. If the gunman had have been pictures waving the stars and stripes, would the call be to ban that flag? Of course not. The bigger problem is society and the way these massacres are becoming more frequent. That needs fixing, banning a flag isn't going to help that.
I have always thought the Confederate flag to be a symbol of rebellion by the people of the south, but it does play a big role in their history. While we all should remember our American history, and what led us to where we are now, I do think that the flag represents a little racism and a part of history that we should now put behind us.
The confederate flag became a symbol of racism during the civil rights movement, and that when you really started seeing it used by white supremacists. The KKK started using it extensively. One important thing to note is that the confederate flag we are most familiar with is the confederate battle flag. That wasn't the official flag of the confederate states. The official flag was the stars and bars, but it looked to similar to the union flag in battle so they used the battle flag more as the war went on.
That Dylann Roof idiot was photographed waving a rebel flag and a gun before he shot and killed those poor people. He was also wearing a Gold's Gym tanktop. Are they going to ban those as well? He clearly wasn't a weight lifter, but I'm surprised no one in the media has labeled him a "bodybuilder" yet, and isn't blaming his crimes on "steroids" and trying to put Gold's or all gyms out of business. I guess that will be next?
This one weird kid kills poor innocents in church and the mainstream media goes nuts promoting wackos upset with a flag that is a piece of history. Silly national stores pull merchandise, attacks on the film "Gone With The Wind" and the Dukes of Hazzard's car The General proliferate. Yet Nazi memorabilia continues to be sold. Political correctness... I can't stand it any more... pfft. Where the h--- are the parents these days? Yes, I know, the nuclear family is long gone, daddy's gone and the community raises the children. Nuts!
Hiding behind "parts of history" is stupid. I personally am not bothered by the flag as I feel that the people who wear it, fly it, defend it are just people that have no other way to sound edgy, look tough or appear to be intelligent. They pick something controversial and run with it because without that flag, they'd be as insignificant as they really understand themselves to be. But, the flag does need to come down and it should've never flown as long as it has in SC and the other six or seven states that some variation of it flies. And, it's not about political correctness, it's about that war was lost by the Confederacy and to continue to imply that the "South will rise again," is technically a threat of a coup against the government and I say this as a Southerner.
I'm a little irritated that the President made this about the guns saying that they are so readily available as the problem. Seriously, neither the flag nor the gun caused this problem. Mental illness is not solved by banning flags nor guns.
The current "confederate flag" is an obscure version (lacking the white field and red bar of the actual banner as used in the war) run up the flag pole in SC in 1962 in explicit opposition to civil rights and in the defense of segregation. If people want to celebrate their southern heritage I suggest that they find a better symbol for it than a flag repudiated by the only confederate general who legitimately used it, and resurrected for the express purpose of defending America's version of apartheid.
