Why is flying the Confederate Fla considered politically incorrect?

Question

First off, I am a far left southerner. When I was a teenager, I had a confederate flag in my room. We called it a 'rebel flag' back then.

To me, it never represented anything racist. That actually never even crossed my mind. It represented being willing to stand up & rebel against things or organizations I didn't agree with. You know like most teenagers feel...

Now, it seems to represent racism and I just feel that history is being not only rewritten but that this flag is being misrepresented.

For example, the Civil War was about the South wanting to break away from the Union not slavery. A lot of ppl seem to be unaware that Pres. Lincoln actually told the south they could keep their slaves as long as they would stay in the Union.

The abolishment of slavery came after the end of the Civil War because the south basically had insisted on the war for other reasons & flat got whooped hindering them at the will of the North at that pt.

Why can't ppl educate themselves before judging?

Answer 1

Ppl want how they look at things to be what everybody else sees and have no respect for other opinions. I too used to have a rebel flag and back then nobody thought of anything racist about it.

Answer 2

To many the confederate flag represents a time in this country when slavery was legal in the south. Your not completely sure about the reasons for the civil war. While it's true the main reason the south broke away from the norrth was because they did not wan't to be part of the union anymore but as in all conflicts there are many underlining issues and one of them was slavery.

I believe also that you can't wave a flag around and not take all that it stood for and basically when the confederate flag was used one of the ideas that it represented was slavery. To deny this is wrong, so if you wave a confederate flag around you take all that it represented not just parts of what it represented, if you don't want to do that then don't wave the flag around.

As a side note I have never seen a black inividual wave a confederate flag around just white people, that might say something.

Answer 3

There are many people here in Texas that fly the flag. It has nothing to do with slavery now. It a symbol of southern heritage, because people in the south tend to have different beliefs then northerners do. Here in the south we stand up for what we believe in, whether it be wrong or right. That's how everyone should live life. Maybe then there wouldn't be abortion, gay marriage, and all this other bull sh*t. I really wish the south would succeed again because I think it would be a way better place to live. I'm a southern cowboy, and I will be until the day I die, and I'll wave the confederate flag, hell I even got the flag tattooed on my back. Now I still stand up and cover my heart when they wave that Red White and Blue American flag, but there are very few Americans that will still stand up for what they believe in. That's what is wrong with this country. Oh and by the way the words "politically incorrect" go together good, because everything political in this country is incorrect.

Answer 4

The Confederate Flag was called "Stars and Bars". It was a combination of the St. Andrews Cross and the Southern Cross constellation. This was supposed to be a good sign. After the Civil War it was called the "Double Cross" by those who were feeling less friendly towards the leaders who failed in their noble cause to establish a separate nation under the flag. The leaders who promoted the Confederate States of America were tried for treason and sedition. The flag still represents that today. Anyone who respects the United States of America cannot fly the flag of a treasonous organization like the Confederate States of America. The link I have posted connects to an organizations list
for people who hold this extreme position. There is a modern movement to break the union of the fifity states and establish a separate country.

Answer 5

People believe it represents racism because of the socially acceptable policies that were in practice when the flag was created. Yes, slavery was not the only cause for the Civil War. Yes, the Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the South.
However, displaying the flag was used by Southerners as an act of defiance of federal policies and amendments to the Constitution that gave freed slaves civil rights. Segregationists and racists adopted the flag as a symbol of 'heritage' much later in history. The Klu Klux Klan is a good example of this sort of adoption.

Wiki Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars_and_Bars

Answer 6

Will you southern whites ever get it?

In my house, we honor those who fought for the United States, not against it.

Do You really think the war would have happened, if slavery didn't exist?

Yes Lincoln was willing to compromise, on the freedom of black people. The South wouldn't compromise. They started the violence, by firing on the federal forces.

Constitutional questions; may states secede, if so how. Instead of using violence, the secessionists could have gone to the Supreme Court. They might have won. They won Dred Scott.

Why would anyone consider the flag of a slave holding society to be a racist symbol?

Didn't groups like the Klan chose to use the rebel battle flag, as a symbol of racism?

Your ancestors fought with great devotion, for a cause that was wrong.

You lost get over it.

Please.

I love you southern and country guys. You willingly bear a disproportionate portion of the burden of fighting and dying in the war on terror.

Answer 7

If the South won then slavery would continue. The Emancipation Proclamation changed the tone of the war and gave it a moral cause for some northerners and worldwide. The proclamation was made during a time when northern support for the war was dwindling (as the South was kicking their tails)...it was strictly a political move by ol Abe.

Flying the rebel flag today is seen as a statement that the 'ol South' should be reinstated and is especially seen by most blacks as a symbol of a desire for them to be put back in bondage.

Answer 8

It's considered politically incorrect ( at the very least ) because the Southern Confederacy was disbanded at the end of the Civil War ( or very close to the end if it was disbanded earlier ). There is no Southern Confederacy, therefore, there can be no flag of the Southern Confederacy.

Now, if you personally feel that it is a symbol of your personal rebellion against the establishment, that is cool. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of extrapolations from the original context. By the way, I call it the Rebel Flag too, and I'm a Yankee ( fan and location ! )

Answer 9

You can argue the southern states wanted out of the union because of "states rights" but the only state right they cared about was owing slaves.

To answer your question, just becasue something, a symbol, an icon, a word, means one thing to you, it may mean something else to someone else. There are other ways to portray rebellion that aren't offensive to a segment of the population. How about flying the state flag of South Carolina since they were the first to rebel...no one would mind.

I usede to wear an "iron cross" because I thought it looked cool...didn't know it was a popular Nazi symbol. The point is what it meant to me was nothing compared to what it meant to many other people, and that is something you should take into consideration.

Slavery was abolished in 1863 with the emancipation proclaimation. Before the end of the war.

Answer 10

Actually the south was fighting for the right of self determination/succession that included the right to have slaves(which only profitted the wealthy southerners and slave traders) . Lincoln couldn't allow that(No breaking apart of the U.S. on his watch!!!) so slavery was the ralling cry to get the north to care(pull those heart strings!!) one way or the other about the issues.The Confederate flag embodies those beliefs,just as the Nazi flag embodied their beliefs.Peace.

Answer 11

I think many people are offended by the confederate flag because they don't know any different. To me, it is just a flag. Some people who fly the confederate flag ARE racist, but that does not mean that all are. I mean, some people who fly the American flag are racist. It's just a matter of people being thin-skinned and easily offended. To those people I say, get a life and toughen up. People are not out to get you and offend you. I agree with you that people need to learn the facts before making a judgement.