Why do people still wave the confederate flag?

Question

im not trying to be rude or ignorant, but why do people still wave that thing, yes i know its a symbol of the south but being an african american i get scared sometimes. does anyone else?

Answer 1

I think most of us tend to react negatively to that flag as well as to many other symbolic things that we have come to associate with bad things like a burning cross , a Nazi symbol...etc.... and no matter how they defend using it ( some say its just honoring their dead confederate soldiers etc.) you just can't help but feel that person wishes the south had won and they wish it will rise again...so yep.... its still scary!

Answer 2

First, can Americans actually read history?

Yes, the confederate flag is a symbol of the confederacy.

It's all about states' rights. Especially not have the states of the north force their will on the states of the south. The north wanted to stay together. The south wanted to get out of the sandbox, take their toys home, and make their own play area.

Race didn't become an issue until well into the war.

Now does this mean that all cofederate waving yahoos are not racists? Nope.

I figure that rednecks can drop the confederate flag when blacks drop black power flags, hispanics drop mexican flags, and gays drop rainbow flags.

The next time you see a confederate flag, instead think of how stupid we are as Americans. Where in the heck does it even say anything about seperation of church and state in the constitution? Look it up people. It was in a letter..... after the fact.

Answer 3

I'm an African American Male from the Midwest. It's rare to see them around here but whenever I travel to the Delta they are on the bumper of every truck, and you can buy a ball-cap with a flag at every gas station. I really don't take offense to them because some people sport them because of family heritage, after all it does represent a part of American history. On the other hand some hard core Confederates didn't want the abolition of slavery, and had they had there way America as we know it could have turned out much differently to say the least. So yes, I can see why Confederate flag waving people could scare you. I like tend to think that whosoever is flying it is not for the purpose of race inequality

Answer 4

SO many of the answers here show people's complete ignorance. The insinuation that the confederate flag is a symbol of slavery is preposterous. I won't go into the details of why, because that is not what your question is about. I think that your question is completely valid and neither rude nor ignorant. During Reconstruction, display of the flag was illegal in states occupied by federal troops. I believe that people fly the flag today for the same reason that people display their family crest, or tartan. As for being afraid, I think that's understandable. It sounds as though you are coming from a totally different frame of reference, and that's ok. There is a certain stigma surrounding the Confederate Flag, but ultimately, I think we should respect each others' differences and not look down on someone because they know and care where they came from. People joke about the Civil War all the time, and I think to a certain degree it burns Southerners more, but of course it would, they got their asses handed to them. So can't we be a wee bit gracious and allow them to fly a flag to honor the men and boys that died without calling them names? If the answer is no then you are more ignorant than any redneck, hick or hillbilly I've ever met. Tolerance, remember? Even if you don't agree. And just for the record there were people in the North who didn't want slavery abolished either. Good ol' Abe himself just wanted to ship every black person back to Africa, and the Union, after the war, turned black men only into second-class citizens. Wake up people, racism wasn't limited to below the Mason-Dixon line.

Answer 5

Aw, come on. I am African American and the Confederate Flag doesn't represent anything about racism. It is a symbol of the south. It is just a piece of cloth that represents the rebellion that lead to the Civil War. It isn't about racism. The Civil War was not about racism. The Civil War was about succession from the Union.

Whenever the Confederate flag gets flown, it is symbolic of the unity of the South. Which is a bogus theory. The South is no more unified now than it was during the Civil War. The south no longer exports its' racism or it's history with slavery, but it exports its' stupidity and backwards values.

The Confederate flag represents nothing except a reminder that the south does everything bassackwards and they are proud of it.

Answer 6

I would not be against someone who waves the confederate flag.
But it has nothing to do with race.
Most people think of the civil war as being about slavery, but the south didn't see it that way. They saw it as being about the rights of each state to make their own laws. The laws just happened to be about slavery. The north took the position that the federal government could make laws affecting the whole nation, while the south said that each state must decide for themselves.
So if you look at modern day issues, like, for example, abortion, then the souths position would be that each state would have to decide if they want to legalize abortion, but the north would say that the US congress would decide for everyone.
So people who wave the confederate flag are usually saying that they support "states rights".
But a lot of times, if someone who is african american makes a fuss over it, then those people will start making racist comments just to pick on you. You really don't have anything to worry about.

Answer 7

the confederate flag was one of the battle flags in the south. It has nothing to do with people being African American. If you looking into the history of the flag there was most likely there were some African American men that fought underneath that flag. Why should we be afraid of flag when we have people trying to change our national anthem or try taking God out of our schools and our government. When they come here for freedom to have the right to their own religion and lifestyles without bias or judgment. Some people want to keep up with history and traditions. Why should we judge that.

Answer 8

To me (a self-proclaimed red-neck, although a yankee born and bred) the confederate flag is the symbol of people who were willing to fight and die for what they believed in. At the time, they fought to protect their livelihood and their way of life. It may not have been right, but at the time, that was all they knew.

If people didn't take a chance or go out on a limb to fight for what they believe in, the history of the world would be way different than what we know. If people didn't fight religious persecution, the US would never have been founded. At least not the way we know it. If we hadn't fought the British, the US would now be a British colony and we would all drink tea instead of coffee. What if women hadn't fought for equal rights?

There is a need for people to stand up for what they believe is right. Even if they are judges to be wrong.

Why would you get scared? Has anyone ever threatened you with a flag? If you are scared of what you view as racism? Ignorance? Racism and ignorance carry no flag. They waves no banner. There is no warning. Racism and ignorance can hide in the most surprising of places and pop out when you least expect it.

Answer 9

I get scared sometimes as a white person, The confederate flag as a symbol was created to symbolize the fact that the south wanted to segregate itself from the USA. Not that I think that you need to be a patriotic nut job and not be proud of your roots, but if the government wants to look for groups of people who are most likely to try to overthrow our government, wouldn't it be the people who after so many years still carry there symbol and wave their symbol of resentment towards the United states. I bet these same people have a problem with immigration, but they are ok waving their anti-patriotic flags around. It is a scary thought.

Answer 10

I think it's an ignorant way for the south to say that they have their own culture apart from the rest of the country. It's turned into more a racist flag than anything else. Kinda like the Conch Republic flag in Key West feels that they are separate from Florida. Most of the time it's people that lack common sense enough to realize that we are the UNITED States of America or lack the intelligence enough to even be able to read a history book to research the flag.

Answer 11

Don't let little things like that scare you. Now, if they're a bunch of drunks yelling and screaming, THEN you ought to be scared. It's not the flag that should worry you, but the attitudes of the people.

Most people just think of it as part of their heritage, and as a symbol of independence, believe it or not. Contrary to popular belief, the secession of the South was not about race. Of course, nowadays, the few racists that are left will sometimes hide behind a flag, so you do have to be careful, but I'd say 99% of the people who use the flag have no issue about race.

Relax.