what do people think about the rebel flag?

Answer 1

I live in Mobile, Alabama and it's one of seven of our cities flags. This is the seven flags that have flown over our city.
Spain, France, Great
Britain, U.S.A., Confederate, Alabama
Republic, Alabama
State

It just represents culture and history, unfortunately it seems like humans are becoming ignorant of history.

Answer 2

Obviously, it is a historical artifact. In attempting to seceed from the United States, the Confederacy created a symbol by which to identify itself.

If that were the single defining element of it's creation, than that in and of itself would render it as simply another historical footnote.

However, the cultural identity for which it represents cannot be divorced from the ultimate issue which defined it: slavery. It was the issue of the spread of slavery (and the fears of the South that Abraham Lincoln would eventually abolish it) that lay at the heart of their 'states rights' clause.

One can look at it this way. Every individual has rights. Even the government says that every individuals' rights are guaranteed, and any abuses of it can be remedied within a court of law. However, one cannot use that right to infringe upon other people's lawful rights and then claim they are exempt from governmental oversight because they have rights. And however legal the supreme court might have considered its judgement on Dredd Scott, history has proven that it was in error.

The ideology of the rebel flag is constantly being re-written and revised in order to better ignore that salient fact. Even though men marched under it who bore little or no ill-will towards blacks, the omnipresent purpose of its existence cannot be denied. It wasn't about state's rights, people free to govern, David vs. Goliath, etc, it was about a small collective group of people who refused to recognize that the basic rights of humanity apply to all, not just a select few.

This does not mean that the rebel flag should never be flown or displayed. To deny that would be to deny the history and understanding of its creation. However, I don't ever think it should be displayed indiviually except on replica soldier's uniforms.

Actually, now that I think about it, those stupid reenactors should start using live ammunition against each other if they REALLY want to get the 'authentic' experience. What they should do is create a Confederate/U.S. twin-flag patch (with the U.S. flag on the right for symbolic reasons) for reenactors to wear, as a symbol of not only their division but of their ultimately entwined destiny. Maybe that would help defray some of the idiocy with this flag. The North needs to embrace its own 'southerness' as well.

Answer 3

I have mixed feelings. When I see the flag my first thought is "long live the south" a hertiage that was built on slavery and racism and that doesn't sit well with me. I also automatically assume this person may be racist, which is something I should not do, but some habits are hard to break. On the other side I feel that each person should have the right to display parts of their heritage. Though it makes me uncomfortable I am not willing to say someone should not be able to display this flag if this is what they want to do.

Answer 4

not much to me its just a way for the rednecks to proclaim there ignorance and prejudice. it is one of the only things i do not like about living in the south and once i went to this restaurant where i live (we were going out with 10 people) and there was a Dixie flag flying as we got close to the entrance of the restaurant there was a sign with the rebel flag and it said Yankees not welcome needless to say all 11 of us didn't go in. As we were going to the cars the owner of the restaurant came out and asked us why we were leaving i said most of us are Yankees and we will make sure that everybody we know knows that were not welcome in your establishment th guy said please we really need the business and i told him maybe if he took down his sign he would get some we took our business else where.and i usto work at a place where every time i was introduced they'd say this is Sarah she's a Yankee like i had two heads or a disease or something its ridiculous up north if someone said they were from Alabama or Texas or Florida it was just aplace it didn't mean anything but down here if your a yank your going to have a hard time it is so stupid if people ever want peace on earth were gonna have to stop all the prejudices we have here first.

Answer 5

I was raised in the South, and that flag was banned from our home. A better symbol of Southern pride would be a magnolia flower, I think. Not the evil that flag stood for.

Then again, Mound Builder artwork is another one that is indigenous to the area. Those are better expressions of pride than anything. That's what I use actually, as I'm Cherokee (it really doesn't get any more Southern than Cherokee, I don't think.)

Answer 6

When I see that flag, I immediately see racism. Sad but true. Maybe i'm biased because i'm black and from the North. Dunno. But the confederate states used that flag during the Civil War and we all know what side those states were on. Sad to see a symbol take on such a hateful stigma, but, unfortunately, it will never, ever live it down. No matter how long, it will always signify that time in history.

Just like Hitler and his use of the swastika. The swastika wasn't originally a symbol for the Nazi party. The symbol itself is about 3,000 years old and has been used by China, Japan, India and even by the Native Americans. It originally was a symbol for luck, power, strength. When the Nazis took the symbol, it was forever tainted. Now, it means hate and death.

See how we humans tend to ruin things...

Answer 7

It could represent many things: I view it as a "Southern Pride" thing. It could also represent a foundness for the band "Alabama". However, in todays society, some people view it to be "Politically Incorrect" because they may feel it is a representation of the immoral act of slavery.

Personally, I would not display such a flag because it could offend someone. However, when I do see a rebel flag, I view it as a decoration and try not to make assuptions about the person displaying it.

Answer 8

It doesn't represent the south.

It represents a culture of ignorance and a heritage of abuse. It represents the fundamentalist's support of slavery, condoned by the Bible and the brutal master-slave relationships derived from what they think is Christianity. That mind set includes authoritarian social hierarchies, a militaristic mentality, racial bigotry, and the suppression of democratic ideals.

At a personal level it is a clear signal that I am dealing with an ignorant person who is insensitive to other's feelings and doesn't care about education or democracy.

That is what the Rebel Flag represents to me.

I should mention that I am a white Southerner and had many ancestors who fought on the Southern side of the Civil War. I even have a British Penny with a nick in it from a bullet that one ancestor carried in his watch pocket in battle. The Penny saved his life.

I know the depths that desperate whites in the south have plumbed from my own personal family history and repudiate their treachery of authoritarianism and ignorance.

Answer 9

I think the southern states should be free to have it as a state flag, and all other people can just lump it. We had Jesse Jackosn here griping about the flag, by gosh, other people can have symbols of their heritage, but have a flag that was the southern states' "national" flag (at the time) and everyone wants to get in an uproar over it.

NC

Answer 10

Too much of it over these many years since 1865. It has come to represent too many things and the original reason the flag was raised has been forgotten. The bigotry of the south is also out dated and should be laid aside.