When the flag represented a different way of life and it was not owning slaves. I don't even want to hear that one. Do your research and you may find out what the south wanted. So I wanted to know any other reasons, why.
2007-03-25 20:07:28 · 19 answers · asked by adam c 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
I don't believe it had as much to do with the legacy of the War Between the States and slavery as with the anti-integration battles of the civil rights era in the 50's and 60's. The Dixiecrats carried it, as did lot of White Southerners protesting integration.
To a lot of these people the flag was appropriate, because they saw forced integration as another State's Rights issue, and US Airborne troops were sent into the states to enforce Federal laws.
To all the Blacks, whose entrance into these schools was being protested, that flag was anti-them. I believe when many of them see it today, they feel the same way.
There are many White Southerners who are not prejudiced, but still display Confederate flags without any intent of slighting Blacks in any way. I'm one of them.
As far as the KKK goes, the association of the Battle Flag with them is mainly due to the press presenting it as such. The Klan is widespread, and enjoys larger membership in non-Southern states than in it. The idiots don't always carry a Confederate flag when they march, but they do ALWAYS carry the US flag and the Christian flag. So why aren't those flags associated with the Klan? Because the press photographers like to take pictures of the ones carrying a Confederate flag.
The largest KKK parade in history was during the innauguration of Woodrow Wilson. Over 400 Klansmen from New York and New Jersey paraded down Pennsylvania Ave, without any Confederate Flags.
2007-03-26 10:11:54 · answer #1 · answered by rblwriter 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The problem is the association of the flag with racial prejudice. The Confederate falg was a symbol of the southern confederacy initially, but when KKK, skinheads and others adopted the flag it bbecame a symbol of hatred. Consider the swastika. It was originally a religious symbol, but the Nazis adopted it and its use is offensive. It will be a long time before the Confederate flag loses the negative connotations. It does represent Southern pride. I guess we have to be sensitive when using it. As a symbol of rebellion, it seems Ol' Glory is much more appropriate. Revolutionary flags like "Don't Tread on Me" can express a rebellious and self-reliant attitude.
2007-03-31 15:46:25 · answer #2 · answered by Michael R 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just my opinion here but I think that it is mainly because the confederate flag is synonomous with a time when slavery was accepted. In the Old South, slavery, physical abuse and owning another human being were all acceptable behavior. What else would it now represent?? The KKK flies it, bigots fly it and so on and on. It doesn't represent a state or a nationality or any of the other things that flags are usually connected to. Its a very long drawn out story and opinion but this is the best I can do in limited space.
2007-03-25 20:15:57 · answer #3 · answered by Happy Feline 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Forget slavery and the South's confederacy.
Nowadays the confederate flag is the symbol of people who hate black people, it has no relationship to the long ago southern confederacy.
You are just as likely to find a confederate flag in the home of a guy who doesn't even know what the confederacy stood for -he just hates black people and that's his way of showing it.
2007-04-02 08:23:23 · answer #4 · answered by ha_mer 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The confederate flag is considered offensive because people think the civil war was about slavery, and that the people who flew that flag were fighting for the right to keep black people as slaves. Of course it was more complicated than that.
2007-03-25 20:14:15 · answer #5 · answered by Gnomon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I understand the slavery relationship, but I'm a damn Yankee and I can also understand people being upset with the flag as a representation of states rights over federal rights. I for one value the United States as a whole more than I do individual states. Waving that flag can still show that the 'Rebel' attitude towards the federal government. Anyway, I'm glad the North won the War of Southern Rebellion (just kidding about the name...).
2007-03-26 03:08:06 · answer #6 · answered by Bob Mc 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A flag is merely a symbol. This particular flag evokes emotions today totally out of proportion to the claims. Very few people owned even one slave. It was between industry and agriculture, federal vs state determination. Slavery was NOT the issue. Lincoln "freed" them hoping they would join the armies of the North. I don't find it offensive merely a representation of a period in our national history.
2007-03-31 15:55:14 · answer #7 · answered by jan b 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
inspite of the fact that it didnt represent slavery,,,,,, that other non Confederate states had slaves also,,,,,,,, still, that is what it represents to alot of people,,,that is why they find it offensive,,,,, the image , wrongly so, has been linked to slavery and to that time in history,,,,,, its very difficult to change peoples opinions,,,,
ps: keep in mind that its only recently that the emphasis has been put on pointing out that the war was not totally about slavery,,,, though that was an important difference ,,, but about succession,,,,,, generations of people where lead to believe, or not taught the correct information,, so hence the Confederacy and the war and the flag were all, to them, about the slavery issue,,,,,, you cant just flip around and quickly undo years and years on society influence/education , even if that influence is clearly wrong
2007-03-25 20:12:57 · answer #8 · answered by dlin333 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why. On one hand our Constitution outlined the Rights and Responsibilities limiting the federal government then stated that all others belong to the States, and to the people. The Confederate States almost caused our nation to be torn apart and caused so many deaths it's unthinkable. Some veterans suffered the rest of their lives, and brought home communicable illnesses their families suffered and died from as well. This wasn't an event of only a few years' duration.
I don't exactly blame the old south given their perspective of those historical times but anyone who glorifies that in retrospect is worse than a few fries short of a happy meal.
2007-03-26 03:26:53 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
because at one time it represented some thing wrong, slavery, or so people think. Its just like the swastika, it was a symbol of good luck in some ancient cultures but just because it is related to hitler(and hitler and the nazis as well) habe become a taboo subject. I personally find nothing offensice about it, but pollitically correct people dont want to be faced with something that has been deemed one of those things you sweep under the carpet and dont mention in polite society.
i recently had a discussian like this regarding nazi symbols and such, it is actually bad in a way as people forget that it happened and it even promotes it not being rememebered as the serious event the holocaust was, then when people poke fun at nazism others are shocked.
there are many such symbols etc that are offensive to people and i dont see why, the conferderate flag is just one of them
2007-03-25 20:19:38 · answer #10 · answered by GrafZeppelin 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋