Confederate Flag

[AlbanyCartel]

i am writing a paper on the significance and conflicting meanings of symbols, specifically this one, and the swastika (which can signify hate, or if your a hindu such as myself, happiness), and i just thought i would get some opinions.


what does this represent to you?




a few black friends of mine stated that when they see anyone with that flag(like on the back of a pick-up truck or something), they automatically assume racist.
they do not think full on, burn crosses, klan racist, but more along the lines of subtly, cross the street, and privately supremacist.



my white friends however think it represents "the southern lifestyle", or "being a redneck" or something.
that it represents the simple things.


what do you think?


also, what is "dixie"?

[Vtec913]

I thnk it represents kick ass music, great BBQ, and bass fishin, man makes you think how anyone could hate it lol

JK

I think it just means that people are proud to be from there, people are way to judgemental about southern people

[zx2guy]

i see it from both sides. i lived in PA for 7 years, and i always thought of the flag as divisionism, racism not so much, as we all know slavery did play a role in the civil war, however, it wasnt as big as most think, if you have done your research, you already know this(but everyone still remembers slavery). i remember when one of the states (i think it was georgia... or one of the others) refused to drop its confederate flag, and i thought they were pompous bastards. then i moved to kentucky, im talkin appilachia lifestyle (if you dont know what that is, its something you cant really comprehend unless you experience it). but now i see the flag as a simple man's lifestyle, a life style where you have family values, and do your work and at the end of the day hold your head high. at no point in my life did i ever see people so happy and content with how they were, and proud of themselves at that. and when you can be happy with the simple things in life.... there is nothing sweeter. and when i look at the american flag, i see everything america stands for. and it is complicated... down south there was no political correctness, i have southern black friends that would just raz on me over being a yankee, white, you name it, and they didnt care that they were the butt of jokes too, because the see these as words for enjoyment without spite. but when you get away from that lifestyle and people start saying things like words hurt, they degrade others.

when i think of the american flag, i have pride, but i also have that creeping in the back of my mind, i must be correct, politically, emotionally... southern pride you dont have to worry about that, you can hold your head high, no words can bring you down, you can talk to your fellow man (even a stranger) without fear, or self reguarding. and that to me is the confederate flag, it is the lifestyle of happy, pridefull simplicity, the union and the confeds stopped fighting at the end of the civil war. now it is merely a way of life.

[AlmostStock]

I understand that some people today like to romanticize the confederate flag and say it stands for "southern lifestyle" or any number of great things. The fact is it only represents one thing and that is the secession of a group of states from the union. This was not a good thing so I can't understand why anyone would still fly this flag some 120 years later.

To me it's not much different than if Germans were to still fly a Nazi flag today.

[deadbolt_35]

Originally Posted by AlmostStock

To me it's not much different than if Germans were to still fly a Nazi flag today.

i agree, the "southern lifestyle" sounds great and all, but this isn't really about that. the confederate flag was the southern state's symbol of their secession and desire to not be part of the United States. Just like how the Swastika was a symbol of Hitler's Nazi regime, his idea of a "perfect arian race", his hatred toward everyone that didn't fit the profile, and the holocaust, but you don't see them still flying it, saying that it symbolizes the "german lifestyle". in fact, they've gone far enough that wars games, like the medal of honor series that are shipped to germany have all nazi symbols censored out of them. if i'm not mistaken i think there are laws against flying a nazis flag in german. why shouldn't america do the same thing?

[Rally Sport]

To me the Confed flag stands for rebellion or being a rebel..

[imtheoneandonlyD]

Originally Posted by Rally Sport 92

To me the Confed flag stands for rebellion or being a rebel..

I agree. When i see one i dont automatically assume that person is a racist. To me thats just ignorant.

[BleedDodge]

Southern pride.

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by BleedDodge

Southern pride.

Well, white southern pride, anyways.

I do not think anyone who considers themselves to be 'black' take pride in that flag.

[2strokebloke]

I think it's meaningless. It's been well over 100 years since that flag meant anything. If you wanted to know what it might mean, you should probably ask somebody who owns one. I doubt anybody buys one because they seriously think it represents white pride, or racial supremacy or some other sort of bullshit.
So far as I'm concerned though, it means as much in the context of present time as a spice girls poster.

[G-man422]

Honestly, I think "Redneck" if i see that flag. no offense to anyone.

[zx2guy]

i agree with 2stroke, its been about 100 years since it ment "succession", you could also think of the heritage of the flag, it works as a reminder that the people is what made this nation, and we will fight for what we feel is right. the south was feeling oppressed,(i know not all of us remember all the reasons of the civil war... not like we memorized it, it was in a small section in our hist books) and basically the topic of slavery broke the horses back, thats why we remember it, think at the time we didnt have the machinery we have today. but going back, that was 100 years ago. all of our wounds as americans have healed and those that bore the scars are long turned to dust. so when you say symbol.... what does it represent? nothing, the reason for its being is done. thus its meaning is lost, until now where people are seeing it as a heritage and way of life

[vwracer14]

i have one in my room on my wall and to me it represents a time of freedom

a time when if someone fucked with you............you could fuck them up and not worry about going to jail or being sued

and for the record i have alot of black friends and none of them really care and a few of the have rebel flag shirts becuase it means the same thing to them


also people in the north are just pissed off that their flag doesnt look as bad ass as ours

[deadbolt_35]

Originally Posted by vwracer14

i have one in my room on my wall and to me it represents a time of freedom

a time when if someone fucked with you............you could fuck them up and not worry about going to jail or being sued

sounds more like anarchy then freedom to me

Originally Posted by vwracer14

also people in the north are just pissed off that their flag doesnt look as bad ass as ours

um...i assume you mean the american flag?

referring to the american flag as 'their flag' shows that you don't claim it yourself and that just supports what others have said about the confederate flag representing rebellion and secession from the United States.
still having the confederate flag fly just continues to harbor feelings of division between the north and south...there is no 'north' and 'south' anymore! the civil war is over! why can't people in the south realize this...we are all part of the United States of America and the Confederat flag goes against everything that stands for.

on a side note, i hope you realize that, if the south had succeeded in their secession, they would have deterieorated into a third world country if they even lasted long enough for that to happen. cotton and tobacco exports alone are not enough to sustain and develop a country. the north would have been fine because it was an industrialized and advanced country and had a vast shipping, ship building and fishing network, but the south would have soon fallen apart.

[tenguzero]

Clearly it means whatever the bearer wants it to. Much like most other "pop culture" symbols, the interpretation is up to the individual -- any actual significance it might have had to the culture at large died out a long time ago, although there are still significant differences between the north and the south to this day.

Clearly the south would have eventually crumbled without some sort of massive overhaul of its infrastructure, and let's face it: that wasn't about to come at the hands of a society whose wealthy (and hence investor) class generally justified (and prospered from) the "legal", bound servitude of one person to another. Not that the situation in the north was exactly "fair" for labor either (consider the factory situation by the turn of the century) but at least the industrial base was timely and relevant to the era.