Is the confederate flag bad?

Question

Is the confederate flag bad?

5 Answers

Answer Question

Answer 1

All Confederate flags, including the Confederate battle flag which is the topic of heated debates at this time, are symbols of the government of the Confederate States of America. When you look at that flag you must remember why it exists. Here are the words of the CSA vice president, Alexander Stephens, on the occasion of the ratification of the CSA constitution in 1861...

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"[The Confederacy’s] foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition..."
(source: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1861stephens.asp)

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Many of the Southern state's Articles of Secession mention that their reason for seceding is that their right to enslave and subjugate the black race has been infringed upon. So when people say that a confederate flag is about states' rights, you will know to what right they are referring.

Answer 2

ZombieE Lee answered

The flag itself is just fabric and paint. Its the emotions and memories that the flag brings with it that are bad. I get that a lot of people that wave the flag aren't racist but that's not the point. The point is that many people are offended by the flag. If people want to show pride of the South then they can just wave their state flag or something similar. Either that or we need to separate the flag from racism somehow but that's not likely to happen.

Answer 3

It's "bad" only to the extent the USA flag is "bad".

Many more terrible things are being done under the USA flag, than slavery. How many people have been killed, maimed, and oppressed under the name of "Manifest Destiny"?

I understand. The CSA no longer exists. There is no discomfort blaming it for past wrongs and removing its symbols.

But the CSA can't carry the complete blame for the current state of bigotry. The USA has had 150 years to rectify that situation. And is still actively engaged in oppression, both at home and abroad.

So when the CSA flag is no longer around - who will we blame, to avoid recognizing our own responsibilities?

Answer 4

No. The flag is just a nice rectangle full of colors. IT is an inanimate object, so I don't think it can be deemed "bad." But the people who believe in what it stands for are immoral in that they believe that blacks, some of the nicest people I've ever known, are inferior to whites. They aren't. Sometimes those who believe in what the Confederate Flag stands for make very bad choices, but most of them don't kill people or anything. Most aren't public about it. So most people who follow the flag are not bad people per se, they just have an opinion that is not loving. You can interpret that how you want.

Nobody's perfect; everybody sins- these people may just sin differently than you, and that doesn't make them any worse or better than you are.

It would be nice to get the use of the CSA flag to be limited to history classes, but that's not because it is bad; that's just because it reminds us of an opinion that is bad.

Answer 5

On the News, I've listened to both sides of the controversy. However I do think the flag's place is in a museum not on state grounds. I understand the representation and memorial of those that gave their lives for the Confederacy, but it was an unjust cause. Those brave people can and should be remembered in another fashion with a better symbol then the flag that those wish to represent the enslavement of others.