Is the Confederate Flag Racist? Options

[onenonly101]

Many people have different views on this. Some say no because the flag is their heritage and many say yes because of what it represents now i nthe present. So the question is If the Confederate Flag Racist.

This was started on another forum and this is what i had to say (keep in mind some people were replying back so, sorry if i repeated my self in any sentences, also it was also starting to talk about the war)

My opinion on the confederate flag is all over the place actually. i think that it the ways it is used can be racist. it started off as a symbol of pride and finished off as a symbol of haterd. many people have twisted the flag and its view to make it as a symbol of haterd not only against blacks, but jews, hispanics, catholics, and anyone who was not like them. Personally i do not think that there should have been a confederate flag in the first place because as the so called United States we shouldn't have ever divided ourselves.

Ok when i say it has turned out to now be a symbol of racism i mean that when the flag first came about it was all about southern pride and heritage and what not. but after the civil war when the KKK was created they used the flag as a symbol of haterd of minorities and when in the 50s when all the hate groups were becoming even more fired up against blacks they waved around that flag at all their meetings when they were saying i hate blacks, jews, and everybody who isn't me. some people now still see it as only a symbol of heritage, but you have to put yourself in a minorties body and see what we see when every time you see the flag it is always associated with somethingd bad as racism, what more can you think.

I don't think anyone said the war was just about slavery. It was about states rights and slavery because the question of states rights arose because of slavery. The thing is now the flag is associated with all the hate groups. They don't have the right to use it but it doesn't change the fact that they do use it. When everything is all done and said with all people will remember is that neo-nazi, kkk, and other hate groups used that flag.
I say i don't like to see the flag because all i see is hate.

I haven't been taught to only see hate. I actually used to believe that is wasn't racist, when everyone said it was. The thing is that when i started researching things like the Civil war and other things I realized the intentions of it weren't meant to be racist but it is now and there is nothing to change that.

Ya'll keep saying it wasn't over slavery. The reason the states succeeded to union wqas because of slavery. The issue of states right to govern and allow to have slaves is what caused the split. If there wasn't the issue of slavery i can bet there wouldn't have been a civil war.
How can a flag hold your heritage. There is no more Confederacy so you there shouldn't be the Confederate flag. How can you love a flag that represents separation?.
Like i said before you have to look from the other point of view. I've been on both sides and everytime i see that flag it is behind someone saying they agree with separation. take how you wanna, but in my eyes it is racist,

I never said the north was dead set against slavery or that northern states didn't have slaves so i don't know how that got into the agrument. Also they returned the slaves bcak because there was rewards, everybody is money hungry AND laws. Also those states that had slave in the north went with the succession with the south so then they were apart of the confederacy.
Poor people did have slaves. Most of the southerners yeah weren't rich enough to buy many slaves, but that doesn't mean that they didn't have slaves. Almost one-third of all Southern families owned slaves. In Mississippi and South Carolina it approached one half. Also the states who were near the north weren't considered nothern states they were ocnsidered borderline states. And they did not suceede to the Confederacy.
I shouldn't have said if i did, slavery was the only reason. The slavery issue however was the largest issue and the one of most concern. Other factors like politcally stemmed from slavery because before they made the 3/4 compromise, people in the North said if they are just property then they shouldn't be counted toward the voting rep in Congress, but the Southerns disagreed because the more people the more reps you could have. That was one of the issues that started the Civil War.The South also suceeded because they though Lincolin was going to free slaves even though he never advocated abolishing slavery.
But back to the flag

I meant to ask ya'll before what Confederate do you love or whatever. Because for example Georgia's flag up until 2001 was not the original Confederate flag it was a Confederate flag put up to protest the Supreme court's decision on Brown vs. Board of Education.
The flag is a representation of slavery because there wasn't a confederate flag until the succession. What i don't understand is how you say you have an alliegence to a flag of a nonexistent place. There is no more Union or Confederacy it is simply the United States of America. Yeah the Confederacy consisted of southern states but doesn't mean that it should represent the states or what not.

finished sorry it was alot

[ComradeRed]

um back on topic, i do think the confederate flag is racist.  i live in the south as well, and i'm not black, but i still think it's racist.  the flag was only used during the 4 years the civil war was going on.  the flag was a symbol of rebellion- the south wanting to break from the united states.  and why did they want to break from the US?  Because the north wanted to ban slavery.  it's a symbol used to fight for slaves.  and most people know it's wrong, but the flag is representing a time when people in the south thought it was right, and were willing to die for it.  okay i know that most the people who fought on the south were poor and from little shacks and didn't have slaves, but they were fighting for their side-- and their side wanted slaves.  people in the south aren't using it to be proud of their heritage or whatever, because it represented a span of about 15 years of rebellion.  that is in no way representing heritage.  or at least any heritage to be proud of... But if you ARE proud of it enough to display it, that means you agree with their cause and are indeed racist.  or at least agree with the south's old idea that slaves should be legal.  which to me sounds racist, because it's stating that blacks are able to be owned and have no purpose of life other than to serve whites.  the definition of racism is thinking a race is inferior to one's own.  and to make a black a slave means you think they're inferior to you, and that they should be allowed to do your work for you and not even get paid.

For the record, the North never wanted to ban slavery until 1863, and even then as a political move.

NEVER did Lincoln advocate banning slavery. EVER.

"If I could save the Union and free the slaves, I would do that. If I could save the Union and free no slaves, I would do that. And if I could save the Union and free some slaves while leaving others alone, I would do that too."
--Lincoln, 1862--after the war already started.

The AMERICAN flag is a symbol of rebellion! We broke away from the grand old British Empire!

And aside from slavery, the Confederacy has a lot to be proud of. They created a Constitution and enforced it much better than the Union did. The average Confederate soldier had fair officesr and enjoyed much more freedom than the average Union soldier who usually had corrupt officers.

Machinoman, seceding from an existing country IS definitionally a defensive move. When you secede, you nullify oppressive laws that are aimed against you. You are NOT seeking to inavde the other country.

Did the South want to conquer Washington? No. They just wanted to be left alone.