And America Continues to Show it's True Colors. . .

[Censored]

Of course the Nazi flag symbolizes a group of people heading some of the largest mass murders in history, but it's also a historically important object. What the Confederate and Nazi flags should be used for is as reminders to humanity not to go back to those times.

If you're saying the confederate flag should not be glorified and only used as a reminder of a dark history we should never repeat, you and I may not be so far apart on this. I can tell you right now though, people who go around waving the rebel flag and displaying it on their home and car are not thinking this way.

 

[Censored]

I will concede that there are a few major differences between the Nazi flag and the Confederate flag.

I mean, the Nazis stood for racist oppression and violence against a whole group of people and the Confederacy….er…uh…

Ok, bad example, but heck, the Nazis hated the the United States of America and wanted to destroy it and the Confederacy…oops…another bad example…

Let’s see…Ah, here we go: The Nazis lost, but the Confederacy….er…. hmmm…


What are the differences?

 

[Old Thunder]

What are the differences?

One group didn't kill millions of people.

 

[jvcarroll]

Tom Petty was never a white supremacist either, on the contrary, he was very liberal and progressive, but he owned and displayed confederate flags, not out of hate, but because of southern pride. Then, he realized that you really can't separate the history of hate and slavery from the confederate flag and he renounced it, said he regretted using them, and never used them again. In other words, he grew with the times and I respect him for it. That was my original point.

That's a fantastic story. Also, most people don't realize that the "Confederate flag" of today isn't really the Confederate flag. It was popularized during Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement in order to intimidate black Americans under the flimsy guise of Southern pride. Whether one looks at the flag as a piece of fabric or a great symbol, no one should want any of that stink on them. That's the point that many are missing. I'm originally from Texas. I know what these "pride" things are really about. It's fear that minorities in America are going to truly gain equality and the realization that some might treat America's white people how history has treated them. That wouldn't be right either and much of that would't happen, but that's what the fear is. When I see a whole bunch of people angry about something, the first thing I ask is --what's the fear here? Not the petty surface fear, but what's really underneath it. That takes a lot of empathy for those we'd rather not have it for, but that perspective changes everything.

 

[jvcarroll]

One group didn't kill millions of people.

Is the number of people who died and were oppressed under slavery really an issue? Is this a numbers game?

Also, from the Wikapedia: About 10.5 million slaves arrived in the Americas. Besides the slaves who died on the Middle Passage, more Africans likely died during the slave raids in Africa and forced marches to ports. Manning estimates that 4 million died inside Africa after capture, and many more died young.

So, if this really is a numbers game - yeah. What is the difference between the Nazis and Confederates on this particular point? This isn't a personal criticism. It's just, sometimes I just don't get the points being made. Human beings died in slavery. They had shorter and brutal lives that were never truly lived. Those were the "lucky" ones.

There are a lot of good things to be proud about in the South and there are other icons, aside from the Confederate fag or Confederate monuments, to celebrate. Choosing this particular symbol might not directly mean White Pride, but it also says that the horrible White Pride history doesn't mean enough to the person to stop and think how this iconography worship wounds and intimidates other people. That's my buck o' five on this.

 

[LittleJerry92]

The only thing I can really say is at the end of the day, no one really listens to what the opposite has to say and it's all really up to them to decide how they believe..... Unless you're like one of those people who just follow the leader and just like something cause another person likes it.

It's something i've learned and even a friend of mine from college and I were talking about that.

My opinion on the flag might change in 10 years..... But I'll worry about that when/if the time comes.

 

[Censored]

For whatever it's worth: I am a southerner, born and raised. But, I never let geography blind me to what was obviously wrong.

"Rebel by birth; American by choice."

 

[jvcarroll]

The fact that Confederate flags and monuments have any roots in a racist history should give any Southerner pause when raising them in reverence. These things are racially stained. They intimidate historically oppressed minorities in ways that we while folk will never comprehend. Because of that, I ask Southerners one big question. What ever happened to Southern hospitality? Whatever one chooses to believe or remain blind toward, the awful history, oppression and intimidation factors are permanently ingrained in these icons. Making people feel small is neither kind nor hospitable. This isn't really Southern pride. It's arrogant pride.

 

[D'Snowth]

Because of that, I ask Southerners one big question. What ever happened to Southern hospitality?

It still exists, for sure, but like with the rest of society, it's just kind of fizzled away.

 

[LittleJerry92]

So.... Echoing Censored's mention of "rebel by birth" in reference to being born in the South.....

What would New England be? "Guy who complains about traffic and weather and has a huge craving for fish: American by choice"?