Is the Confederate flag really racist?

[desunoto]

Ok, so if this doesn't get some activity from the board users, I don't know what will.

Let me start by saying I am against racism, past, present and future, and having experienced it first-hand I unequivocally say there is NO excuse for it.

With all that happened in South Carolina, this flag is getting a lot a debate, but when you do a little research you find out it's not all Black and White (so to speak).

Most of you know that the Confederate Flag was the flag of "The South" in the US Civil War. Now I'm willing to bet that many of you, like myself, think that the Civil war was simply between the North (The Union) who wanted to abolish slavery and the South (Confederates) who wanted to keep it. The North won and so slavery was abolished.

But it's not that simple. Here are some interesting facts when you do a little more digging.
(Here's a good place to start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_the_American_Civil_War)

First, and probably most shocking, is that 75% of whites in the South had no slaves at all! It was only the very rich who had slaves, and like today, since they controlled the businesses and politics they had influence on the decision to go to war. So in reality, if slavery was abolished, the vast majority of the South couldn't care less as it would have no impact on them!

On the other hand, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri were all part of the Union during the war, yet they all allowed slavery. Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia were also "slave-states" that were part of the Union, and only joined the Confederacy AFTER the war started.

So just because you were part of the South doesn't mean you supported slavery, and just because you were part of the Union didn't mean you were against it.

Another interesting fact is that a bigger reason the South left the Union (thus starting the war) is that they had very little influence in politics. Abraham Lincoln was elected president even though he didn't win a single Southern State, and in fact didn't even appear on the ballot in 10 of 15 Southern States. But he still won, and it's not hard to feel sorry for the Southern States, since it pretty much meant their votes didn't mean anything.

There are many, MANY other facts on the issue, but I've given you some of the more surprising ones. So if the people of the South weren't necessarily racist, is it fair to call their flag a symbol of racism?

 

[Leggy]

Symbols often take on a life of their own, above and beyond their cultural and historical significance.

Perhaps the most notorious example is the swastika. It is over 3000 years old, and used to stand for life, sun, power, strength, and good luck.
Then a group of monsters perverted it, using it to cloak hatred, evil, and genocide. Now the symbol is universally recognized as one of intolerance and racism.

The Confederate flag suffered a similar fate.

Whatever a symbol's original meaning may have been, when it has been turned to evil purpose, it should be put away; it's time has come and gone.

 

[Ghost Kitty~]

Another fun fact is Abraham didnt abolish slavery... since those slave states in the union would also rebel if he had done that. I dont really remember the exact wording, but the abolishing papers actually threaten the confederates' ownership of slaves for leaving the union. This basically meant the papers were null until the war ended in favor of the North... which is what happened, so all the slaves in the South were freed. The war was not advertised as a war to free the slaves, since there are many in the North that wouldn't fight for such a cause even if they viewed it as unjust.

Not being a slave owner doesnt exactly mean they were not racist and they would be impacted quite a bit since the South relied on agriculture. Living with slavery also tends to create a mindset of sorts... Would be hard to just watch slaves being mistreated as if they viewed slavery as the North had.

Hmm... had they even moved away from that electoral college things at this point or was it still the rich and influential controlling everything? Not that it really matters since most of the Southern population was black and they didnt even count as a full person... They also had no impact on Southern politics since they werent allowed to vote. Not quite sure I would pity the Southern whites when it comes to representation.

Anyhow, as leggy said, the flag now represents racism in the eyes of many. The war is similarly seen as one fought over the abolishment of slavery... in modern times anyway. Not saying that people back then didnt understand that it a war that would free slaves, but it just wasn't the main reason for them to go to war.

Hope I remembered this stuff correctly =/ Been a long time since those history classes...