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Now there's two things in the thread that I don't get. Isn't it possible to make an effort to understand something and fail? Isn't it sometimes true that there's a hole in the logic of the concept that you're trying to understand? When I say "I don't get it," how do you know that I haven't listened and tried to understand?
I grasp intellectually that some people choose to put aside history when they are supposedly honoring history. ONE of the numerous historical Confederate flags was used for racial intimidation in the 20th century, not just by the KKK, but by the millions of pro-segregationist voters, White Citizens' Councils, etc. who condoned or supported terrorism against black people, even if they did not themselves practice it. The whole point of terrorism is that you use violence against a small number of people to place the whole population in a state of fear. Watch the newsreels from the night before James Meredith entered Ole Miss -- all those students with flags on their cars weren't Klansmen, but they used that flag to make clear their support for apartheid (and for Meredith getting the hell out if he valued his safety). So I grasp intellectually that there are some people who choose to wave that terrorism-tainted flag, instead of a different Confederate flag, and claim that they aren't invoking the segregationists. I grasp that, but it sure doesn't make any sense to me.
Flags stand for principles. The fact that one group of people with genocidal principles (Nazis) was more successful at murder than another group of people with genocidal principles (the Klan) doesn't effect how horrible those principles are. Al Qaeda wasn't any less vile in 1995, when they'd killed just a handful of people, than they are today. It's the idea that's evil, not just the actions.
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