Quote:
|
There were plenty of northerners who wanted to abolish slavery for non-moral reasons, just as there were plenty of southerners who wanted to abolish slavery for moral reasons.
|
The whole Civil War thing is a red herring. The problem with the battle flag has little to do with the Confederacy. The battle flag was adopted as a symbol of racial intimidation by the Klan and its sympathizers in the twentieth century. It was successfully used to place millions of Americans in a state of terror in their own homes. You can't erase that history from that flag. It's ruined. It's poisoned. Pick a different Confederate symbol to fly -- there are lots to choose from that never flew at lynchings and segregationist rallies. If you don't, I can only assume that, at best, you don't mind being associated with a reminder of white-supremacist violence.
I can't imagine what flag in Chicago (?) has offensive connotations. I've seen Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Irish flags, but that's about it.