Quote:
Originally Posted by thetaj
Do people in the North honestly believe that when people in the South fly the rebel flag, they're doing so because they're racist/pleased with the results of slavery/trying to reverse the outcome of the Civil War? Honest question. Because if you HONESTLY think that's why it's flown down here, then shame on you for being so ignorant about the South.
As far as the article is concerned, yeah, bad choice. But that made the news because it is NOT why the flag is usually flown. You only ever hear about the exceptions, not the rule itself.
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I think it totally depends on who is flying it. I'm sure some people fly it out of general "Southern pride" and aren't racists or rebels. At the same time, regardless of who flys it, I think the use of that flag is a mistake. It's a big middle finger to the whole world because it's a flag that was used to represent 1) people who engaged in treason/revolution against the United States and 2) by the Klan and 3) segregationists. I think if you fly it, you're telling the whole world that you are perfectly happy to be identified with those groups.
If someone flies a red flag with a yellow hammer and crescent on it, I tend to believe that they have some sympathy for communists.
A flag is a piece of communication. If it's not communicating the message that you want it to, the problem isn't the fact that audience misunderstood, it's that you have chosen the wrong symbol to communicate.