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Originally Posted by Low C Sharp
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.
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Absolutely. The meaning has changed to such an extent that, as you say, the flag itself is ruined. Regardless of what white people say, it is no longer simply a symbol of southern heritage. It is a symbol of power, privilege and modern-day rebellion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KDCat
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.
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In this case, it is effectively communicating exactly what the flag owners intend, no matter how fervently they try to redirect attention.
The question is why fly the flag? You have to go deeper than the initial responses...southern heritage, pride, connection to ancestors...
Why fly the flag when they know it has lost its original symbolism? Because they can.
Dig deeper...why do they feel they can do something so blatantly offensive and not be bothered by it? The answer to this question is the bottom line.
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