The Confederate Flag

preciousjeni · #11 09-29-2011, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Then you agree with my point. And you know that there is no substantive difference between discussing religious symbols versus other symbols like the Confederate Flag. People believe in what they believe in and will justify their belief no matter what. People will assert that there is more positive than negative to their beliefs.

Therefore, there can be a problem with telling people that their beliefs and the symbol itself is inherently and uncontextually flawed, and their belief in it makes them not only privileged but a bigot. There are people who would say the same to me when I wear my Jesus tshirt and Ichthys/Jesus fish bracelet. Many of these people would also call me a lost and foolish Black person for acknowledging the negatives, that began during Jesus' movement and throughout history, and choosing to allow the positive to outweigh the negative.

I never disagreed that there is no substantive difference between discussing religious symbols and other symbols. Regarding the subject of this conversation, I grew up believing that Christian symbols were good and Confederate Flags were good.

Now I believe that Christian (along with other other religious) symbols are tainted, but they are accepted as more positive or more negative depending on the context, when displayed publicly. And, I believe that the Confederate Flag no longer carries a positive connotation, when displayed publicly.

Regardless of the symbol itself, my real concern is the purpose of public display. If the purpose is to be instigative, why do it?

All symbols are controversial on some level, whether superficial or deeply embedded. So, my question is always going to be the deepest level of "why" when it comes to the reasoning behind the public display of symbols.

ETA: The test of an instigator is their reaction to negativity expressed toward a particular symbol. If they take it down and put it somewhere private, I'm good. If they leave it up or do what the woman in the article did, we have a problem.