Is displaying a Confederate flag similar to displaying a Nazi flag?

[Aurelius]

The Nazi flag is banned in Germany and the CSA flag should be banned here.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Beyond that, freedom of speech is good. It doesn't exist at all if we only have it for things we agree with. I'm also laughing at the thought of government officials going around confiscating cars from Dukes of Hazzard fans.

[Aurelius]

The answer is obviously no in most contexts. The confederate flag's intent actually does depend on the context, unlike the Nazi flag which is essentially synonymous with the Holocaust no matter when and where it's used. And I think everyone here knows this too, by the way.

To test that, imagine you're in a parking lot and you see a truck with a confederate flag bumper sticker on it and elsewhere in the lot you see a truck with a swastika bumper sticker. Which one of those guys are you more eager to avoid?

With the confederate flag truck, it very well could belong to a dangerous member of a hate group, but more likely it's just some tone-deaf fat guy who listens to Lynyrd Skynyrd, likes hometown southern country values, thinks he's tougher than he is, and doesn't like being told what to do. But when it comes to the truck with a nazi flag bumper sticker on it, you know with damn near 100% certainty that that guy is crazy and probably dangerous.

Saw a guy with Valknut and Sonnenrad tattoos a few weeks ago. Got the f**k away from him as fast as I could, even though this was in a very public place. Seeing a confederate flag inspires no such reaction.

[Aurelius]

The answer is obviously no in most contexts. The confederate flag's intent actually does depend on the context, unlike the Nazi flag which is essentially synonymous with the Holocaust no matter when and where it's used. And I think everyone here knows this too, by the way.

To test that, imagine you're in a parking lot and you see a truck with a confederate flag bumper sticker on it and elsewhere in the lot you see a truck with a swastika bumper sticker. Which one of those guys are you more eager to avoid?

With the confederate flag truck, it very well could belong to a dangerous member of a hate group, but more likely it's just some tone-deaf fat guy who listens to Lynyrd Skynyrd, likes hometown southern country values, thinks he's tougher than he is, and doesn't like being told what to do. But when it comes to the truck with a nazi flag bumper sticker on it, you know with damn near 100% certainty that that guy is crazy and probably dangerous.

Saw a guy with Valknut and Sonnenrad tattoos a few weeks ago. Got the f**k away from him as fast as I could, even though this was in a very public place. Seeing a confederate flag inspires no such reaction.

Being pro-treason and pro-slavery doesn't inspire that reaction?

Come on now, there is no way you seriously believe that everyone who displays a Confederate flag actually supports slavery.

Why else would they display the flag of the Confederacy, which seceded from the union solely to maintain the practice of slavery?

Before you say "heritage"... okay, heritage of what? Their ancestors who... seceded from the union solely to maintain the practice of slavery?

These people usually believe in the Lost Cause, whose entire purpose is to try to claim that the Confederacy had nothing to do with slavery. The falseness of the Lost Cause has zero bearing on this. They also might just be a Dukes of Hazzard fan or an 80s biker type of guy.

When I see a guy with Nazi tattoos my gut reaction is "this guy is batsh**t insane, unstable, dangerous, and liable to hurt someone at any moment". It is more than just political beliefs.