What does the Confederate Flag mean to you?

[Smash255]

Racism.  It is a flag for heritage, but a heritage that thought slavery & racism was fine

[Smash255]

Racism.  It is a flag for heritage, but a heritage that thought slavery & racism was fine

To be objective, the U.S. flag would also stand for racism under that logic. After all, the American heritage involves racism, slavery, discrimination against immigrants, and so on; these were not exclusive to the South.

Granted, but the south embraced slavery longer, formed the Confedercy in part due to fears Lincolin would make slavery illegal.  Formed the Jim Crow laws among other things.

[Smash255]

Racism.  It is a flag for heritage, but a heritage that thought slavery & racism was fine

To be objective, the U.S. flag would also stand for racism under that logic. After all, the American heritage involves racism, slavery, discrimination against immigrants, and so on; these were not exclusive to the South.

Granted, but the south embraced slavery longer, formed the Confedercy in part due to fears Lincolin would make slavery illegal.  Formed the Jim Crow laws among other things.

I would beg to disagree. California had discriminatory laws against Chinese immigrants, and also the Japanese during WWII. There was plenty of de facto discrimination against those of African descent in the North. The U.S. as a whole caused the death or displacement of millions of Indian tribes. So, on the whole, I would say that prejudice is not something that is in any way exclusive to one particular region.

Yes, you're right.  Northern elitists love to kid themselves into thinking that prejudice, discrimination, etc. has only existed in the south.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It's a psychological game these people are playing to make themselves feel better.  These things existed in the north and other sections of the country, and continue to this day.

I'm not saying it was only in the south, but it was more profound in the south.  Jim Crow laws, lynchings, etc

[Smash255]

The discussion seems to have strayed off-topic...since the Confederacy and its flag always have been held together by slavery and segregation as their main rallying cry, it's hard for me to view the flag as anything different than that.

That is a horrible misrepresentation of the truth.  My family has proudly flown the Confederate flag since the end of Reconstruction and they were never slaveholders or segregationists.  My family was one of the first in the South (and I believe the first in North Carolina) to intermarry.  And, guess what, they still fly the flag.  My family was a part of the underground railroad.  And guess what, they still signed up to fight in the war.  My family paid for hired blacks to work on the their farm.  And guess what, they paid them the same wage they paid the whites.

My view is simply this. The Confederate flag represented teh Confederacy. The Confederacy was founded to save slavery (and most inhabitants there voted for a pro-slavery candidate). Southern political leaders using the confederate flag and States Rights rethoric has clearly been mostly concerned with race issues. See Thurmond and Wallace. Now, I know that the actual Civil War is somewhat different and that state loyalties played a big part there (as it did with Lee, for isntance). My point is not that Soutehrners are racist, but that the confederacy was by and large founded on racism.

This is why foreigners have no business meddling in our affairs. They have no basis of fact in which to degrade our country.

Anyone who doesn't think that the utter horrific practice of slavery wasn't a major factor in the Confederecy is completley dillusional.