The Confederate Flag was the main flag for the Confederates during the civil war, and has remained a part of the southern culture to this day. The Confederates in the Civil War stood for the right to own people and force them to work. The Confederate Flag in the 1860’s was more a symbol of people fighting for beliefs, but today is a symbol of modern racism. The Confederate Flag is offensive to African-Americans, and is a symbol of racial segregation. The Confederate Flag is a symbol of racism and should be taken down from federal businesses and buildings
The confederate flag was a symbol in the Civil War for the right to own people because of what their skin color was. In this article, the author states, “The flag was the emblem of a regime based on what Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens called ‘the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery–subordination to the superior race–is his natural and normal condition. ” (1). This quote is saying the true definition of the confederate flag, that it symbols that one race is better than another race.
Upon contrary belief, National Geographic states, “The Confederate flag of today wasn’t actually the flag of the Confederacy—it was the flag of Robert E. Lee’s Northern Virginia army. ” This quote is basically putting away the excuse of “southern pride,” because the flag today isn’t even the flag used for the people who actually fought for their rights. These two quotes are contrasting what the flag actually stands for and then what people say it’s used for.
Another thing many people do not know about the flag is the full background to this hate filled flag. According to Take it Down: the Confederate Flag means Treason, “After the Emancipation Proclamation, after Appomattox, and after the 13th Amendment, slavery was as dead as Marley’s doornail, and so was the Confederate flag, which practically disappeared from popular view until D. W. Griffith’s infamous epic, The Birth of a Nation. It was taken up again by the second Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s[… ].
This quote is illustrating the fact that this flag was not used for quite some time after the Civil War until it became the background to one of the most well known radical racism groups in the United States to this day. Later on the same article says, “It was taken up again by segregationists in the 1950. ” Not only was the flag used on a radical racial group, it was also the flag used for people against desegregation in the 1950’s. These quotes show the use for the flag in its true meaning; a symbol for segregation.
Why did the Confederate Flag make it’s 20th Century comeback? According to National Geographic,”The Confederate battle flag made its reappearance following the end of World War II. A group of southern states seceded from the Democratic party and ran their own ticket, the Dixiecrats, and the Confederate battle flag was very prominent with the Dixiecrat campaign in the 1948 presidential election. ” After the Second World War, people in the south decided to bring back this flag and for their own party and the flag be their main flag of choice.
If this segregation ended 60 years ago with the Civil Rights Movement, there wouldn’t be a problem, but racial crimes still happen today with the flag as the motivator. According to CBS, “On June 17, nine black Americans were killed in a Charleston, South Carolina church, allegedly by a lone white gunman named Dylann Roof, who claimed he was attempting to incite a race war in America. ” The use of this quote is to illustrate one of the many confederate flag racial crimes that are pretty recent in history. The flag stirs up the principles that it was made on; that one race is above another.
This is causing crimes against races in the United States today. Some might also be able to argue that the Confederate flag should stay on federal buildings because it is a part of southern culture, and honors the Americans that have fallen for what they believe. New York Times states, “My flag’s been flying for 33 years, and I’m not about to take it down,’ said Nancy Jenkins, 58, a postal worker who is white and who flies the Mississippi flag and the United States flag at her house a block south of Louisville City Hall. It doesn’t stand for hate.
It means a lot of people fought and died. ” Over 620,000 people died in the civil war so it is a valid argument to state it might represent fallen soldiers. That being said, the argument that states that the flag is a symbol of racism has more ground and back up compared to the “fallen heroes” side. The Confederate Flag is an offensive symbol to AfricanAmericans, and should be taken down from federal buildings across America. The Confederate Flag has a background of hate, symbolizes hate, and inspires racial crimes in modern day America.
What if you had friends who were African-American, and were being bullied by these segregationist inspired by this flag? Would you be ok with it, or would you want this inspiration to stop? This topic is important because this is happening to many African-Americans around America. No person should be alienated because of what their skin color is. In conclusion, the Confederate Flag is offensive to fellow Americans and should be taken off of federal buildings.