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Confederate Flag Research Paper

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Heritage not hate: the motto of so many people who believe that the Confederate flag is a cornerstone of the history of the South and is simply a symbol of those who fought in the Civil War. But the Confederate flag does not just represent the lives of those lost fighting for what they believed in, it symbolizes the racial oppression and White supremacy that kept Black Americans from being treated as people for so long in the United States, preventing them from being able to vote, receive quality educations, and even drink from the same water fountain as a White person in America.
The flag that became so famous because of Robert E. Lee’s army during the Civil War is a reminder of the racial prejudice that Blacks endured, that still remains …show more content…

When their goal was to keep Blacks at an inhumane level in society where they were owned by other people, forced to do manual labor for endless hours, that was represented by their flag as they fought to keep Blacks unequal. Ben Jones, who served as a Democrat in the House of Representatives from Georgia and is the chief of heritage operations for the Sons of Confederate Veterans argues that “To those 70 million of us whose ancestors fought for the South, it is a symbol of family members who fought for what they thought was right in their time” (Jones). Although the flag does represent the lives of people lost during the civil war, those people were fighting to continue to oppress Black lives in America, supporting the promotion of racism and prejudice of Black Americans. There is no denying that the flag represents the fight to maintain an economic system of slavery in the South, which ultimately makes the South’s heritage hate. The South’s heritage is believing in and …show more content…

Yes, it may represent Southerners fighting for what they believed in, but the Confederate flag is a symbol of the prejudice that was fought to be retained and spread throughout the United States. Jones claims that “Perceptions of the flag depend upon context. At a national cemetery or national battlefield, it is seen in the historical context of the American Civil War. ” (Jones). Heritage is hate. Our country’s past is the racism and slavery of Blacks. There is no separating the two. No matter the setting, the history is the same and the Confederate flag will still represent racism towards Blacks. I might be interpreted differently throughout the country, but the symbolism is still the same. There are so many ways to celebrate the heritage of the South and even with all the disputes over the use of the Confederate flag, people still continue to raise it pridefully; not because they are showing their pride in the South, but their pride in the prejudice of Blacks. To say that “the flag … has been seen as a symbol of a non-racist Southern spirit by millions of viewers internationally” (Jones) is simply false. No matter where you are in the country, the history is all the same: the South fought for slavery in the civil war. The Confederate Flag: a flag raised by Confederate soldiers fighting to keep Blacks from

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