The Confederate Flag Issue

When I first came across the Negative Views assignment, I immediately thought of the Confederate Flag. It was an obvious choice considering all the attention and the controversy surrounding it in the past few weeks. For me personally, if I was asked six months ago what I thought about the Confederate flag, I would say I loosely associated it with the term “redneck.” I looked up the definition of “redneck” on Internet Slang and it said redneck means, “Unsophisticated rural person from Southeast USA.” That is a good explanation of what I think of when I think of the word “redneck” and when I associate it with the Confederate Flag. There was a mild negative association with this flag. But I need to back up a bit before I continue.

The author mentioned that some citizens are still perturbed by the Confederate flag. While the number is slowly waning, many citizens were a part of the civil rights movement. They watched racist people protest against them using the flag as a symbol of racism, oppression, and hatred. To some, the flag may serve as a permanent reminder that racism is not truly dead in America.

Can the same flag that symbolizes southern heritage also be a symbol of hate? In 2015, a tragic shooting occurred at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charlestown, South Carolina. The Charleston shooter, Dylan Roof, was charged with killing nine African-Americans. After this horrible act, he waved the confederate flag in photographs sparking an issue with the flag. Two articles were released concerning whether or not the confederate flag should be removed from the South Carolina capitol. The first article, “Take Down the Confederate Flag, Symbol of Hatred”, was released by The New York Times editorial board on June 22, 2015. This article proposed that the flag should be removed. Following the release of this article, on June 24, 2015 “Keep the Confederate Flag Flying” was released by Selwyn Duke claiming the flag should remain. In these articles, both authors incorporated persona, audience, tone and style to effectively argue whether or not the flag should remain to Americans who may side with their argument.

The removal of the Confederate Battle Flag. Was this a justifiable move made by South Carolina governor Nikki Haley or will this lead to more hatred among South Carolina residents and other United States citizens? The Civil War took place because of many disagreements between the Union and the Confederacy. One major disagreement, considered non-negotiable by both sides, was the ownership and sale of African American slaves. Now, the South Carolina Legislature has voted to remove the flag from the property of the South Carolina Capitol based upon recent events and the controversial opinion that this flag promotes racism. The Confederate flag and all other Civil War symbols should be removed because they convey the idea that racism is acceptable

Debates over displaying the Confederate battle flag are as familiar here as grits and sweet tea.

Therefore, the flag is a something that symbolizes racism and support for segregation. I do not think that something like that should be supported within society. Flying the flag is a set-back for the fight against racism. There are many problems with supporting the flag as a symbol to many different culturally diverse groups. The flag represents segregation and that is something that needs to be left in the past. The main moral reason why someone should not fly the confederate flag rests is the fact that it is extremely racist to individuals who battled through the consequences of segregation and racism. It should not be morally acceptable for anyone to support an object that represents so much pain and hurt to individuals of different races. I understand that under the first amendment people have the right to freedom of speech, however, I do believe this flag infringes on the rights of others and has been used a symbol of

The senseless murder of nine black church members by a self-proclaimed racist who feared America was being taken over by blacks (Robles, 2015), brought the community together. Soon after, images of Dylan Roof waving a Confederate flag surfaced, the conversations in Charleston turned to the lawmakers. For the victims and citizens of South Carolina, seeing the Confederate flag proudly displayed at their Statehouse was painful and

July 10th, 2015, 2,000 citizens stood around the statehouse in Columbia South Carolina to watch as the confederate flag was removed from the pole on the grounds. The removal of the flag had emotions raging in the South, many Southerners believing that the flag was a symbol of heritage, while others thought it was a symbol of hate. But is the flag a symbol of hate, or does the hate come from the people who fly a flag in a negative way? Since the flag was created in 1861, the views of the flag have been coopted into an idea of hate.

The races have been announcing that they are taking a stand and are trying to abolish racism. When in reality they are performing the wrong way. There has been instances where some races attack other races historically there have been wrongfully accusing and violence is used to fix what is believed to be wrong. The rebel flag is the biggest example I can use at the moment. African Americans have decided that this flag discriminates against them. This item is the Confederate battle flag from the Civil War. Bottle flags are totems for men who served under them, this flag is the memorial to Confederate soldiers. Although the Confederates fought for slavery, that does not mean the flag means slavery or discrimination. Overall it recognizes the

The American South. An area full of rich history and the home to some of the nation’s largest conflicts throughout history, such as the civil war and the civil rights movement. Southerners have always been proud of their heritage despite its rocky parts and display it for all to see with a 150 year old flag. This is proving to be problematic, though, as the Confederate flag they are all so proud of, is really only 50 years old and has been associated with ideals of white supremacy and racism. Some Southerners and other Americans choose to not believe the truth about the flag, others were never taught the truth. However, it is incredibly important in forming an opinion on the flag, and to whether or not the flag must be removed from state buildings. And the truth is, due to its historical affiliation to racist whites in the South, white supremacy groups, and recent events such as the Charleston Shooting, the Confederate rebel flag should not be flown on state buildings as it is not culturally sensitive to African American people who have been targeted by these people.

In Columbia, South Carolina cable news network (CNN) Debates over displaying the Confederate battle flag are as familiar here as grits and sweet tea. But the outpouring of grief after a racist gunman killed nine African-Americans last week during a Bible study at a historic Charleston church is testing whether the longtime standoff can last. The flag debate is quickly becoming a major political issue ahead of the state's crucial first in the South presidential primary next year. Many Republicans, including Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, have avoided taking a position on the flag, even though Jeb Bush highlighted his role in removing the flag from Florida's Capitol in 2001. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton forcefully called on Americans

This article from The Clarion Ledger by Ryan Walters discusses the removal of the confederate statues across the southeast. This article discusses the push politicians Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker are making for the removal of the state flag. The push has seen a drastic increase since the deadly shooting in South Carolina committed under the Confederate banner. With this article being posted on The Clarion Ledger it is attempting to bring awareness of the push for the removal of the flag by state

Americans are still debating this issue of the confederate flag 150 years later because it still reminds people of the past. This flag has caused so much harm for majority of African Americans ancestors, which is a constant reminder for us. When this debate first came into play last summer it caused a major rift in our society because it made a lot of supporters for the flag express their position more, and likewise with the opposers. These types of debates can break a job environment. You never truly know where someone stands until a big issue like this comes to light. Also, I believe it's still being debated is because people truly do not discuss the topic of slavery and the hardships associated with it.

In my paper I will be discussing the Confederate Flag and its controversy in history and in todays views. The Confederate flag has been a negative symbol in American society since the 1800’s. It has been only recently that the Confederate flag has been brought back to life as a contemporary issue. In recent times the flag has been used as a motivation for racial strikes and other rebellious acts bring the issues of the flag and the controversy behind it back to life. The major questions I seek to answer in this essay it why the controversy of the Confederate flag only been brought back up recently and why the confederate flag was created the way it was. And the overall motivation behind its creation. The Confederate flag has only recently been brought back as an issue because of the recent racial attacks and an overall rebellious acts that swear under the confederate flag, back in the early 1860’s the confederate flag was first used to represent the southern states because the south was wanting to secede from the northern states. Because of the major shooting in Charleston controversy behind the confederate flag sparked back up. Major retailers like Walmart and Amazon and stopping the sale of the Confederate flag because of its growing symbol of racism. The Confederate flag has shifted from being viewed as the southern states to viewed as a symbol of racism. what does the future hold for the confederate flag and will it become a rare item?

I am going to be talking about why I believe the confederate flag should not be outlawed. I believe it is a symbol of heritage. Some people view it as a hate symbol. If homosexual people can get married and fly their gay flag why can't we fly our confederate flag. Many will argue this because there was a church that was shot, it was a church for black people and they raised the confederate flag a hate symbol. That is a valuable argument. That person was using it as a hate symbol. that one person ruined it for everyone. The reason it needs to be addressed now is because they are banning it because people can keep their mouth shut and stop complaining. they view it as a hate symbol not as heritage. Yes i agree people have used it as a hate