Dabney is an African-American and European descent whose parents went to a segregated school in Virginia. His great-grandmother of three generations before him were free blacks before the Civil War, but during the war lived in fear that they would be kidnapped and forced to submit to slavery, thus living in constant fear. His grandfather of three generations before him was a white slave owner. This side of the family is where Dabney has a connection with past family members that were Confederate soldiers and members of the Virginia 1861 Secession Convention. His belief is that the Confederate flag represents the men who died at such battles like Manassas, Shiloh, and Gettysburg. He believes that the flag has been a representation of white supremacists groups in America but to deny the historical value of the Confederate flag would just be as wrong as the white supremacists. Dabney’s belief is that people cannot ignore prejudice or the symbol of prejudice by the flag, but that removing the flag from public display will not stop the white supremacists, or the prejudice that they adhere to. He believes that removing the flags would not stop the country from jailing more minorities than whites, and that this country needs to serve its people by resolving these problems with real congressional help and by cultural change and education and not by arguing over a piece of fabric. Historian Lars Prillaman belief is that the Confederate Battle flag should not be displayed at any
On January 1992 the NAACP put in affect a boycott on South Carolina to pressure the state to remove the Confederate flag off of its Statehouse in Columbia. The boycott is what initially brought life to this issue. The NAACP’s removal request is based on the fact that they, the anti-flag groups, claim that the meaning of the Confederate flag is one of hate and discrimination. On the other hand, there are other groups that believe differently whom are called the pro-flag groups. They claim that the Confederate flag is a sign of heritage and should stay on South Carolina’s Statehouse. Anti-flag articles are more likely to be found published in well-known Liberal magazines, when credible pro-flag articles were hard
In the past couple of year, there has been a controversial battle over the flying of the Confederate Flag on government buildings. The controversy has really started to stir up in the southern states such as South Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia. On January 30, 2001, the state of Georgia changed its flag, removing the large Confederate battle cross from the 1956 design and replacing it with the state seal of Georgia. Now, the state of Mississippi is the only state that fearlessly displays the Southern Cross in its state flag. Though several Southerners see the Confederate Flag as a symbol of southern pride and heritage, many others see the flag as a dishonorable reminder of slavery and segregation in the south. Although this flag is under great controversy in the southern states, there is no reason why this flag should not be flown from government buildings because it isn’t demoralizing African Americans in the symbolization of slavery, segregation and domination although it is used by many hate groups across the united states they too need a history lesson because the confederate flag only started as a battle flag that some blacks fought under and held with pride.
Over The course of time the Confederate flag has Flown in Historical battles and supported those men who went to was and fought to death under the flags stars and bars the confederate flag has even been bashed by those who may not fully understand the flag and its meaning in history. Before all of this began, a man named Nicola Marschall founded the first version of the confederate flag also known as the Stars and Bars this version of the flag was soon removed because it looked like the American flag and it was soon captured by the Union Army at Columbia. After this happened, we soon made yet another version of the flag also known
As Winston Churchill stated, “The flags of the Confederate States of America were very important and a matter of great pride to those citizens living in the confederacy. They are also a matter of great pride for their descendants as part of their heritage and history,” but in present day, the American people are claiming the meaning of the confederate flag is hate and discrimination. In South Carolina, the confederate flag was taken down and placed in a museum after a heated debate stemming from a mass shooting of nine black churchgoers in a historical Charleston church during bible study. The shooter, Dylann Roof, was a white supremacist. A photograph of Roof emerged showing him holding a confederate flag which fueled the political flag debate. The confederate flag is at the center of the controversy over racism. Although, it was first created as an official flag of confederacy, the confederate flag has changed into what is now either a symbol of Southern heritage and pride or slavery and racism by Americans. It is time to put this flag in a museum to be honored by those it means something to and no longer stand as a reminder of the division our country once suffered, so we can move on as a nation, united.
In conclusion Reid goes on to say, The Confederate flag is an important part of history, but whose history exactly, and for what purpose? She poses these questions because there are many people who are unaware about this symbol and may be misinformed about how those who oppose it feel and why. She wanted to shed light on the issue. Whether you agree with her or not she did well in debating against the other side and her article was very well written. I agree with her stance and applaud her for her excellent articulation and straightforwardness in the
In a society that contains over 300 million people, it’s challenging to find individuals with the same beliefs at you. By living in the South and living in a predominantly Republican household, many of my beliefs contradict my peers. One of the most recent times in which I’ve challenged a belief was the decision on whether or not the Confederate flag should be flown. The flag itself, represented a time of division, not a time of celebration. It reflects a time in which the South seceded from the Union in the 18th century due to their support of slavery.
Although the confederate flag was not originally created to be a hate symbol, it became one over the years. If there is any symbol or material item that offends a certain ethnic group, it can, and will most likely, be labeled as a racist insignia. When something goes as far as offending and restricting the rights of men and their equality, then it is racist and should not be tolerated to fly above a man’s home or dwelling. If an item such as the confederate flag plays such a significant role in history, it should be remembered in a museum. By putting it into a museum, it will be respected, not forgotten, and the people whose lives had been affected by the Confederate Flag are not in any situations where they feel scared, at risk of harm, inadequate or unequal; the people shall not be persecuted or feel as though they are being persecuted. The Confederate Flag should not fly amongst the people any longer. The past is the past.
About 150 years ago, the Civil War ended, and Reconstruction era began. African American slaves were free, but were looked at as different than everybody else. It wasn’t until the late 1950s and early 60s that African Americans finally felt equal to whites. Today, even though slavery and segregation has ended in the United States, racism is an extremely important topic. African Americans and people of other races are still facing the problems they did 100 years ago. One symbol of this is the Confederate flag. The Confederacy supported slavery, a now proclaimed ‘unconstitutional’ act. The Confederate flag is still being flown in some Southern states today, and they are offending thousands of United States citizens. The Confederate flag should be taken down in all public places because it represents a crude act of African American labor, it is used by white supremacist groups, and represents a rebellious group of people.
The debate over the recent mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina has sparked a controversy involving the presence of the Confederate flag. Apparently, there is a common perception among Democrats that the Confederates are associated with racial crime and hate in America. The suspect behind the shooting in Charleston has confessed that he acted about the idea of white supremacy in the South. A large section of the American population agrees the flag is a symbol of racism since it was established in honor of white civil war soldier who wanted to preserve slavery in the region. Interestingly, the flag has remained a monumental symbol in the states and is still erected in the front of South Carolina’s state house. For years after the
The opposing side wants us to listen and not worry about the flag just the information to support why it is not racist. When thinking of the flag it is important to keep in mind that the Confederate Battle Flag was just a battle flag and nothing more. The Confederate Battle Flag was never a National flag, so it could have never for slavery. The opposing side says that this is continued by a lack of education and ignorance people. The people that criticize the Confederate Battle Flag have to be misinformed about the history behind the Confederate flag and have simply joined in an on wrong information that is not completely true at all. The KKK known as the Ku Klux Klan has used the United States of America's flag more than the Confederate Battle Flag itself. The racist organization such as the KKK have taken a good symbol of history, and have misled the south that the Confederate flag is a racist symbol and that they stand behind the idea of it. They just want the good memories of the great Confederate Soldiers that fought under the flag would not be happy with their racist plans of it. In no possible way does the Confederate Flag represents hate or violence at all. SCV which stands for Sons of Confederate Veterans is a historic long time group that has tried to fight the dirt that has been put on the Confederate flag for being a racist symbol of history that has been brought about by the horrible organizations. The group really does not promote any type of hate groups, they proudly only promote the history behind the Confederate Flag and that’s all. The group till this day still tries to continue to educate the public to withstand the good reputation of the Confederate soldiers and make me realize that the Confederate soldiers went to fight for the country as a whole, not just one individual
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.
Just like teaching any other topic in the Twenty-First century, the topic of teaching The Confederate Flag is controversial. Some people believe that you should not teach something with a negative connotation attached to it. However others, including me, believe that teachers need to teach the events that took place years prior, no matter the connotation.
In the New York Times article, “Take Down the Confederate Flag, Symbol of Hatred”, Governor Nikki Haley has called to remove the confederate flag from the state capitol grounds. It has become a controversial topic in the past few weeks. Many people are calling for it to be removed since the incident at Charleston African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Historically, racism and equality have served to be the basis of issues that have stemmed and grown from the constitution. Racism was a huge issue and is still seen as an issue even today. Although equality is at the best point it has ever been, discrimination is still an immense problem. Recently, the debate regarding the Confederate flag as a symbol for slavery sparked many opinions, demonstrating the divisive nature of this issue. In her entry on the Huffington Post: Black Voices page, Hilary Hanson (2015) reported that “some people…feel the Dixie flag represents their Southern heritage.” On the contrary, some people feel as though “the flag has been used as an explicit symbol of racism” (Hanson 2015). Between these divided groups, an argument has ensued as to whether the
If we as a country were trying to have a shared civic experience all while trying to avoid the feeling of pain, then the Confederate flag would be taken down and would not be flown as it is. That is not the goal of justifying the flag and its underlying meanings it contains. Rather, our country has used and will continue to use history as a basis to understand our nation in all of the many