Confederate Flag Research Paper

Hear the Northern thunders mutter! Northern flags in South’s winds flutter! To Arms, To Arms, To Arms in Dixie! Send them back your fierce defiance! Stamp upon the cursed alliance! To Arms, To Arms, To Arms in Dixie! Advance the flag of Dixie! Hurrah! Hurrah! For Dixie’s land we take our stand, And we live or die for Dixie! To Arms! To Arms! And conquer peace for Dixie! To Arms! To Arms! And conquer peace for Dixie! –Confederacy chant. Many people praise it, display it, and chant it, yet others view it with pure disgust. Once again, the Confederate or “Rebel Flag has been shoved onto the table of debate due to the raising of the flag in front of the South Carolina State House. So much debate has arose that President Obama was questioned where this flag should be placed? President Obama replied with a very considerate answer. His answer was, “In a museum.” But why would he want to take down the flag and retire it? Many have applauded him upon the issue, yet others are left confused as to why? Many people fly the Confederate Flag with pride and none of which are racist. In fact, the flag does not even represent

The Confederate Battle flag is one of the most recognized symbols in the United States. It is not always a welcome symbol in today’s society. Take for instance the state of South Carolina having to remove it from its statehouse on April 12, 2000. The reason it is not always welcome is because people often misinterpret its true meaning. It is not a symbol of hatred but, a symbol of southern pride and honor. The pride and honor of all the men and women who carried it the flag into battle fighting for what they believed in, Southern independence.

Picture if you were treated differently by a flag that was flown, this can happen in our country at anytime. The confederate flag was flown as a symbol for the southern states in the civil war for keeping their culture which included slavery. The confederate flag should not be flown because it is offensive, symbol of hate, and racist.

“Symbol of a brave past or banner of treason?” Kevin Baker asks this in his article titled That Flag. This is the question that many people have tried to answer. The Confederate Battle Flag has been used to send many different messages to the public, and depending on who you talk to it holds different meanings. As explained in the article titled Political culture, religion, and the Confederate Battle Flag debate in Alabama written by Jonathan I. Leib and Gerald R. Webster. The article explains that, “Many traditional white southerners view the Confederate Battle Flag as emblematic of the sense of duty and sacrifice of their ancestors during the Civil War and Reconstruction. They argue that the Civil War was not about the institution of slavery

The Confederate Flag has been around since the nineteenth century. It was used by the Confederate Army to show that they unite under a different union, and not the one that will bind our nation as a whole. In the articles: “Executive Order Banning Confederate Flags, Memorabilia,” “Ban Backlash: Confederate Flag Backers Ready to Battle,” and “Everybody Has Suddenly Noticed Confederate Flag is Widely Available.” it is illustrated that the ideas about how the Confederate Flag are being used today as a racial integration; declaring that the discontinuance of the Confederate Flag is completely ethical and is a priority to ensure the end of riots.

WATKINS GLEN (WENY) - After a gunman opened fired at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, nearly two months ago, it sparked a conversation across the country over the symbolism of the Confederate Flag. That's because the man behind the crime was seen posing in pictures with the flag, which is also viewed by many as promoting racism, rather than Southern history. The debate prompted many industries to stop the sale of merchandise showing the Confederate Flag, including NASCAR.

In South Carolina people see the confederate battle flag as a symbol of history instead of a symbol of hate of different racial backgrounds. There was two different types of confederate flags one flag was for battle and the second flag was for a national flag. On March 4, 1861 the first official confederate national flag was used at the inauguration of President Lincoln. The first flag was like the United States flag it was red white and blue. The confederate flag was red with one big band of white in the top left comer of the flag was blue box with seven stars. This is how the flag got a nickname of “Stars and Bars”.

A Confederate battle flag once flew over the statehouse of South Carolina. The flag was hoisted above the building in 1961, amid the era of social equality reforms. After over 50 years of being flown above the statehouse, the flag was removed on July 10, 2015. According to the New York Times:

The power that comes from an object or symbol is not inherent. At one point in human history a cross was simply just two sticks laying on top of each other. Humans gave it power by using it and acknowledging it as a symbol. The case is the same with the confederate flag. It is a powerful symbol because of the connotations that humans have given it. The problem is not everyone has the same idea on what the confederate flag stands for. Gene Demby, author of When The ‘Heritage’ In ‘Heritage Not Hate’ Is More Skynyrd Than Stonewall Jackson spoke to multiple people who all have different reasons for liking the flag. Rather than see it as a sign of slavery they connect the flag to their childhood or a memory they have that has literally nothing to do with slavery. Gene’s point is that the flag is significant based on personal heritage and experiences not that of the past. Hugh Howard author of, How the North distorts Civil War history has yet another approach. He doesn’t necessarily debate the meaning of the flag, but does illuminate that most people only have one side of the story when it comes to the reasons for the Civil War. The north was in favor of slavery just as much as the south, yet nobody seems to have a problem with the Union flag. This leads to the conclusion that it isn’t the flag itself that is the problem rather the people who endorse it. Lastly Byron Thomas, author of I am a black South Carolinian Here’s why I support the Confederate flag uses the fact that he is

During the war in the year of 1862, Southerners were known as Confederates. Therefore, they disconnected themselves from symbols of old, which was the Confederate national flags and adopted the symbol of the Confederate battle flag. The flag perhaps, inextricably intertwined with states’ rights, slavery, and the Confederacy which gave the battle flags a new meaning. The flag will always be the “flag of the Confederate soldier”, and therefore Southerners would like for it to be respected as such. However, since 1865 the flag has taken on additional meanings,

The Confederate flag has a huge and long history representing heritage and beliefs of the south. Today there has been a big debate whether this flag should be taken down or to let it fly. It has been told this flag represents slavery and racism amongst African Americans. Racism has rose to a new height since the civil rights movement and social media spreads it faster across the world. Although this flag represents merely heritage and sacrifice by many Americans even African Americans. The flag was to be created for a national flag during the civil war but was turned down. This flag is nothing but a symbol of heritage and pride like the national flag today.

Is the Confederate flag a symbol of Southern Culture or a symbol of racial injustice? Dictionary.com defines symbol as “a material object representing something, often something immaterial.” When the Civil War first started, the flag became a representative of the Confederate side of the war. After the war, it was thought to be rebellion. Now, it is a symbol of the Southern culture.

To many southerners, The Confederate Flag is a symbol of southern heritage and the strength of their ancestors. However, the placement of this flag on Texas government issued license plates has created much backlash. Some southerners take offense to the flag. They view the flag as a representation of hatred and white supremacy. According to Rev. George V. Clark, the flag “Represents hate, something that has made people feel less than human.” Although groups such as, The Sons of Confederate Veterans, see the flag in a positive light, the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, supports the rejection of the plates. Since it is such a delicate topic, he believes it is best not to “be scraping old wounds.” The nine other states that continue to provide

In some ways the confederacy is more alive and active today than it was in the 1860s. Arguments over its symbols, its flags, its leaders, its memorials, and its legacy have been almost constant over the past several years. These battles are always about one thing, the meaning of the confederacy. This usually devolves into an “it’s about slavery, it’s about states’ rights” argument with neither side listening to the other, each side convinced that it is right. Nevertheless, the question remains: what did it mean to be a confederate during the Civil War? The men, women, and children who consider themselves confederates during the 1860s created a nation, believed so strongly that they fought and died to defend it, and then saw that nation disappear into nothing. How do you reconcile that lost? How do you justify the pain and suffering that your family endured for it all to be in vain? You do it through myth and legend; you do it with the hope that the idea of the confederacy lives on even though the nation itself does not, and in that regard it succeeded. The ideal and myth of the confederacy not only outlasted the confederacy itself, but transcended into the very essence of American culture as the Lost Cause.

Pro-Confederates argue that the flag we have come to know as the Confederate flag is not the same flag as the one flown on Confederate battle fields. While it is true that the flag we see today wasn’t the official flag of the Confederate states, it was flown by several Confederate Army units, including Robert E. Lee’s unit (Brumfield). After the end of the Civil War, the Confederate flag largely disappeared, but made its comeback during the Civil Rights movement. According to Malik Miah, a reporter for Solidarity, the Confederate flag was flown at the South Carolina state capitol beginning in 1962 in defiance of the Civil Rights movement (Miah). The flag had flown at the South Carolina state capitol ever since – until now. Other defenders of the Confederate flag say that the flag is merely a symbol of the heritage of the area and the sacrifice of veterans who died defending it (Lagarde). However, the history of African-American racism and the Southern heritage are intimately intertwined. Looking at the Confederate flag brings feelings of prejudice, discrimination, and