What Does the Rebel Flag Symbolize?
The rebel flag (Confederate flag) dates from the Civil War (1861-1865); the flag has a blue cross with 13 stars on a red background. Americans still argue if it is a racist symbol or a historical symbol.
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The Confederate Battle Flag
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The Confederacy developed the rebel flag as a battle flag. The stars stood for the 11 states that seceded from the Union and the slave states of Kentucky and Missouri, which did not secede but experienced internal divisions.
Jim Crow Period
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The Confederate flag became a nostalgic symbol of white Southern history during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
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Resistance to the Civil Rights Movement
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When the federal government enforced integration in the South during the 1950s and 1960s, some white Southerners believed it was reminiscent of the forcible end of slavery. The Confederate flag became a symbol of resistance to Civil Rights.
Modern Interpretations
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Most advocates of the Confederate flag argue that it stands for a Southern tradition of resistance against centralized power. Detractors assert that the Confederate flag is a racist symbol, celebrating a slave society.
Significance
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Controversies have erupted over official use of Confederate flags. In 2000, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) launched a long tourism boycott of South Carolina for its display of the rebel flag.
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References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Thomas
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Comments
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The Confederate Flag(s) represented in their creation the highest form of American Patriotism. Our Southern people gave their lives to retain and uphold the Constitution of our Country. They fought a second "War for Independence" against a tyrannical dictator(Lincoln) and his centralized Marxist form of government. It is unfortunate that our flag(s) have been misused and misrepresented in so many deplorable ways. Nonetheless, their true meaning is based upon the reason for their creation...Liberty! If you want to rag on a flag I suggest you begin with the U.S. Star Spangled Banner!
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Mine flies high snd proud on a 25 ft. stainless steel pole in my yard.
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It symbolizes freedom from tyranny!
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She refers to " white Southern history." That is simply not true. It is a symbol of 'Southern History.' Perhaps Georgia Alton is a racist.
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I don't believe the Rebel flag is racist. Yes, it was flown during the Civil War, but so was Old Glory. The flag itself has no racist symbols in it at all. As only about a fourth of southerners owned slaves anyway, most Confederate soldiers fought for State's Rights rather than slavery itself. Many people see it as a nostalgic symbol for southern history, both the good and the bad. I'm a southerner and I don't see the symbol as racist, and have yet to be told by anyone I know that it is. I believe it's a symbol of pride, a way to say 'yeah, we screwed up once-upon-a-time, and we admit it, but we honor the ones who fought'. I don't feel we, both as blacks AND whites, should carry the burden for something no still-living person partisipated in. Ultimately, the flag is really only racist if you are, because you are the one still holding the grudge over a war that happened over a hundred years ago.
