What do say when people defend the confederate flag

[Legends303]

I have seen people on Facebook memes say that some black people kneeling at a grave site with the confederate flag in hand. These are good friends in mine saying the flag represent southern hertidge and that democrats are using this as "race bait" issue.

[gopiscrap]

1. I say you're a fucking ignorant historically clueless

racist asshole who has no business having a part in decent civic dialouge

[dalton99a]

5. +1

[MineralMan]

2. I say, "Goodbye," and unfriend them.

I tell them why.

[marybourg]

3. It's the flag of a treasonous

uprising against the United States, which was based in the south, to protect southern slavery, and which has no place in a modern America, except in museums.

Said it yesterday to a neighbor who wanted a response to a Texas relative. She seemed satisfied.

[marylandblue]

4. I'd tell them that meanings are not decided by personal opinion

They personally may feel it is just a symbol of southern heritage. But it started as a symbol of slavery and racism and still has that connotation for millions of people. That's why Dylan Root used it. That's why it shows up outside the South at neo Nazi rallies. So I'd suggest that if they'd like to celebrate their southern heritage in other ways, they should consider a less controversial symbol. Then invite them over for some grits and fried green tomatoes.

[gopiscrap]

6. good for you

you said it kinder than I would have

[marylandblue]

19. Thanks, I try very hard

I have conservative friends and relatives, I always try to keep the conversation respectful and avoid names. A lot of bias is unconscious, so treating them like crap just makes it worse. A gentle conversation, over time, may produce some understanding.

[Iggo]

7. "The heritage you say it represents is one of slavery, racism, treason, and death."

"You okay with that?"

[leftstreet]

8. Agree with them, then out-crazy them

No kidding! And I've read stories recently where people are forced to remove the Jolly Roger flag! Which is not only against free speech, but also an attempt to shut down talk about global warming! Not sure, but I think the flag here was vandalized

[ProudLib72]

20. Ad hoc ergo propter hoc

Can we start calling this the "tRump fallacy"? Ever since he has been taking all the credit for Obama's work (like job creation in the first quarter), I've wanted to rename this fallacy.

Of course, if you showed him this graph, he would tell you that we need global warming to get rid of pirates.

[Alice11111]

9. I have many black friends. They all are intimidated by the

Confederate flag. I grew up in the South too. It is a part of history, as are the statues. Put them in museums. Let people fold their flags to put in their china cabinets.

In the Rotunda at the Capitol, each state got to pick 2 heros for the state's statutes. That is a hard one.
There were other places were confederate statues were displayed to attempt to heal the country. Now, the statues are dividing the country and reminding many of our citizens of their heritage of slavery, to which some RWers would like to return.

Nazi Germany doesn't even allow the swastika. We should fall in line. It is hate speech, intended to inspire fear and prejudice, and to ignite racism.

[Atticus]

10. Another name for that flag is "the Dixie Swastika". It stands for the same type of ignorance and

blind hatred as the Nazi symbol. It is also the flag of treason flown by those who went to war against their own nation. Those who display it may as well just wear the klan robe and hood.

[SweetieD]

11. Whose southern heritage? I was born in Tennessee as were many of my ancestors. That doesn't

represent my heritage. One of my ancestors was born in Mississippi and fought for the union. The people fighting for the confederacy were fighting for white supremacy and for the right to continue slavery. These beliefs are not part of my heritage.

[cwydro]

12. "kneeling at a grave site"? Wth?

Who kneels at a grave site?

People sit, people stand during services...or are they kneeling at a long lost ancestor's gravesite? With a Confederate flag? None of that makes the slightest amount of sense.

[Mister Ed]

13. Makes no sense unless...Photoshop. n/t

[cwydro]

21. Bingo.

I believe you nailed it.

[unblock]

14. Yeah and the nazi flag symbolizes German heritage

There's a rich history to the south and it's a great insult to that heritage to point to a symbol of the worst part of that history and claim it represents the whole of that heritage.

Germany has a rich history too, but the nazi flag doesn't symbolize it.

[meow2u3]

15. I tell them--to their faces--that they're supporting treason

I don't even bother with race; I go straight to the fact that they're supporting treasonous losers!

[LakeArenal]

16. I say,

The south lost. Get over it.

I love The Band, but The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down pisses the heck out of me.
Waa waa. You lost, you got pillaged. You "shouldn't have taken all of the best" from Africa. You might not have been in a war you lost.

And to the folks up north where I live and fly that flag I say, "Ya love it so much, move there." I always think the ones that spout
"Love It or Leave It" are the ones who hate it and should leave it.

Ok, thanks for letting me vent.

[Aristus]

17. I just send them annoying messages that drive them into a helpless fury.

My first year on active duty in the Army, my best buddy (we had gone to tanker school together, and been assigned to different sections of the same company in Germany) had a roommate who was a "The South Will Rise Again" Texas redneck who displayed a Confederate flag on the wall of his barracks room. My friend, who is a dark-skinned Filipino, was hurt by this, but didn't want to cause trouble by confronting his roommate on the subject.

The Confederate flag was emblazoned with the "The South Will Rise Again!" motto. So one time, I sneaked into their room while they were away, and taped a hand-written note to the flag: "If the South ever does rise again, the North will kick its ass again!".

What fun.

Every so often, I would post a new note on the flag, and Texas redneck guy never got wise to me.

I'm still friends with my old Army buddy to this day, and we met up a couple of years ago (Thank you, Facebook!) for dinner, drinks, and to introduce our wives to each other. He told me about the incidents with the notes, suspected it was me, and thanked me for my clandestine show of support. He told me the notes drove his roommate into a purple-faced rage every time he saw them, but never figured out who was doing it, only that it wasn't my friend.

A job well done, I guess.

[AgadorSparticus]

18. Thank god i weeded those people off my fb. they dont exist in my world anymore.

There is no justifiable excuse to defend the confederate flag. It represents a southern history of slavery. And don't buy into their ridiculous argument that it the civil war is not about slavery but rather state rights. That is intellectual bullshit. Just 1/2 the thought. The complete thought is that the civil war was about [the southern] state rights TO KEEP the institution of slavery.