A conversation about the Confederate flag...

[Sgent]

89. It is a symbol of heritage, and a rememberance

for all those who fought under it and lived through reconstruction. Until the civil war there was still a very open question of whether there was a right to secede for the states. To top it off, the war was fought in such a manner that Grant, Sherman, and Lincoln would be considered war criminals had the Geneva conventions been created. Finally, Reconstruction was on par (if not worse) than the Treaty of Versille which caused WWII. The CSA battle flag is a remembrance of the son's who died for their state and country -- they are even afforded full rights as veterans by the US Government as well.

So that's why its a flag of heritage.

Its also a sign of hate. Used as a banner through the civil rights error, and as a rally point against blacks. Crosses were burned, lynchings were performed, segregation was enforced by mob rule, churches were bombed, all under that flag.

The fact of the matter is that much can be said of the swastika. It has a 3000 year history in Europe as a symbol of Germanic pride, but only the last 80 are meaningful.

Today if you fly a swastika your anti-semetic, and today if you fly a CSA battle flag your a racist. The history of those symbols cannot be redeemed by what existed before. Those symbols have been appropriated by their use to be foul beacons to the world that the person displaying them is a racist who is in favor of everything done under those symbols.