A conversation about the Confederate flag...

[Swede Atlanta]

103. The Confederate flag itself is not fascist but it represents

a government who considered slavery an essential part of the southern economy. Many revisionists want to argue that this was all about states' rights and states in the south today continue to be big advocates of states rights. No doubt there were southerners at the time who considered it their rights as independent states to continue a system that the northern states considered immoral.

But you have to see this against the backdrop of what was happening in the American economy at the time. Must of the powerhouse of the economy came from tobacco, cotton and other agricultural products raised in the south. The northern states were known for fishing, furs and small-scale manufacturing.

That was changing. With the industrial revolution, the nascent railway networks, etc. the north was quickly becoming a powerhouse. The south feared it was going to lose its ability to influence national policies and losing slavery which was the lynchpin of the southern economy would be deadly.

Just as Germans consider the Nazi flag abhorrent, all Americans should consider the Confederate flag as inappropriate to be part of state flags or flown on their own. It represents a dark period from out nation's history.