Quote:
Originally posted by Mike AI@May 12 2003, 09:32 AM
Do they want to outlaw this one as well? Or only the battle flag?
Maybe we should outlaw the American Flag as well since slavery was legal befroe the civil war under that flag.... and of course eve afterteh Civil War - the Ammancipation Proclomation was a fraud - it only freed slaves in those States who have rebeled - not in the north, not universaly in the United States. It was a PR move.... to pump up the North who was getting its ass kicked by Lee and the Southern Armies....
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It was more an attack on the South's economy... The southern economy was based on cotton and the economics of cotten, much like the economics of Southern California farming today was based on slavery (today we call them migrant farmworkers, but the economics is basically the same). By pronouncing the slaves in the rebel states as "free", it was hoped that the south's economic back would be broken. With no slaves, there would be no cotton harvest.. That combined with the Union's control of most of the manufacturing capability of the time ensured that the south would have no viable means to raise money.
As far as the flag goes. I was born and raised in New York, I have lived in New York, California, Florida, North Carolina and Missouri. I was raised to believe that all people are the same, doesnt matter race, creed, nationality, etc... I take each individual person at a time and attempt to never prejudge. I have absolutely no problem with the confederate flag. It is part of the United States of America's history. An extremely important part. If a certain population of our country choosers to identify itself witrh this flag, that is their choice. If other portions of our population choose to hate those who identify with the flag (and vice versa) that is their choice. The USA is all about choice, is it not?
But to outlaw the confederate flag, in any manner, is a direct abridgement on the free speech rights of those who choose to display the flag. The same with swastickas, crosses, mangers, international flags or any other symbol of a persons affiliation with any group or cause.
To try to get rid of the confederate flag is also an attempt to rewrite history. History should not be open to change, it either happened or it didn't. Interpretation of history should always be open to change, but interpretation should never be presented as fact. So, what the confederate flag means should always be open to discussion.
The descendants of those that rode and fought under the confederate flag should be allowed to be proud of what their forefathers did and who they were. These were also brave Americans. They fought and died for what they believed was a better course for their states to be taking. For a person to be proud that their ancestors fought bravely and proudly, no matter what the cause they fought for, is a right.