Do YOU wear Confederate apparel ?

[va32h]

I just wanted to add that I feel stupid for having gone so far off topic. I agree with everyone who has said that Confederate apparel is seen by most people as offensive, and as such, I would not wear it.

But I also wouldn't assume that anyone who does wear it is deliberately trying to offend, either.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Let's hope we've all got a little more enlightened since the Dukes of Hazzard era .

Evidently not too much since they put Jessica Simpson in a pair of daisy dukes.

 

[Charade]

Evidently not too much since they put Jessica Simpson in a pair of daisy dukes.

 

[auntpolly]

Evidently not too much since they put Jessica Simpson in a pair of daisy dukes.

So true, but since she wasn't wearing a confederate flag tube top, I'll take that as progress!

 

[tiggersmom2]

Really? Looked like a perfect example of doing exactly what he was accusing others of doing to me.




All I see in this thread are well thought out opinions of what they see as people embracing a very distasteful piece of history.

Your dislike of the confederate flag and preconcieved notions of what it stands for, blinds you to any innocuous reasons that someone may choose to embrace it.

As CheshireVal stated earlier.....if you were not born here you really don't understand. That is really all I have to say on the subject. Just because it stands for hate and slavery to YOU does not mean that is what it stands for to US.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Slavery is "distasteful," yes. But I don't think the title of this thread was "Do you own slaves?"

What's happening here is that people are blindly and falsely associating a piece of fabric (along with the Civil War itself) with slavery and oppression when there's really just a lot more to it than that.

I agree there's a lot more to it than that.

Lynchings,Church burnings,murder, mutilation...

There's a museum in Maryland, The National Great Blacks In Wax Museum.

In the basement of the museum there is an exhibit about lynching. The pictures hanging on the wall show black men, women and children hanging from trees or burning. In many of the pictures you see the smiling faces of white men, women and children all enjoying the "festivities". You also see the confederate flag swaying in the background.

On one walls there are "souvenirs" that the men who attended these "outing" took home to remind them of the event. There are two jars on that wall that contain female and male genitalia.

For many years the CF has been used to evoke fear.

 

[auntpolly]

Your dislike of the confederate flag and preconcieved notions of what it stands for, blinds you to any innocuous reasons that someone may choose to embrace it.

As CheshireVal stated earlier.....if you were not born here you really don't understand. That is really all I have to say on the subject. Just because it stands for hate and slavery to YOU does not mean that is what it stands for to US.

I can think of a few people born in the south, that have very realistic bad feelings of the confederate flag -- be careful speaking for all of the south.

 

[va32h]

Lincoln wanted to try to heal the wounds and restore the union. He didn't picture Lee running around town with a confederate flag on the rear window of his pickup truck (something I'm sure Lee wouldn't have done.)

I'm not sure what you are saying. That Lincoln only pretended to respect the defeated Southern leaders for purposes of a peaceful reconstruction? I couldn't say - I haven't read much about Lincoln (although I'm sure it would be fascinating).

And let's be fair. I doubt Lincoln (or any 19th century American) would ever have imagined that race relations would reach the point they have today, where anyone would even care whether African-Americans were offended or not, by the Confederate flag or anything else. Lincoln was the Great Emancipator, but he wasn't exactly out there campaigning for civil rights.

 

[cardaway]

So how can one take pleasure in the programming, but then be vehemently against something.


I certainly wouldn't watch a comedy about KKK members. IF the flag is so distasteful, why would anyone watch or listen to anything that has the flag represented in any capacity?

After all--Bo and Luke Duke must represent the south and everything negative about it?

Your example (Dukes) isn't the best test subject for that, but the answer is yes, I can enjoy something for entainment and not agree with the rest.

Personally I can't stand many artists as people, but I still enjoy their work. In fact I many times end up rolling my eyes at the people who feel otherwise. Like some Dixie Chicks fans who dumped them after their Bush comments.

 

[tiggersmom2]

I can think of a few people born in the south, that have very realistic bad feelings of the confederate flag -- be careful speaking for all of the south.

I am speaking for CheshireVal and myself...but thanks for trying to chastise me.

 

[auntpolly]

I'm not sure what you are saying. That Lincoln only pretended to respect the defeated Southern leaders for purposes of a peaceful reconstruction? I couldn't say - I haven't read much about Lincoln (although I'm sure it would be fascinating).

.

Of course not, but he saw no upside in punishment -- which many people might have thought there should have been some. This is what I've always been taught in history class.

 

[cardaway]

Your dislike of the confederate flag and preconcieved notions of what it stands for, blinds you to any innocuous reasons that someone may choose to embrace it.

Another post accusing of people against this of not knowing what they are talking about.

That's enough for me.

 

[auntpolly]

I am speaking for CheshireVal and myself...but thanks for trying to chastise me.

What you said was "unless you were born in the south", and of course, we know there were many born in the south for which the confederate flag is even more distateful than I could even find it, it having been the symbol of their anscestors pain.

 

[mrsltg]

Of course not, but he saw no upside in punishment -- which many people might have thought there should have been some. This is what I've always been taught in history class.

History class leaves out a lot of the details on "Honest Abe". I was astonished when I began reading about his actions and ideas. I was always taught he was the salvation of the black man in this country and believed everyone to be equal. He trampled the Constitution and thought the country was better off without blacks. Not exactly the hero he is made out to be in school history books.

 

[disneyjunkie]

As CheshireVal stated earlier.....if you were not born here you really don't understand.

I was born in South Carolina. Most of my extended family is still there. For us,the CF is not a symbol of southern pride. It's a symbol of fear and hate.

 

[auntpolly]

History class leaves out a lot of the details on "Honest Abe". I was astonished when I began reading about his actions and ideas. I was always taught he was the salvation of the black man in this country and believed everyone to be equal. He trampled the Constitution and thought the country was better off without blacks. Not exactly the hero he is made out to be in school history books.

Come on , I know Lincoln wasn't perfect. Every student of history knows that. I don't know what that has to do with the confederate flag, though. You are protesting Lincoln with it? Because the war is over, the south lost, the union restored, fact, fact, fact. Wouldn't change anything even if it came out that Lincoln was a closet slave owner.

 

[mrsltg]

Aunt Polly you seem to have a very yopic view of what the Civil War was - Good (north) vs. Evil (south) it simply wasn't that way. You stated what you learned in history. What you learned was not the complete truth.

However, I will ask you specifically - "Defender of Faith" - what about that cross? Do you know that entire groups of people were slaughtered in its name? Are you as willing to want it to disappear because some people find it offensive? Heathenry is the perfect example. Entire folkways nearly wiped off the face of the Earth. Do you think the modern day Heathen enjoys seeing the cross? It's a symbol of hatred, intolerance, and fear to them, too. There's a lot of parallels here. Saying one is unacceptable while the other is acceptable is very interesting to me. Funny that the one more widely accepted is the one that is respsonsible for more horror.

 

[auntpolly]

Aunt Polly you seem to have a very yopic view of what the Civil War was - Good (north) vs. Evil (south) it simply wasn't that way. You stated what you learned in history. What you learned was not the complete truth.

.

Man I hate it when people put words in my mouth -- show me where I said this. I mean it -- I want you to quote me where I said this.

These are the facts. The flag was a battle flag for a very sad, bloody war. For many people, it's defeat signified their freedom, and when people don't want to give it up, it is hurtful.

I'm waiting for you to back up what you just said about me.

 

[Firedog]

Ugh...absolutely not. I think that most people who wear clothing with a confederate design, or fly flags, or have car stickers, do not really know anything about it, and are just doing it to do it (i.e. portray a certain "country" image, be rebellious just for rebellion sake, or pretend they have some historical knowledge about the situation).

I am mostly annoyed when I see a sticker that says something to the effect of "Heritage not Hate" ....ummmm hello, this so called heritage was based on oppression and division...sounds like hate to me!

Honestly when I see a confederate flag, my gut reaction everytime is "you lost...get over it!"

Your last paragraph there... that's exactly how I feel whenever I see someone still sporting a "Kerry/Edwards" sticker on their bumper.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Just a question---do these same people who wouldn't associate themselves with the Confederate Flag...did none of you watch the Dukes of Hazzard growing up?

I would not associate my self with the Confererate Flag and I hated the Dukes of Hazzard.