Confederate Flags Are Falling, But What Will That Change?

[jph]

So a Washington Post opinion writer sites a survey that is over 10 years old based on a sample size of less than 600 people in one state ... and viola! White people only like the Rebel flag because they are racist.  Sorry, but that's grasping at straws.

The first name on the byline of the Washington Post opinion piece (you're quick to downplay him as just an "opinion writer") is a political science professor whose research is focused in measuring racial prejudice in the American public. He's managed to cite peer-reviewed research showing that white Georgians in 2004 who support the Confederate flag are more likely to hold views we can all agree are racist. Neither the survey nor the article says that white people only like the Confederate flag because they are racist - just that people who do support it are more likely to hold racist views. In fact, here's a quote from the article:

Moreover, none of the above shows that the Confederate flag only represents racial intolerance. No doubt there are some whites who favor the Confederate flag for reasons that are not wholly reducible to racial intolerance.

But the results do suggest that in general, white support for the flag is associated not with a deep knowledge of Southern history or a kinship with Southerners, but with racism — that is, not with heritage but with hatred.

I don't think it's me who's grasping at straws.

[Edward]

Interesting discussion for sure. The rebel flag has not been banned, just sanely removed (finally) from government buildings. People can still fly it, or wear it, or bumper-sticker it. I agree with the comment of one of the TV talking heads (don't remember her name), "You have the right to fly a confederate flag anytime you want, but you have to accept the fact that people will think you are a racist."

Walmart, etc. choosing to stop selling the flag is a business decision. They can either be ahead of the market, or wait for consumers to help them. We are watching the market at work, in real time. This seemed to happen quickly but has really been in the works for decades. That flag fell out of wide social acceptance a longtime ago. Its symbolism as a nod to genteel Southern pride is shouted down by its legacy of racial oppression.

Regardless of your stance on the flag, I'm pretty sure you're glad the South lost the Civil War. If they had won, the least of our worries would be what kind of flag they had. It's bad enough some people still buy into their ideas - 150 years later.

[WarDamJagFan]

So a Washington Post opinion writer sites a survey that is over 10 years old based on a sample size of less than 600 people in one state ... and viola! White people only like the Rebel flag because they are racist.  Sorry, but that's grasping at straws.

The first name on the byline of the Washington Post opinion piece (you're quick to downplay him as just an "opinion writer") is a political science professor whose research is focused in measuring racial prejudice in the American public. He's managed to cite peer-reviewed research showing that white Georgians in 2004 who support the Confederate flag are more likely to hold views we can all agree are racist. Neither the survey nor the article says that white people only like the Confederate flag because they are racist - just that people who do support it are more likely to hold racist views. In fact, here's a quote from the article:

Moreover, none of the above shows that the Confederate flag only represents racial intolerance. No doubt there are some whites who favor the Confederate flag for reasons that are not wholly reducible to racial intolerance.

But the results do suggest that in general, white support for the flag is associated not with a deep knowledge of Southern history or a kinship with Southerners, but with racism — that is, not with heritage but with hatred.

I don't think it's me who's grasping at straws.

I'm only going off of what you wrote regarding the article you linked:    "The question is whether government officials will appease the group that knows less about Southern history, that is more likely to disapprove of interracial marriage, and that is more likely to believe that blacks don't face job discrimination. In other words, the racist group."   

[WarDamJagFan]

omg.  they really did a number on you didn't they war dog?  And all this before you are 25?

Nah. 12

[The_Choose_1]

I travel the back roads around Florida & Georgia photographing my subjects from Industrial, Railroad, Nature and anything else that I see. This being said. I have noticed a lot more Confederate flags flying at people's private homes and some businesses then I had before these Flags were being removed from some State Capitals and National Parks? Has anyone else seen more Confederate Flags?

[Tacachale]

Nope.

[JeffreyS]

I travel the back roads around Florida & Georgia photographing my subjects from Industrial, Railroad, Nature and anything else that I see. This being said. I have noticed a lot more Confederate flags flying at people's private homes and some businesses then I had before these Flags were being removed from some State Capitals and National Parks? Has anyone else seen more Confederate Flags?

I have seen more but believe it will be a temporary phenomena.  It is clearly becoming a less legitimate form of heritage expression and more frowned on for being hateful.

[The_Choose_1]

I travel the back roads around Florida & Georgia photographing my subjects from Industrial, Railroad, Nature and anything else that I see. This being said. I have noticed a lot more Confederate flags flying at people's private homes and some businesses then I had before these Flags were being removed from some State Capitals and National Parks? Has anyone else seen more Confederate Flags?

I have seen more but believe it will be a temporary phenomena.  It is clearly becoming a less legitimate form of heritage expression and more frowned on for being hateful.

I see the Confederate Flags in the rural area's of Florida & Georgia. And once in awhile you see them on the back of pickup trucks with Old Glory next to it. But on Old Kings Rd a family flys their Confederate Flag and New a New American Flag with Pride.