Is the confederate flag racist

Answer 1

No, the Confederate flag does not represent and never has represented racism. It is a symbol of southern heritage, representing freedom, states rights, individual responsibility, and resistance to an out of control federal government.

It may be true that some racists have used the Confederate flag, but racists also wave the American flag. Consider this: No slave ship ever sailed from a Confederate port or under a Confederate flag. On the contrary, virtually every American slave ship was from either New York or one of the New England states and they all sailed under the United States Flag. Also, at the time of the American Civil War, slavery had been practiced in every state and colony in America and was still being practiced in several northern states, under the Stars and Stripes, even during the War Between the States.

Ulysses S. Grant, commanding general of the United States Army during the Civil War was a slave holder. Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army, was against slavery. The Confederate constitution outlawed the slave trade and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, proposed a plan to end slavery altogether. There were more free blacks, and also more abolitionists, in the South than in the North. Also, tens of thousands of black soldiers fought for the Confederate States of America in a war which they considered a second American revolution, "War for Southern Independence."

Unfortunately racist groups have used the Confederate flag in recent years, but those same groups, especially the Ku Klux Klan, have historically used the American flag for a much longer period of time.

The truth is, neither the American Flag nor the Confederate Flag is racist. If people who are racists fly either flag, that does not mean the flag itself represents racism.

EDIT: the answer above ignores the fact that the Confederate Constitution specifically protected slavery - Article I Section 9(4) states: "No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed."

Answer 2

Answer 1 - It's Not Racist

The Confederate flag is not used for racism. The Klan flys the flag for pride and love in the south. The rest of the people who fly the flag are down home country floks who have nothing against colored people. They just have love and pride in the south for standing up for what they believe in.

I have African American friends of my own if you really want to get politically correct. Number two the Southern States did NOT start slavery. Slavery was here during the Revolutionary War in American and even before that. The War was NOT fought over slavery, yes that was an issues which pushed the south farther to secede ,but In 1800's the South was making there money by Cotton which they was making money from Britain selling cotton to them well Lincoln deiced he should get a bigger cut of the pie and he put high taxes on cotton, which ran the South dry on money so you can't pay somebody anything if your not around them that is why they seceded from the Union Lincoln said hey we ain't gettin are money but we don't want to look like the bad guys, So lets call it a civil war to free slaves all over. Which Jefferson Davis valued to do the same thing which was the Confederate President at the time.

The Reason the North didn't have slavery anymore they didn't need it, Immigration was taking place they had all the slaves they needed to work in there factory's (Slaves are not just Black). Also Union General Ulysses S. Grant said if this war was to be fought over the freedom of Slaves I would of happily given my sword to the other side.

The Klan: in 1900's when the Klan was getting big they did a march on Washington DC NOT one Confederate Flag was Shown But what they were holding was the American Flag. But Don't get me wrong I am a Pride American I thank any United Sates Veteran that has fought in any war, They deserve's everyone respect for doing what they do.

Nazi Skinheads ,KKK members they all have there own flag for starts. The Confederate Flag is not found at racist place, they are found everywhere there is one flying over Tampa, Florida Calling the Confederate Flag a symbol of hate and racism is like saying the Germany stands for France. You can not call something what it is not if. People like me see the flag as non-rasict why can't we all say hey if that's the way you see that flag then I guess I don't have problem with it. Look up your history The Confederate flag is not rasict Plus half the People who fought and died for the flag was not even slave owners. God Bless (whether we Still agree or disagree on this subject we are still Americans. Please write back I will look forward to your response.)

Answer 2 - Association With Racist Organizations

This answer above is a crock full of sh*t. Any person who understand literacy can see whomever typed this "answer"obviously feels a negative way towards BLACK people, as they referred to them as "colored". Do NOT believe that the confederate flag is NOT used for racism because it simply is. Southern Poverty Law has statistics proving about 500 extremist groups(klu klux klan,skin head, etc) use the confederate flag to support their views. Secondly the confederate flag was the battle flag that Robert E Lee used to fight in the Civil War, in which if you don't know, publicly supported slavery and segregation.

I think I'll end this with an obvious observation. If the confederate flag doesnt represent racism why do most racist groups use the flag to represent themselves and their actions?

Answer 3 - Underlying Values of the Confederacy

The Confederate flag is a symbol of a country that declared independence in order to protect the institution of Black Slavery. As a result, that flag will forever be viewed as a symbol of the inherent racism born from the Confederacy. In the Confederate constitution, it was specifically written that slavery was unamendable -- which is to say there was no legal way to amend the Confederate constitution to prohibit slavery, which is racist.

Answer 1 also makes a number of bad claims and false equivalencies.

• KKK and the Flag: He claims that the KKK uses the Confederate flag for "pride and love of the south". Any organization that flies any flag does so because they see the flag as representative of who they are and what they believe. Their pride concerning the South comes from somewhere and it is not the "lovely backwoods". The KKK has manifested numerous actions of hate and violence against all non-WASPs, but especially Blacks and especially when they were supported or ignored by the government.
• I have Black Friends: This is silly. Making friends with people who are different than you does not mean that you do not cling to ideas or symbols that they find abhorent or problematic.
• Factory Slavery: While life in the factories was hard, it was fundamentally different than slavery. Why, you ask? People who were in factories could leave if they wanted. They could move if they wanted. They could choose to be unemployed and languish in poverty. They were not compelled to work from sunrise and sunset. They could not be bought and sold like a commodity. There is a fundamental distinction between a badly paid salaried worker and an actual slave, which comes from the inherent inhumanity of owning another person.
• Confederate Flags Everywhere: The constant presence of Confederate Flags is something that should bother us, not make it more acceptable. The proliferation of bad ideas is more problematic than their containment. If we had a conversation where P1 said: "Nazi flags are racist" and P2 said: "But Nazi flags are everywhere; this means that they are not racist", P1 would say, "It's WORSE than I thought. More people succumb to this bad idea." The flag is not itself the problem (it is a piece of cloth), but the ideas that it represents are.
• Half of the Southerners who died weren't Slaveowners: That's not the point. You also could have raised the point that there were Black Divisions in the Confederate military or than 10% of Black Freedman in the Confederacy were slaveowners. The system that these individuals were fighting for was created and designed to promote the institution of Black Slavery. Regardless of whether it was patriotism or racism that caused them to fight, they were fighting for an unjust system that wished to perpetuate injustice.

Answer 3

The Confederates were for the rights of the states being the premier power. The North believed that the Federal Government had power over the states. Slavery was only a portion of the problem. Slavery was legal in the North during the war and even after the war for a short period. There were also some black soldiers in the South fighting for the south.