Remove the Confederate Flag

Whether or not to remove the confederate flag has been a debate for years, but with recent events, it has become a spotlight topic once again. This debate is touchy and controversial and those who debate seem to stand either strongly for the flag or strongly against it. Some Southerners believe that the confederate flag is part their childhood and history itself. But on the other hand, those fighting to remove the flag claim it is a symbol of oppression, slavery and hatred. In order to pick a side, we must first understand the history of the flag.

The confederate flag has become known as the symbol of the confederacy. However, during the Civil War itself, the flag was not seen as such and was even rejected as the main symbol of the confederacy in 1861. During the war the flag was simply seen as a battle banner used by soldiers fighting in the confederate army. So the flag during the Civil War was not a symbol of Southern pride but was just one out of a couple of battle banners. It was not until after the Civil War that the flag began to become a symbol of Southern heritage and pride. On the graves of fallen confederate soldiers, the confederate flag would be placed as a memorial of them. After the South lost the war, confederate flags and monuments with confederate flags shown on them were put up everywhere to give back a sense of dignity.

As the Civil Rights movement grew and gained traction, the confederate flag started being used as a symbol of opposition and rebellion in the name of "Southern pride". The South fought to keep its old ways and used the confederate flag as a reaction to civil rights and to protest against black political representation. The flag got popularized during this time all across the South by groups like the Klu Klux Klan as well as the "Dixiecrat" political party who fought to keep segregation.

Looking at the confederate flag's history, we can see it was never created as a sign of Southern heritage and has only been used post-Civil War to show rebellion against equal rights. Even if one were to choose to look at the flag as just a symbol of respect towards confederate soldiers, it's important to realize that the Civil War was fought over the moral issue of slavery...and the South chose to fight to keep slavery.

Unfortunately, we can not look at history as a frozen sample. History is continual and the lives we live now will become a part of history one day. Symbols, word meanings, and events do in fact change as time goes on. The confederate flag is indeed part of American history however, it is the dirty side of American history. Therefore, the flag deserves to be shown in a museum instead of waved to show Southern pride. We do not rewrite history by asking that the confederate flag be removed, we expose the truth of history and desire to make a better future as we continue to make history.

SIGN THE PETITION TO REMOVE THE CONFEDERATE FLAG. You can google petitions but here is the link to remove the confederate emblem from the Mississippi flag: https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/remove-the-confederate-4

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