The Confederate Flag

It took me about 6 seconds to find an offensive image for this blog post about the Confederate flag (technically The Army of Northern Virginia battle flag). And make no mistake about it, I find this flag extremely offensive. Firstly, it is one of the flags used by those who fomented armed insurrection against the United States. Before I go on about why I find the flag offensive, I want to be clear that I am in no way advocating that we ban  private use of the flag or its design on clothing, hats, or orange cars. But I find it ironic that many of those who shout about how much they love 'Murica, and how patriotic they are and how great our country is, and how "libruls is all traiters" proudly display a flag that is a symbol of those who sought to tear this country apart.

Those who display this flag have various rationales. Some are just Southerners who rationalize that it's a symbol of their heritage, distinct from that of the rest of the nation, some rationalize that it's a symbol of standing up to an oppressive government, some are just Dukes of Hazard fans. Some are simply honest about their racism.

Many supporters of flying the Confederate flag bolster their "southern pride" rationale by maintaining that the Civil War wasn't about slavery, but economics and states' rights. Well, yes. It was about the economy that was based on slavery and the rights of states to continue slavery. The founders of the Confederacy were very clear about that.

http://www.ushistory.org/us/27f.asp

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/19/1394560/-So-The-Confederacy-Didn-t-Go-To-War-Over-Slavery#

It's not arguable that the Confederate states didn't secede because of slavery and the flags of that short-lived rebellion (including the one we're discussing) are representations of that mindset. Arguing that a Confederate flag stands for anything other than armed rebellion against the United States in support of maintaining a racist institution is willfully ignorant of the facts.