What is now commonly called the "Stars and Bars" is in fact not the "Stars and Bars" at all. Here is the "Stars and Bars": confederateflags.org
Buddy's point is quite right. If modern Confederates wish to celebrate the history of the Confederacy, they would more accurately celebrate using the "Stars and Bars," since it is the first flag of the Confederacy and does not have the racist ill-meaning that is attached to the Battle Flag.
The Battle Flag has its ill-meaning because, as Buddy has stated, it was adopted as an anti civil-rights symbol in the 1950's and 60's. Moreover, many racist groups have long used it pointedly to represent white supremacy and similar causes. Indeed, when confederate soldiers after the civil war formed the KKK, that flag was used as those confederates terrorized and murdered blacks. It was used to frighten blacks at voting polls. It was used at anti-black protests. It was used against black children who were first to integrate American schools in the South. Colin Powell himself said that as a young man leaving the North and going South to train for the defense of his country, he understood that the flag was a message that he and his children could not stop to refresh themselves either by the purchase of food or by the use of restrooms. Once they entered the South, they encountered the Battle Flag and understood they had to make the entire trip without stopping.
These facts, coupled with the fact that this flag also represented the armies that, against the wishes of the United States, fought to break Union in order to protect and extend slavery, quite clearly makes it a racist symbol.
Only in recent years, when blacks have decided they are tired of paying their tax dollars to support flying the Confederate Flag on state flags and atop statehouses, have whites began claiming the flag does not represent hate. Prior to these times, whites were literally waving that flag in the faces of black kids, and calling those children the most despicable names. Many of those blacks are still alive as adults. So when they hear that the flag is not about hate, they rightly conclude that the claim is a lie. |
