The Confederate Rebel Battle Flag flying at the South Carolina Capitol

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   peoplepower73posted 10 years ago

   Any flag is a symbol in which people rally around to celebrate their connection and/or allegiance to, be it the American flag, Confederate Rebel Battle Flag, or the ISIS flag.  They all symbolize something that groups can connect to and even justify killing of others.  Do you think the Confederate Rebel Battle Flag should be taken down in view of the latest incident in Charleston?

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      Credence2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I had no place on public property grounds, it is tragic that it took this tragedy to get people to the inappropriateness of having this flag in a public place, since as a minority this flag like the swastica has allways represented defiance and resistance, racists and the like. The statehouse belongs to us all and superfluous symbols especially one stained in blood like the old Confederate standard does not belong there. For the hertiage stuff, that is just that for Southern Whites, what about everyone else? You can celebrate that heritage on the back of your pick-ups, the State Museum, or your basement or cellar. Long may it wave!!!

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      rhamsonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I think it should be handled by the people it represents. If the people of S.C. want to be associated with what others perceive its' meaning to be, then they should act accordingly as their conscience dictates. If they want to ignore the connotations and bare the brunt of criticism due to its' presence then let them react to that. As you stated a flag is a statement of what one stands for. There doesn't seem to be a willingness to discuss the issue in much depth so let it be a vote based on popularity. By the way I think the states rights argument is a valid one albeit was related to other states telling the southern states they could not own slaves. According to the Constitution they had a right to secede from the union but attacking Fort Sumter put all that on the backburner. I personally feel it is time for the flag to go as did the Union Jack when we defeated England. Besides the Klan and white supremacists have taken it over as their symbol of racism and division.

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   Venkatachari Mposted 10 years ago

   I think it is good to remove the flag not only because of the latest incident that took place, but because of the identity it boasts of that is not welcome. It can always incite racial feelings and hatred among people. So, better go off with it to develop harmony among groups and unity among people of the whole country.

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   Live to Learnposted 10 years ago

   I don't think it should be taken down in light of what happened in Charleston. I do think it should not be flying at a state capitol primarily because I don't think the majority of the citizens of that state support it flying. I could be wrong. I don't live in South Carolina.

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   MizBejabbersposted 10 years ago

   As a Southerner, I don’t believe that any flag other than the U.S. flag and the state flag should be flown over any state capitol building. Having said that, I believe it is the right of the state to display inside the capitol building all flags that represent the countries the state has been a part of. My state was owned first by Spain and then by France as part of the Louisiana Territory before it became part of the United States, however, we were not an official state within the boundaries of that country. We do not fly those flags, but we have four stars that represent Spain, France, the Confederacy, and the United States. Now extremists are demanding that a star representing the Confederacy be removed from the state flags of the states that belonged to the Confederacy. Why should a state have to go to the expense of redesigning its flag just because a few people outside the state don’t like it? Will we have to remove Spain and France, too, because some people don’t like the Spanish or the French?
   Take Texas (please). Texas has been a part of six countries. The theme park “Six Flags Over Texas” gets its name from Texas’ history. Are they going to demand that the Confederate flag be removed and call it “Five Flags Over Texas”? Or are they going to demand that Texas remove all other flags but the U.S. flag?
   My advice is if you don’t like the Confederate flag, burn it. (Just like you burn the U.S. flag) What are you protestors going to protest after all the flags are removed?

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