# Are there Confederate flaggers parading in your streets? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553 "2015-07-18T22:36:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/121 "2015-07-24T10:19:18Z")
I live about a mile from the capitol building in Texas. I haven’t seen a confederate flag of any sort in years. I would not enter a business or home that displayed one. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/122 "2015-07-24T16:49:57Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I’ve lived in Texas for nearly 30 years now. I have never seen anyone flying the Stars and Bars, but I have seen many T-shirts, baseball caps, bumper stickers and the like with the Stars and Bars on them. > > I’ve also seen numerous high schools named after Confederate heroes, and more than a few of them have nicknames like “The Rebels.” Sometimes, fans of such schools will wave the Stars and Bars after a touchdown. In general, these teams’ best players are black, naturally > > But even the few people who DO wave that flag will swear on a stack of Bibles that they don’t mean any offense by it, and most of them seem sincere. It appears you’re confused about terminology. The “Stars & Bars” was the first Confederate national flag: [File:Flag of the Confederate States (1861–1863).svg - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America_(1861-1863).svg) The flag at the center of the current flail is properly called the Confederate Battle Flag: [File:Battle flag of the Confederate States of America (1-1).svg - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_flag_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America.svg) Which is found in both square and rectangular shapes. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/123 "2015-07-24T22:04:25Z")
I saw one! I finally saw an SUV trailing a bigass Confederate flag today! I feel like I just sighted a rare bird. _Stupidus racisculus._ 🙂 As I mentioned upthread, I live in the southern Appalachians which, despite its geography, was not known for being a stronghold of the Confederacy. Not a whole lot of stars-n-bars going on around here. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/124 "2015-08-02T01:44:49Z")
Well, I saw a little parade here in Columbia, Missouri today. Maybe 30 people walking down the sidewalk next to one of our busier streets. Some had American flags. Some had the contemporary version of the Confederate flag. Some were carrying both. One guy, opting for historical accuracy I suppose, was carrying what appeared to be the third national flag of the CSA (like this: [File:Flag of the Confederate States of America (1865).svg - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America_(1865).svg)). It looked like they were walking toward one of the predominantly black neighborhoods in town. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/125 "2015-08-02T01:56:41Z")
I saw one last weekend in Arroyo Grande, California!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/126 "2015-08-02T01:58:01Z")
Huh. Today there was also an NAACP rally here in town. [NAACP rally in Columbia shows solidarity with national marchers](http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/naacp-rally-in-columbia-shows-solidarity-with-national-marchers/article_b43ee328-3864-11e5-a2ee-d7045083e1be.html) That the Confederate flag group chose today to celebrate their heritage can only be a strange coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/127 "2015-08-02T02:41:58Z")
1 new addition to my rolling count. I also saw one that upgraded his to a new flag. It’s now combines a motorcycle image with the CBF - winged skull and “Ride or Die” superimposed in the middle. Since I hadn’t seen any that looked anything but newish I think he’s bought two since the scuffle started. In addition I saw a CBF truck hitch cover/attachment thingee. Totals: 10-11 unique and confirmed vehicle flag sightings 1 unconfirmed possible 1 truck hitch display ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/128 "2015-08-02T04:19:58Z")
The other day in far suburban Chicago (Sugar Grove for those playing the home game), I saw an old pick-up truck with “coal roller” exhausts on the side and a Confederate battle flag waving from the rear of the cab. I even got to see the driver, some kid _maybe_ twenty-one years old wearing a t-shirt with the same flag and the phrase “I’d rather be historically accurate than politically correct” which gave me a good internal laugh. Anyway, for a kid living in northern Illinois, he seemed REALLY invested in the flag. Or maybe just in trying to make a scene of himself. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/129 "2015-08-02T13:46:11Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Well, I saw a little parade here in Columbia, Missouri today. Maybe 30 people walking down the sidewalk next to one of our busier streets. Some had American flags. Some had the contemporary version of the Confederate flag. Some were carrying both. One guy, opting for historical accuracy I suppose, was carrying what appeared to be the third national flag of the CSA (like this: [File:Flag of the Confederate States (1865).svg - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America_(1865).svg)). > > It looked like they were walking toward one of the predominantly black neighborhoods in town. It’s the opening ceremonies of the Darwin Awards! Today in the bad decisions category, we feature… ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/130 "2015-08-02T15:21:17Z")
So here’s a little more about the rally in Columbia. I was apparently wrong about the group heading for the black neighborhood. It looks like they were content to just make a spectacle of themselves at an overpass over I-70. [http://www.komu.com/mobile/story.cfm?id=71496-two-events-converge-at-interstate-70-and-providence-road](http://www.komu.com/mobile/story.cfm?id=71496-two-events-converge-at-interstate-70-and-providence-road) They were associated with a group called Overpasses for America. Their website is a good read. [http://overpassesforamerica.com](http://overpassesforamerica.com) They want to raise awareness of the facts that we are losing our rights and the Constitution is being trampled. Because nothing says respect for civil rights and the Constitution like the Confederate flag. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/131 "2015-08-03T00:52:41Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > It’s the opening ceremonies of the Darwin Awards! Today in the bad decisions category, we feature… Danger Seekers! With Rex Kramer! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KYz00UQfiPk/hqdefault.jpg "Rex Kramer - Danger Seeker - Kentucky Fried Movie") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYz00UQfiPk) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Room](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_room/32/5069_2.png) [@Little\_Room](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Room)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/132 "2015-08-03T02:25:57Z")
I live in an interesting area for this sort of thing; at the far end of a Civil War Union state near the border of a Civil War neutral state; Confederate battle flags are unaccountably well-loved here. What is being communicated I can never seem to get to the bottom of. There are a couple of new truck-mounted flags in my town, but I don’t think anyone had to go out and buy a new one for the recent occasion - they were already on the walls of garages and other unfinished, manly places. Back in high school, they were popular on shirts, and a couple of local cranks have them standing on proper flagpoles in their yards. I live near this, for example: [URL=“[SCV to Raise Confederate Flag in New Park off I-24 | WKMS](http://wkms.org/post/scv-raise-confederate-flag-new-park-i-24)”] (that article is from 2012 - this is nothing new) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/133 "2015-08-03T02:33:45Z")
Missing link? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Room](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_room/32/5069_2.png) [@Little\_Room](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Room)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/134 "2015-08-03T02:36:04Z")
[http://wkms.org/post/scv-raise-confederate-flag-new-park-i-24](http://wkms.org/post/scv-raise-confederate-flag-new-park-i-24) Not sure if I did the link right on that last post. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/135 "2015-08-05T00:46:46Z")
[1500 people expected for Southern Heritage ride/rally in Hisllborough, NC](http://wncn.com/2015/08/04/500-vehicles-1500-people-possible-at-southern-heritage-rally-in-hillsborough-town-says/) ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/136 "2015-08-05T00:55:15Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Missing link? That’s just another Liberal Secular Humanist _LIE!!!_ We didn’t evolve from no dadgummed apes!!1! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/137 "2015-08-05T01:05:37Z")
I haven’t heard Secular Humanist used seriously as an insult in years. If chawbacons ever let ANYTHING become unstylish I might think it was passé. But, as we see with that damned flag, they don’t, so I must not have been looking hard enough. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/138 "2015-08-05T02:29:23Z")
Here in my leafy suburb of Houston, I’ve seen a total of three in the past week. All were flying from jacked-up pickups with huge wheels, which I guess doesn’t come as a total shock. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/139 "2015-08-05T22:11:19Z")
Since the Charleston shooting, I haven’t seen any while bopping around urban and suburban Atlanta. Two weeks ago, however, I was in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the York area, and I saw probably five or six, flying from homes. Seemed odd. Saw a fair number in Gettysburg, too, but those were mostly on businesses selling Civil War memorabilia or Battle of Gettysburg souvenirs; I imagine those flags were more advertising than protest. The purpose of the trip was to meet my mother-in-law’s extended family, and a couple of times I was asked about the flag. They seemed surprised to hear that me say that whatever noble or virtuous, or even harmless, associations that flag may have once had (and I used to hang one on my bedroom wall, in honor of my Army of Northern Virginia veteran great-grandfather), it’s been irredeemably tainted by its racist post-Civil War use, and I’d be fine with never seeing it again. I realized when I was in my twenties that no matter what _I_ might mean by displaying the battle flag, people like **DrDeth** would automatically make some assumptions about me for doing so. Apparently, there’s been some talk about taking it down at the Gettysburg battlefield, and my in-laws thought that was just silly. I pointed out that the French don’t fly the swastika at Omaha Beach, nor the Italians at Anzio. > [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > An oasis of learning in north Florida… Gainesville?!! You’re thinking of Tallahassee. > [@monstro](#): > > I really wish people would stop implying that black people will explode into a violent rage at the sight of a Confederate flag. I grew up in Atlanta, Chocolate City, and the Confederate flag was all over the place. Including the state capitol. Black people hated it and rallied against it. And yet for decades, white people folks didn’t have nary a problem shoving it in our faces. > > Richmond is about 40% black. And yet we have Confederate flaggers parading in the street. No one has been flown into a murderous rage yet. The worse that has happened was that someone (race unknown) threw a bottle at one of the trucks and caused a dent. > > Several years ago, I was driving around in Newark, NJ. The blue pick-up truck in front of me had a Confederate flag on its bumper. I’m sure the driver lived to tell about it. Between income disparity, blue-on-black violence, and institutionalized racism, I imagine black folks have more important things to worry about. I _have_ seen something very odd, a couple of times: black guys wearing CBF head kerchiefs. I asked around among my black co-workers; one of them said it was about reppin’ the Dirty South. But he thought it was weird, too. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553/140 "2015-08-08T21:57:32Z")
We haven’t had a real conflict here since the lamented ‘Pig War’ of 1859. There were unsubstantiated reports of someone driving around English Camp waving a barbequed rib, but no flags were mentioned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-confederate-flaggers-parading-in-your-streets/725553.md?page=8)