# Confederate flag neither anti-American nor racist, necessarily **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 28, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668 "2010-04-28T20:57:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/121 "2010-04-30T17:07:28Z")
So, by virtue of grits being rare or nonexistent in Texas, and our barbecue being superior, we are no longer part of the south? You mean it? Ok! SWEET! Keep your loony southern pride. - Hello, western states\* 🙂 (Texas snuggles up to New Mexico, who scoots away gingerly) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/122 "2010-04-30T17:13:48Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > So, by virtue of grits being rare or nonexistent in Texas, and our barbecue being superior, we are no longer part of the south? You mean it? Ok! SWEET! Keep your loony southern pride. > > - Hello, western states\* 🙂 > > (Texas snuggles up to New Mexico, who scoots away gingerly) Not so fast! [Wikipedia includes Texas in the “Grits Belt.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grits#Origins) _(One of us! One of us! One of us!)_ :smacks New Mexico’s hand away: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/123 "2010-04-30T19:29:48Z")
Plus I haven’t forgiven New Mexico for setting up Billy the Kid. Or for harboring Lew Wallace after he unleashed that Ben Hur nonsense (a Roman nobleman driving a chariot at the races? Yeah, right, as if— and George Prescott Bush might get into the ring with Lennox Lewis). Speaking of New Mexico and the south- Bryan Cranston said the title of _Breaking Bad_ comes from an “old southern expression”. I’ve known a lot of old southerners but I’ve never heard this expression. Has anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/124 "2010-04-30T19:49:36Z")
New one on me. I assumed it was from surfer-speak. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/125 "2010-04-30T20:00:15Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Not so fast! [Wikipedia includes Texas in the “Grits Belt.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grits#Origins) _(One of us! One of us! One of us!)_ > > :smacks New Mexico’s hand away: > > 😉 In fact, Wikipedia cites a [Laboratory Assay of Effect of Instant Grits and Malt-O-Meal for Imported Fire Ant Control](http://fireant.tamu.edu/research/arr/category/non-chemical/97-01pg4/97-01pg4.htm), carried out by a Texas A&M entomologist. However–why didn’t he use non-instant grits? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/126 "2010-04-30T20:01:22Z")
If a person were to live in the South and happen to be a racist, and wanted to display a flag that represented his or her position, what flag would that person display? A few flags come to mind, with the Confederate Battle Flag being right up there. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/127 "2010-04-30T20:14:14Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > If a person were to live in the South and happen to be a racist, and wanted to display a flag that represented his or her position, what flag would that person display? A few flags come to mind, with the Confederate Battle Flag being right up there. Has anyone here argued otherwise? It obviously can be used and has been used to signify racism. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/128 "2010-04-30T20:17:42Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > **Jack** , I know the kind of person you are talking about. But when you say “would be Southern apologists and boosters,” aren’t you talking about _Confederate_ apologists and boosters instead of _Southern_? Didn’t you meet any Southerners who weren’t belligerent? The ones without a chip on their shoulders and who didn’t go on about the “War of Northern Aggression” or “Yankees\*” or the vast superiority of Southern virtues were not belligerent. And that of course was the vast majority, who were as nice as people everywhere I’ve lived. The belligerent ones generally bellow online or in print, not in person. \*This is a silly thing to go on about. Of _course_, good folks despise the Yankees and everything they represent. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/129 "2010-04-30T21:53:10Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The ones without a chip on their shoulders and who didn’t go on about the “War of Northern Aggression” or “Yankees\*” or the vast superiority of Southern virtues were not belligerent. And that of course was the vast majority, who were as nice as people everywhere I’ve lived. The belligerent ones generally bellow online or in print, not in person. Why is it a surprise that a minority of people anywhere are obnoxious? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/130 "2010-05-01T04:22:11Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Why is it a surprise that a minority of people anywhere are obnoxious? It’s a general axiom that “most” of any group are good folks\*. Speaking specifically about Confederate flag-wavers and over-the-top professional Southerners, this obnoxious minority still is capable of having a negative impact. The fact that they’re a minority doesn’t mean that the majority of “good folks” are relieved of any obligation to speak up or act (as need be) to help mitigate the damage. \*exceptions might be made for car salesmen, lawyers etc. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/131 "2010-05-01T05:44:00Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > …over-the-top professional Southerners… _Professional?_ There’s a profession? Why didn’t somebody tell me? (And here I’ve been doin’ it for free! What a chump!) ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668/132 "2010-05-02T06:13:00Z")
> [@](#): > > **Jack** : The fact that they’re a minority doesn’t mean that the majority of “good folks” are relieved of any obligation to speak up or act (as need be) to help mitigate the damage. I speak up. Oh, I speak up! One of the places that I speak up is on the forums. You will never find a post of mine that supports the display of the Confederate battle flag except in a historic context. I thought it was beautiful when I was a child, but it had different associations then. In the last couple of years the Alabama Chapter of the Sons of the Confederecy have put up a huge flag on a huge pole along the interstate. It was the first Confederate battle flag that I had seen in Alabama in three trips that went border to border, north to south. Others have posted that they have seen more of these battle flags in Northern or Mid-Western states than the South. I don’t travel that much within the states so I can’t speak to that. At any rate, one of the places that I speak out is at SDMB. At the same time, I will often explain in my statements that I am very passionate about most things Southern. Does that make me a “professional”? Do I sound belligerent? BTW, I am as passionate about one particular village on the coast of Maine. I don’t get to go there very often, but when I do, I have a very grounded sense of “home.” Thank you for answering my questions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-flag-neither-anti-american-nor-racist-necessarily/537668.md?page=6)