# Do you find the Confederate flag offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 27, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815 "2004-12-27T20:22:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lyllyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/21 "2004-12-27T21:22:00Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/22 "2004-12-27T21:23:17Z")
yes, it’s offensive. Sigh. I think that the Confederate battle flag is a better design than the US flag though. It’s too bad that the designer of the Confederate battle flag wasn’t around to create a better design for Old Glory. ---
**Author:** ![Poonther](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Poonther](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poonther)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/23 "2004-12-27T21:23:53Z")
**YES** Born and reared in the South with several of my ancestors fighting on the Confederate side in the Civil War and I find it very racist. I’ve seen it used in a hateful manner most of my life. Now in its historical context no, but you hardly see it used that way anymore except for movies and documentaries. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/24 "2004-12-27T21:23:59Z")
Yes, but only because it tends to attract some rather unsavory folks as its defenders. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/25 "2004-12-27T21:27:55Z")
I’m from the South and it does not offend me. On the other hand, when I see it on the back of some good ol’ boy’s pickup, I strongly suspect certain things about that good ol’ boy. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/26 "2004-12-27T21:32:00Z")
No - since I don’t see it as an attempt to offend. If I did, I might have a different opinion. Note - however, I’m a white guy from Mississippi and I’ve seen the confederate flag displayed more times than most on this board - I’m sure. In fact, didn’t the _Dukes of Hazzard_ or some such TV show have a nationally televised series where two law breakers drove around in a car named the _General Lee_ with a big confederate flag painted on top? I didn’t notice any hidden meaning other than they guys were _just good ole boys - never meaning no harm._ Now - I don’t know how long ago that program was on - but I think how one views the confederate flag is pretty subjective. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/27 "2004-12-27T21:35:00Z")
Yes. When it’s displayed by private individuals or businesses, I assume that they are trying let people know their feelings on race, rather than celebrating their heritage. The use of the flag in a historical context (documentaries, and history lessons) doesn’t bother me. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/28 "2004-12-27T21:37:06Z")
**Evil Captor** and **Ace#1** both answered what I would also say. Everyone in the South knows what it means, despite their pleas to “history”. Hell, I _was_ one of those bigots back in high-school. I had the Rebal Flag on my truck and trucker cap. I claimed it was my “cultural heritage”; but I was lying, as is everyone else who claims it. It was about racial superiority. Fortunately, I grew up and learned to cast aside my prejudice. My personal history in that regard and the history behind that flag are shameful and shouldn’t be celebrated; acknowledged, yes, but not glorified. There’s a bumper sticker on a truck I used to see back in Texarkana that I liked. It’s got the red circle with a slash over the flag and the text is: “You lost. Get over it.” ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/29 "2004-12-27T21:37:36Z")
[QUOTE=Tigers2B1 In fact, didn’t the _Dukes of Hazzard_ or some such TV show have a nationally televised series where two law breakers drove around in a car named the _General Lee_ with a big confederate flag painted on top? I didn’t notice any hidden meaning other than they guys were _just good ole boys - never meaning no harm._ Now - I don’t know how long ago that program was on - but I think how one views the confederate flag is pretty subjective.[/QUOTE] I guess you didn’t notice the lack of black people on the show either…opps, there was one. Nope, No hidden meaning there…Confederate Flag, all white town… ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/30 "2004-12-27T21:38:43Z")
> [@holmes](#): > > I guess you didn’t notice the lack of black people on the show either…opps, there was one. Nope, No hidden meaning there…Confederate Flag, all white town… Dang – is THAT why there weren’t Black people in Mayberry also?? ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/31 "2004-12-27T21:44:42Z")
Yes. The Confederacy and those who supported it were traitors against the United States of America. Nothing to be proud of. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/32 "2004-12-27T21:46:32Z")
> [@Tigers2B1](#): > > Dang – is THAT why there weren’t Black people in Mayberry also?? I don’t recall a car with a confederate flag driving in Mayberry. I don’t recall a strong Southern flavor in Mayberry either. Considering Mayberry ran from 1960-1968 it’s not surprising the lack of black faces. However the Dukes ran in 1976 to 1985, was based in the South; not exactly comparable are they? Now if you wish to open a thread concerning the lack of African-Americans in the media, and the reasons thereof we can do that…however i won’t add more to hijack the thread. Your rationalizations are familar. ---
**Author:** ![spectrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@spectrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spectrum)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/33 "2004-12-27T21:50:37Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > When I see it on the back of a beat-up ford F-150 with white nation stickers next to it, I find it hard to remember the goodness for which it was used. What good was the banner of a bunch of traitorous, America-hating, racist scum like the Confederacy ever used for? ---
**Author:** ![spectrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@spectrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spectrum)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/34 "2004-12-27T21:53:39Z")
Yes. The Battle Flat of the evil, thank-Christ-its-dead Confederacy is a banner of hate, racism, discimrination, ignorance and malice. Any who would be proud of it must have souls as dark as a moonless night. Burning is too good for that filthy banner and all the evil it stands for. To hell with the South. I will never go back. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/35 "2004-12-27T21:53:45Z")
> [@holmes](#): > > I don’t recall a car with a confederate flag driving in Mayberry. I don’t recall a strong Southern flavor in Mayberry either. Considering Mayberry ran from 1960-1968 it’s not surprising the lack of black faces. However the Dukes ran in 1976 to 1985, was based in the South; not exactly comparable are they? > > Now if you wish to open a thread concerning the lack of African-Americans in the media, and the reasons thereof we can do that…however i won’t add more to hijack the thread. > > Your rationalizations are familar. The _Dukes of Hazzard_ was a racist show? ----- got ya - ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/36 "2004-12-27T22:01:29Z")
I’m not offended by it personally, but I do think it is offensive. If that makes any sense. Speaking of which: > [@archmichael](#): > > I liken it to the use of ‘niggardly’ here on the Boards. It is used to elicit a response. Once the expected response happens, the responder is lambasted how they have no right to be offended. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/37 "2004-12-27T22:05:26Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > …Huh? Well - it is sort of like the confederate flag. It is what you think it is — no more, no less. Hence - if it’s intended to offend - it’s wrong. Not intended to offend - no problem — ---
**Author:** ![spectrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@spectrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spectrum)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/38 "2004-12-27T22:08:39Z")
That’s absurd. Niggardly is a word that has absolutely no etomological connection to the word “nigger” – you cannot say that the Confederate hate banner has absolutely no connection to the institution of slavery. The Confederacy was all about that evil, nothing more, nothing less. ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/39 "2004-12-27T22:16:16Z")
> [@spectrum](#): > > That’s absurd. Niggardly is a word that has absolutely no etomological connection to the word “nigger” – you cannot say that the Confederate hate banner has absolutely no connection to the institution of slavery. The Confederacy was all about that evil, nothing more, nothing less. Understood. Referencing the whole ‘gotcha!’ aspect of it. I will flaunt the use of XXXX, which has a likelihood of upsetting black people. I will feign shock that black people get offended at it. I will explain the real meaning of it. (In one case, no real link. In the other, nothing more than historical revisionism). I will then use said reason, to show that in overreacting I was the one who was wronged. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815/40 "2004-12-27T22:18:44Z")
> [@spectrum](#): > > That’s absurd. Niggardly is a word that has absolutely no etomological connection to the word “nigger” – you cannot say that the Confederate hate banner has absolutely no connection to the institution of slavery. The Confederacy was all about that evil, nothing more, nothing less. It doesn’t MATTER the derivation of the word. It’s about your reaction and whether something is offensive based solely on your reaction or whether that limitation is based on my intent. A person can make a decision to put up a confederate flag for reasons wholly unrelated to the reasons most here seem to what to assign to that person. The person who displays the symbol decides what he or she is symbolizing. Otherwise, I doubt we could display much of anything without having to call it an offensive display at sometime with someone - [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-the-confederate-flag-offensive/281815.md?page=3)