# Ebay is banning listings of confederate flags and related items. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 23, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258 "2015-06-23T16:50:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/21 "2015-06-23T21:14:32Z")
Is there a parallel with “the N word”. Too. Much. Baggage. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/22 "2015-06-23T21:23:15Z")
If you guys promise not to tell the Feds, there’s a small company called Amazon (shhh!) that’ll still let you [buy Confederate battle flags](http://smile.amazon.com/Confederate-Flag-House-pole-3ft/dp/B00GA5M638/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1435094493&sr=8-18&keywords=confederate+flag). Hurry though! Obama’s coming for 'em! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/23 "2015-06-23T21:24:08Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Banning the flying of the Confederate battle flag over the South Carolina statehouse? > > Absolutely. It needs to happen yesterday. Without a doubt. I was in Hilton Head, South Carolina vacationing with family and friends in the early 90s when there was talk about removing the confederate flag from the statehouse. A counter protest occurred with pickup trucks parading down the main drag, complete with huge flags and screamed racial epithets. Haven’t been back. I spend my money elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/24 "2015-06-23T22:00:16Z")
> [@bup](#): > > If you guys promise not to tell the Feds, there’s a small company called Amazon (shhh!) that’ll still let you [buy Confederate battle flags](http://smile.amazon.com/Confederate-Flag-House-pole-3ft/dp/B00GA5M638/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1435094493&sr=8-18&keywords=confederate+flag). > > Hurry though! Obama’s coming for 'em! [Too late](http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/23/8834097/amazon-confederate-flag-charleston-south-carolina). ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/25 "2015-06-23T22:05:58Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Just goes to show you freedom is dead in america. if you have different viewpoints from the rest of the country too fucking bad Please answer this question: Do you believe that private corporations should be forced to sell things they don’t want to sell? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/26 "2015-06-23T22:09:50Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > How do you feel about a baker’s right to refuse to make a cake displaying the confederate flag or otherwise celebrating the Confederacy? Bazinga! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/27 "2015-06-23T23:48:50Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Just goes to show you freedom is dead in america. if you have different viewpoints from the rest of the country too fucking bad I knew this conversation would turn enlightening at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/28 "2015-06-23T23:54:33Z")
I think you guys are being whooshed. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/29 "2015-06-24T00:10:40Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Just don’t stop showing reruns of Dukes of Hazzard because of the confederate flag on the General Lee. One of them roars up and down my northern Ontario country road occasionally (and sounds the horn when they pass my place). The owner (one of my clients) and the mechanic (one of my neighbours) show it about Canada and the USA. Nice guys, and not racists, but unfortunately, the roof is painted with the slavery flag. And there’s the problem. The slavery flag has become so popularized that although it is a core symbol of racists, it has become accepted by the white public. By taking it down from one state’s flagpole, by hopefully removing it from another states flag, and by retailers standing up and saying “We are no longer selling the slavery flag,” eventually the white pubic will become more aware of the evil of what that flag represents, and will become more aware of the agenda of many, but far from all, of the people who fly it. Can you take the racist out of the good ol’ boys? Doubtful, but perhaps over time fewer of the future generations will be as attracted to racism if social persuasion is consistently put upon them. One form of social persuasion is the societal rejection of the slavery flag. Changing a culture often takes a long time, but it can be done. Dealing with one of the two primary flags of racists is part of moving forward with that cultural change. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/30 "2015-06-24T00:24:19Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I think you guys are being whooshed. It’s **PSXer**. I’ll be glad to be whooshed with apologies and bells. I kind of doubt it, though. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/31 "2015-06-24T01:41:07Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Well, actually, most businesses make decisions based on what \*will \*sell, limited only by laws and what they call “ethics” - defined as, “if we piss too many people off, they won’t buy even our products that they want.” Yeah, I was being facetious; businesses should be able to make their own biz decisions using whatever legal justifications they want. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/32 "2015-06-24T02:15:50Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I don’t think eBay is a hotbed marketplace for violent white supremacists… That’s what gun shows are for. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/33 "2015-06-24T03:15:57Z")
One has to marvel at the level of stupidity being displayed by Ebay and others. Jeez, people, it’s a flag. It’s an historical artifact. Are you also going to prevent people from selling Minie balls or bayonets because they might have been used by a Confederate soldier? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/34 "2015-06-24T03:26:35Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > One has to marvel at the level of stupidity being displayed by Ebay and others. Jeez, people, it’s a flag. It’s an historical artifact. Are you also going to prevent people from selling Minie balls or bayonets because they might have been used by a Confederate soldier? No one is “being prevented” from selling anything. A handful of major corporations are choosing not to sell something. Is it really that difficult for anyone to comprehend? A baker is absolutely within his right to sell a cake with a CBF. He can also refuse to. There isn’t any civil rights abridgement either way. The only way anyone can become outraged over this is by misconstruing the facts. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/35 "2015-06-24T03:45:14Z")
They’re being prevented from selling these objects by the court of public opinion the PC police are effectively censoring them ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/36 "2015-06-24T03:54:26Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > They’re being prevented from selling these objects by the court of public opinion They’re making a business decision. It’s called the “free market.” > [@](#): > > the PC police are effectively censoring them Riiiiiight. When private individuals express their displeasure about a corporate policy, and the private corporation voluntarily decides to change its policy, this is censorship. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/37 "2015-06-24T04:31:32Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > They’re being prevented from selling these objects by the court of public opinion. . . the PC police are effectively censoring them > [@YogSosoth](#): > > Please answer this question: Do you believe that private corporations should be forced to sell things they don’t want to sell? **PSXer** : you seem to be running afoul of **YogSosoth** ’s question. Can you answer it? Otherwise, most of us here are calling bullshit: no one is being compelled or prevented from doing anything at all. Ebay still has every right to sell whatever they want. They prefer not to, because it would tarnish their carefully-tended corporate image. McDonald’s doesn’t offer goat-burgers for pretty much the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/38 "2015-06-24T04:48:50Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > The debate is it’s just a flag, stars and bars… One thing this (hopefully last) go-'round of this symbol was that the press finally got it right - it was a battle flag and a naval ensign. It was not a national flag. And it is NOT the “stars and bars”. The “stars and bars” (you look it up) looked too much like the USA flag, and soldiers were “retreating” to the wrong side in battle. Hence the need for a battle flag that was different enough to avoid confusion during battle. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/39 "2015-06-24T04:52:34Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > One thing this (hopefully last) go-'round of this symbol was that the press finally got it right - it was a battle flag and a naval ensign. It was not a national flag. > > And it is NOT the “stars and bars”. > > The “stars and bars” (you look it up) looked too much like the USA flag, and soldiers were “retreating” to the wrong side in battle. > Hence the need for a battle flag that was different enough to avoid confusion during battle. I think most people are aware of this. I also think the distinction is inconsequential to the overall topic, it being a sign of hatred and oppression. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258/40 "2015-06-24T10:35:05Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Please answer this question: Do you believe that private corporations should be forced to sell things they don’t want to sell? A private corporation should not be forced to _buy_ things they don’t want to sell. A corporation with monopolistic power whose business does not involve buying or producing things (like both eBay and Paypal) should not be using that monopolistic power with the explicit purpose of suppressing constitutionally protected rights. Banks should not be used to drive pornographers and gun stores out of business, Paypal should not be used to drive Wikileaks out of business and eBay should not be used to drive people who sell Confederate flags out of business. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258.md?page=3)