# The white hood: heritage, not hate! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 21, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-hood-heritage-not-hate/723050 "2015-06-21T02:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 303
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-hood-heritage-not-hate/723050/303 "2015-06-24T05:01:50Z")
When I was in college, one freshman put the Confederate flag in his window. It was fairly prominent: I would pass it every day. I never knowingly met the guy. I grew up in the Northeast and this struck me as seriously weird. Ditto for another NE friend of mine. We figured some Southerners were living in the past. But mostly we were baffled. Why revere a rebellion dedicated to keeping slavery and possibly low tariffs on manufactured goods? (Today I buy the latter even less: I had an AP knowledge of US history at the time.) Another friend from Virginia told me that the guy was actually from upstate New York. Wow. Even weirder. When I asked why, I was told that the guy thought it was cool. So yeah, I accept LHoD’s categories, until somebody makes a convincing argument otherwise. This seems to be a case of an ignorant idiot. It was also explained to me that among some, displaying the Confederate flag was a way of showing solidarity with the Klan. Oh. Didn’t know that. The flag remained in place in this northeastern college for 2 consecutive semesters, after which the guy moved elsewhere. I don’t recall anger or outrage. Personally, I was pretty quizzical. ## Some attention seekers like befuddling the normals. Some of those attention seekers are today called trolls. So I guess I’d say that a few of the assholes (category III) who fly the flag are also trolls, though I suppose there are a few trolls in category II (the ignorant). Hell, maybe the first category as well. TLDR: I don’t think the Confederate flag produced rage so much as weariness or perhaps confusion among non-Southerners. ## Billfish?'s argument way back: he might have been alluding to the observation that (oddly) those who lost wars tend to remember them longer than those who won them. Another poster described that phenomenon some time ago, but I couldn’t find the thread. > [@Robert163](#): > > But there really weren’t that many racist people in NYC… ## _::cough::_ --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-hood-heritage-not-hate/723050)._