Out of the atrocities committed in Charleston, South Carolina this week has arisen a new dialogue about racism and the Confederate Battle Flag, which is often mislabeled as the Flag of the Confederated States of America, who lost the American Civil War in 1865. The flag we often see, which is affectionately and erroneously labeled the stars and bars isn’t the actual flag of the Confederacy. That’s exactly what makes the flag flying over the Confederate memorial in South Carolina even more racist.
1. The original flag of the Confederacy was much different than the flag that rednecks like to associate with the South today. It was the real “stars and bars.”
2. The second flag adopted by the Confederacy is where the “rebel flag” we see today comes into play.
Its creator called it the “White Man’s Flag” and when he created it he was quoted as saying:
“As a people we are fighting to maintain the Heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race; a white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause.” William T. Thompson (April 23, 1863), Daily Morning News
I don’t know about anyone else, but that makes it pretty clear what the purpose of the South was (or should I say the “cause”), and it is clearly about the superiority of one race over another (which most normal people like to call racism).
3.”A Southern humorist during the Civil War praised the second Confederate Flag.
George William Bagby, a Southern humorist during the Civil War, but also the Richmond correspondent for the CHARLESTON MERCURY, praised the second Confederate Flag, specifically the saltire (which is what we know as the Confederate Flag today or the Southern Cross) stating that it embodied:
“The destiny of the Southern master and his African slave”, pointing them southward to “the banks of the Amazon” (it was a popular idea at the time for Southerners to believe that their “cause” should be expanded southward into Latin America).
Clearly, again, this exemplifies what the original creators and users of the flag intended- dominance of one race over another (do I need to say it again? RACISM!).
4. It was changed because of confusion.
The only reason the original Confederacy flag was changed was because soldiers in the Civil War got it mixed up with the Union’s flag, creating confusion.
5.”The battle flag that is used by Southern rednecks today is exactly that, a battle flag created for Confederate soldiers.
Southern General Beauregard suggested the creation of the Confederate Battle Flag, which would only be used in battle. Uh, so what you’re saying is that the creator of the flag we think is the Confederate Flag today is actually just the Confederate Battle Flag, meaning when it’s flown that those who fly it are considered to be in battle? Yes, it’s an official battle flag. I guess Southerners have forgotten that they surrendered after a massive defeat. Bye bye battle flag.
6. The Confederate Battle Flag was actually only meant to be used by General Lee’s regiment in Virginia.
You know, the one that surrendered? Lee actually wanted Southerners to stop using the flag because it could be considered treason. Did you hear that Southerners?
7.A Confederate general’s son ordered a Confederate Battle Flag to be taken down.
A Confederate general’s son, Simon Buckner, Jr., who was also an American general, ordered a Confederate Battle Flag that was raised over Shuri Castle, in Okinawa, Japan during World War II, to be taken down because it didn’t represent all Americans. Even he understood that the flag was not appropriate.
8. Five states have state laws that protect “Old Dixie.”
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
9. Georgia still flies the Confederate Flag.
The State of Georgia’s state flag is the first Confederate Flag with the Coat of Arms of Georgia between the stars. Most people in Georgia have no idea their state flag was the official first flag of the Confederacy (minus the Georgia Coat of Arms).
10. On the eve of the Civil War, Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens gave a speech with confederate flags abound.
He said:
“Our new government is founded… upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.”
There can be no doubt what the standard of the Confederacy stood for, and it still stands for those same racist ideals today. The “cause” of the South, from the creation of its flag to its flying over the capital in South Carolina, is clearly about the superiority of one race over another. That is one fact that cannot be denied, and the Confederate Battle Flag that so many fly today is nothing more than the symbol of racist elitists who espouse a culture that is unwaveringly founded on the misguided and horrifically-ancient ideology of racial superiority.
