[Sam's Army]

I think there may be room for debate on "offensive" vs "good idea".

I personally do not find the Confederate flag offensive, but it's not a good idea to fly one imho because of the continued slicing and sectionalizing of American culture. We have Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, Albanian-Americans, etc, etc, ad-nauseum.

Match that with the heartfelt need by some in those groups to remind others of their "roots" or "heritage" by prominant display of flags of their ancestery and you really wonder who the "Americans" are nowadays.

The Confederate flag simply plays into that mentality without meaning to imo.

[Arkinsaw]

I personally do not find the Confederate flag offensive, but it's not a good idea to fly one imho because of the continued slicing and sectionalizing of American culture.

What is needed is a return to the situation when the Confederate flag was accepted by pretty much everyone as an American historical symbol rather than a political symbol.

The politization began with the yahoos adopting it in opposition to the Civil Rights movement. Now it is used by the NAACP to stir up division and create enemies where none existed. Because the NAACP needs enemies to continue its fundraising and pot stirring and get on the teevee.

The result of the NAACP tactic is the creation of a large number of people fighting with them who would not otherwise be fighting them. People who would probably be out cleaning up graveyards and studying genealogy microfiche instead of getting involved in a political fight. This is what the NAACP desired.

Unfortunately, some flag defenders do not realize that the proper fight is to return the flag to its historical place and instead attempt to re-politicize the flag themselves as a symbol of a modern defensive political movement (aka The League of the South). This of course gives the NAACP what they want and increases divisiveness and does the exact opposite of what we should be doing to defend the flag.

Not all black Americans accept this tactic including former NAACP leader Hervey who see it as tearing down others heritage for fund raising. He ought to know.

A black organization called Hope In the Cities invited the Daughters of the Confederacy to speak. The UDC accepted the invitation and explained their view of the flag as primarily a symbol of their family history and regional heritage and not a political device. The strategy of this organization is the proper one, talking about the various meanings of the flag and returning it to the historical realm and removing it from the political realm.

The only solution to this problem is to establish a common AMERICAN interpretation of the flags meaning as a historical device that all can accept, even if its not an interpretation they all can love.

We have to learn to drown out the fire eaters like Walt and his opposite numbers on the other side who enjoy the divisiveness and follow the lead of the Sons of Union Veterans in a general acceptance of it as an American historical symbol.