Your head might explode...

[Are_grits_groceries]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/Confederate_battle_flag_Obama_yard_sign.html

The irony or whatever in this photo is HUGH1 Cognitive dissonance too.

[Believing Is Art]

1. Lol,

They could just be a huge history buff and that's why they're displaying a confederate flag, too off in their own world to realize the racist implications . . . I don't know . . .

[Waiting For Everyman]

2. Yeah, that has to be a symbol for ignorance.

Did they ever hear of the Civil War? Flying the flags of both sides in it? Like, um, ya can't be a real American and be a Confederate too - that was kind of the whole point about that war.

Confederate means anti-American, anti-Stars-and-Stripes, anti-Union. Duh.

[Buzz Clik]

3. A lot of those who like to show the Confederate battle flag claim that it is not a racist symbol.

They say that it represents their heritage.

You can believe that or not believe that (or simply point out the historical inconsistency), but this picture pretty well supports that notion.

[Orrex]

5. Sure, a lot of people do claim that, but it's still a bullshit claim

It's not up to the person displaying the flag to decide whether or not it's a racist symbol. He or she might declare sincerely that he or she isn't using it as a symbol of racism and slavery (and treason, while we're at it), but the flag is symbolic of those horrors all by itself.

Glad to see that they're voting Obama, but the flag is still an emblem of racism.

[Buzz Clik]

8. You've got it half right.

To many people, that flag symbolizes the worst chapter in American history with horrible racist overtones. To the person who owns the house in the picture, it does not -- it simply could not be a racist symbol to that person.

[Orrex]

12. I'm on board with that, but...

The most that the homeowner can say is "I don't intend it as a racist symbol."

However, it still is a racist symbol regardless of what the individual might assert.

If he put a tar baby on his front porch, it would still be a racist symbol even if he only put it there because he liked Song of the South. If he painted a swastika on his house because it's an ancient mystical symbol, it would still be a racist emblem.


I'm perfectly willing to accept that the homeowner doesn't see or intend the confederate flag as a symbol of racism. If it were only up to him or her, then there'd be no problem; however, the issue is decided by history and society, and the individual's wishes don't trump these.

[Virginia Dare]

15. Just a guess, but perhaps they are quite elderly...

over 70 perhaps. I think people of this age would be more likely to be less aware of this type of message that they're sending.

[Buzz Clik]

19. I agree.

[dysfunctional press]

17. it's apparently not an emblem of racism to that particular homeowner.

and he's entitled to his own right of expression- if people mis-interpret his entirely legal "statement"- that's pretty much THEIR problem, not his.

[Orrex]

20. If the owner existed in a vacuum, then you'd be correct

But here in the world, the confederate flag is a symbol of racism regardless of what the individual's entirely legal "statement" might say to the contrary.

If someone hung a black effigy in a tree and insisted that it had no racial meaning, would people who inferred racism be misinterpreting that statment as well?

[dysfunctional press]

24. like i said - if you consider it racist and let it bother you- it's YOUR problem.

not his.

as for hanging a black effigy- what if it were a black man who had put it in the tree as part of his halloween display- would people who screamed "racism!" still be justified?

[Orrex]

27. Find me that man, and we'll talk about him

In the mean time, it's not "my problem." If a guy on a bus calls a black woman on that bus a nigger, is it my problem if I find it racist?


Sometimes I can't believe the lengths that DU'ers will go to justify bigotry, racism, and intolerance. :eyes:

[juno jones]

4. Still, They're voting Obama

(hopefully). Maybe they'll get wise in the next few years...or the next life...or whenever.

Reminds me of that PA pollster's story: "We're voting for the N*****". Straight out of Blazing Saddles.

[Virginia Dare]

16. It's no small feat to overcome racist knee-jerk feelings..

to vote the way you intellectually know is right. I actually respect somebody who can do that. I respect a man like Obama who can successfully appeal to these people in that way.

[TornadoTN]

6. Maybe its because I'm from the South, but this really isn't altogether surprising

Sure, it looks weird and is a curious combination of strange bedfellows, but some people fly the Stars & Bars for purely historical reasons. I know I wouldn't but some people that I know claim is out of pure historical appreciation for their roots. In my area of the country, people really enjoy genealogy and a good portion of them have relatives who served on one side or the other for a variety of reasons. I know one guy that works in the manufacturing part of my company is a civil war reinactor, had family that served in the Confederacy, has a small rebel flag in the back window of his pickup truck, and has an Obama sticker on the other side of the window.

I know that most people use the flag as a sign of their racist leanings and I certainly believe that a lot of people do it for that reason. But there are some that fly it for other reasons, however strange or contradictory they may be. I'm fine with that.

[crispini]

11. The Confederacy represents a dream of the old South, for them, IMO.

It's very romanticized, caught up with heritage and the time that the South was its own country. I think for a lot of Southerners, the Civil War is sort of a "martial glory" kind of thing -- thus, the re-enactments, etc. While selectively editing out the nastier parts of that time, of course.

[Virginia Dare]

14. I'd expect to see that in Georgia perhaps..

but Indiana isn't exactly the old South. Sherman's Army never marched on Indiana. I guess they could have come from someplace else. I'd love to talk to that person to see what's up there.

[crispini]

18. Ok, wait, this is INDIANA? LOL.

Ok..... didn't realize that. Yes, that's a real WTF moment there.

[RedLetterRev]

26. True dat, but

(being a history and genealogy nut myself) a real history buff might go for the First National. I've seen a couple of posters with that as their avatar. That would say "I'm southern, proudly so, but not one of them", knaw'm sayin'? I'm very deeply southern, but I won't have the Naval Ensign anywhere near me because of all the negative connotations and mis-use of it.

Lotsa folks get their knickers in a twist when they see the Naval Ensign (like the one above), also incorrectly called the Stars and Bars (which, correctly is the First National). This is the Stars and Bars, which was in use from 1861 to 1863, btw:



It was discontinued due to "friendly fire" incidents on both sides due to the difficulty of distinguishing it from the US flag unless they were flying full-out. Eventually, the Naval Ensign was used in battle because it was distinguishable from the US flag. That's how it got to be stuck in folks' minds, since it was the last to be used and the most recognizable. The CSA actually went through three national flags, none very successful on the battlefield because of their lack of distinguishability from the US flag.

There's your trivia for the day LOL.

I'll be happy that the folks in the OP above are voting for Obama, even if they aren't too "swooft" on history. Most folks aren't. I'll hesh and leave it at that.

[Vickers]

7. I'm thinking somebody has been moving signs in that neighborhood...

:P

[salguine]

9. it's about haih-tage!

[fla nocount]

10. For many that flag represents state's rights.

The reasons for the War Between the States were diverse and many. Slavery was of importance to the very few that actually owned people but the issue of state's right was important to most.

[Orsino]

21. I'm sure that there are many who claim that...

...but none has convinced me yet.

[salguine]

28. Yeah, states' rights to own black people. The southern states never started

screaming about states' rights until free-staters in Congress started making moves to restrict the spread of slavery into new territories.

[Virginia Dare]

13. That picture gives me hope for our country actually..

for whatever generational political and social tenets this person was able to overcome, or perhaps they've just always been Democrats? It just shows you that there is no black and white in this country, it's all grey.

[hedgehog]

22. This story is supposedly from Pennsylvania, but.....

So a canvasser goes to a woman's door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she's planning to vote for. She isn't sure, has to ask her husband who she's voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some game. Canvasser hears him yell back, "We're votin' for the n***er!"

Woman turns back to canvasser, and says brightly and matter of factly: "We're voting for the n***er."

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/on-road-western-pennsylvania.html

[ShortnFiery]

23. Holy Shit! This is just plain creepy.

:scared:

[Leopolds Ghost]

29. I guess they think of it like a college football pick or something.

"I wouldn't want to live next door to those people, but they SURE CAN RUN AND CATCH!"

[aikoaiko]

25. Someday DU will realize that people display this flag for lots of reasons

:shrug: someday....

[Leopolds Ghost]

30. This is like those black Confederate regiments recruited by Lee for cognitive dissonance n/t

[librechik]

31. WT...!!!????

:spray:


I missed the cross on the wall


:spray:


They have the patron saint of all freepers, the Straw Man.


:grr:


...well...at least those lunatics are voting for Obama.

If they can find their way to a voting booth.