sweet7

Yeah the South is interesting. Thre is undoubtly more racial tension. I'm from Denver area and there arent that many black people, and more often that not the few in Denver are definately not lower class family....unlike the South.



IMO the rebel flag is a sign of heritage, i dont necessarily think by flying it you are being a racist. On the other hand, I sure as hell wouldnt fly it outside my house. Its a touchy subject I suppose, but my HS in the middle of a cornfield in CO, mascot was the "Rebels" and we flew a Rebel flag at games. No one seemed to care. I think for many white people its simply a flag that states they are southern, which I've learned is more than just where you are from. I discussed this with a black kid, and he said for the most part, black people dont really whine. The only ones that do are the ones that pull the race card on their kids principal cause he got an "F" in Math class.

1988RedT2

The Confederate flag is no more a "celebration" of the Civil War than is the US flag, which also flew during that war. It is simply the banner that represented the side that was defeated. To many Southerners, it is a symbol of a bygone era of prosperity, grace, & charm, when men were gentlemen, and ladies wore frilly things and carried a parasol. As a Jersey boy in the South, I do not choose to fly the Confederate Flag, but I also will not disparage those who choose to do so.



I would say that the indigenous peoples of the South have endured the "occupation" in fairly good humor. As is the case with all oppressed nations, they look back and see the past in a romanticized light. To many of these people, the war is not over. Let us not forget the words of the great philosopher Charlie Daniels, who, along with his Band, said: "Be proud you're a rebel, 'cause the South's gonna do it again."



Too many of you cocky northerners (southerners use the term "Yankees") think the south is full of hicks. Sure, we've got our share, but I've lived in Jersey too, and they've got plenty of 'em. Pennsylvania? Loaded with hicks. Ohio? Oh, please! The South is full of expensive homes and good schools and most of the people are pretty decent. Don't mistake a slightly less intense lifestyle for stupidity.

phinsup

Minus that fact that "old glory" symblized freedom for the slaves and the confederate flag symbolized continued slavery. Or are you just denying the fact that the south didnt want to give up their slaves? No matter wut you say one of the driving forces behind the civil war was that the south wanted to be admitted into the union as "slavery states".



Sidewinder can wave his banner and call me stupid all he wants, the fact remains, that the southern states succeeded from the union because lincoln would not admit them as "slavery" states, were there other factors? Certainly, but i highly doubt we would have any war if the south was admitted to the union and allowed to keep slaves.



Why dont you give us a history lesson if you are so intellctually superior? Tell us about the economics of the war, which of course were again tied to slavery, losing the slaves hurt the south economically and they knew it would.



1988redt2, i never said southerners were stupid, nor did I say it's a terrible place to live, you haven't lived in or spent a lot of time in the west or you would have to honestly admit there is a lot more racial tension here in the south. I've lived here less then two years and I have seen more "racially slanted" views then I heard in my entire 27 years in washington state.

phinsup

Here's a decent link for all those that want to bone up



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civi..._of_the_country

phinsup

I guess i am ignorant, like sidewinder said. The question i ask myself is.... by your logic then i guess hitler wasn't a bastard as he stood for so much more then eliminating the jews? He wanted to increase his economy by taking over territories, he used slave labor to further the war machine, BUT he wanted to make his country prosperous and he wanted to bring the poor better times.



Like i said before, i would be offended by a swastica as that is wut the ***** wore, even though the **** party symbolized many other things, I can't jump on that bandwagon.



On a side note i don't really appreciate being called an idiot, I made this topic to pose the question at hand, by all means share your views, but there is no need to call someone an idiot because their opinion, cultur or view on the matter differs

phinsup

ok so i had a few mins to think on this and don't think i am patronizing you at all when I ask this.



Since I am thinking of this on more or less a cultural level, let's say for arguments sake (and let's not argue this point) that the souths culture differs from the norths. That said, if you are a southerner wut does the confederate flag mean to you? Wut was the significance of the civil war to you?

JimmyJimboJet

IIRC, the swastika is/was actually a relgious symbol, or icon if you will. except that the religious symbol was opposite, or reversed from the swastika

1988RedT2

Well, that part of my post was more in response to sidewinder's comments, which tend to be a bit on the incendiary side. I would like to see some stats on SAT or other test scores by region. I really don't think the inner-city schools in the northeast are going to stack up all that much better than hick schools in the Southern backwoods. And I'll put Virginia's affluent suburbs up against any in the country as far as quality of education goes.



Here in Richmond, I don't really notice any racial tension, but maybe I'm just not sensitive to it.

phinsup

agreed, but then most of his post was inflamatory and didn't really contain a lot of fact, so I wouldn't let it bother you too much.

phinsup

here is some school ratings, i dunno how well the formula holds up, but i think u will find it an interesting read.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8759025/site/newsweek/