Confederate Battle Flag:Hate or History

[fishermccann]

Reparations - what do you think the welfare system is - generations have been living off the public - food stamps, housing, medical care, education, cash - you name it -

That is a racist statement, no whites on welfare? Okay no money how about giving them a fair chance at jobs? You always bring up the second amendment, well how about "All men are created equal ".

[flowerjohn]

I toured colonial America this past spring to get some focus on a book I'm working on and I heard rush limbaugh offer the same opinion. I'm not saying right or wrong it's not really my business but it certainly is a prevailing attitude

[yellow dog]

Why would you "strongly disagree" with it simply because it is a white person's point of view. Is the only authentic point of view from a black person from the southern united states? These are all authentic points of views from authentic people. I will add joepa that perhaps we should not fly the candadian flag for the treatment of indigenous peoples in canada. Perhaps no flags should be flown because through their longevity there will be some regret. We are canadians commenting on a culture that is not ours but it is a culture with a rich history and like all cultures it bears some regret. I dont think that it precludes flying a flag. Dont blame the flag that is too simplistic. Instead look at the people for what they are. Romans burned christians as human torches a few thousand years ago. So dont visit rome. And on and on. All points are valid sir. Cheers and happy canada day and independence day to all. Its our history.

In order to have perspective one person on a forum speaking on behalf of the U.S doesn't qualify as authentic. It may however give a look into his or her social group and beliefs bad or good. My thoughts being a white Canadian male having been raised in an environment of mixed family relations , marriages and acceptance of all see from a different point of view. A black American from the south on this forum would have an opinion based on family history and experiences(fact). Unfortunately we do not have a forum member from the south so we it would be speculation knowing his or hers mind. I cannot imagine seeing that flag being flown and being a black American living in the south and the history that goes with it .

[flowerjohn]

In order to have perspective one person on a forum speaking on behalf of the U.S doesn't qualify as authentic. It may however give a look into his or her social group and beliefs bad or good. My thoughts being a white Canadian male having been raised in an environment of mixed family relations , marriages and acceptance of all see from a different point of view. A black American from the south on this forum would have an opinion based on family history and experiences(fact). Unfortunately we do not have a forum member from the south so we it would be speculation knowing his or hers mind. I cannot imagine seeing that flag being flown and being a black American living in the south and the history that goes with it .

Good point. Yes I was simply stating that his and each of our opinions are our own no matter what that opinion is.

[Snowwalker]

Many forget that many southern blacks fought and died under that flag. There was one or two states that years ago had a vote to remove or keep the battle flag as part of their state flag. They voted YES keep it. I was at one time dating a black woman from Georgia, my great great grandfather had a black wife ( second wife ). The Sons of Confederate Veterans have a lot of members that are black.

Trouble with race relations is that must times the only people that the majority of people hear or see, are the idiots from both sides. A group of black and white kids hanging out drinking an RC Cola and eating moon pies don't make the news.

[JoePa]

The trouble with reparations is that the people paying had nothing to do with the injustice and the people receiving had nothing to do with the injustice - the people that were in the game are long gone -

Fishermc' - I don't have a racist bone in my body - but tell me - am I a racist if I quote some statistics concerning the high crime rate among young black men or the extreme high rate of births to single mothers - to your way of thinking probably yes - how are you ever going to solve problems if you can't even mention something that is true - people need to be open and discuss issues so that all parties know what others think and why -

[fishermccann]

When you say welfare are-is reparation you are implying that all blacks are on welfare and ignoring the fact that many white people are also on welfare for generations. To paint an intire group of people with the same brush because of their color or origin is racist.

[yellow dog]

The trouble with reparations is that the people paying had nothing to do with the injustice and the people receiving had nothing to do with the injustice - the people that were in the game are long gone -

Fishermc' - I don't have a racist bone in my body - but tell me - am I a racist if I quote some statistics concerning the high crime rate among young black men or the extreme high rate of births to single mothers - to your way of thinking probably yes - how are you ever going to solve problems if you can't even mention something that is true - people need to be open and discuss issues so that all parties know what others think and why -

Why do you think the crime rate is so high among young black men and extreme high rate of births to single mothers? Since you mentioned it ? I wouldn't know because i do not live within that community of people.

[flowerjohn]

Why do you think the crime rate is so high among young black men and extreme high rate of births to single mothers? Since you mentioned it ? I wouldn't know because i do not live within that community of people.

Thats a pretty big sociological question that if someone could put a valid reason to it would be very helpful in this american cultural debate and i totally see why you or really any of us , while we may have our thoughts on the matter dont feel really qualified to share it on a forum.

To spread the discussion a bit wider than the flag debate as we sit here on july 5 2015 there is a bust in front of the state senate building in tennessee of nathan bedford forrest. He was a confederate general AND the head of the ku klux klan. Does that not seem a bit strange?

[JoePa]

Fishermc' - when you give someone money or something of value for doing nothing you can call it reparations or welfare or whatever you want to - the result is the same - if you call it reparations instead of welfare it means there are some people (whites) who are getting it but don't deserve it -

I strongly believe everyone should be treated equal and given the same opportunity to have a happy life - that said - I also believe that each individual is responsible for his own life - if you work hard and follow the rules you will likely be successful - if you sit on your butt and break the rules in all likelihood you won't - the climate today is such that if a black man and a white man had the same qualifications and applied for a job in all likelihood the black man would get the job - affirmative action was in place for years and gave black people an advantage when applying for jobs and admittance to universities - many white students with higher grades were turned down while black with lower scores were admitted - look at the advertisements of TV - blacks make up around 13% of the population yet I say half maybe more of the advertisements include a black person - so I don't think that in this day and age minorities are being stomped on - if anything I think the white male is being cut down by the media and other liberal outlets -

Yes there are people who do not like people of other races or cultures - some very much and others just a little - you will always have that no matter what you do because people have different experiences with other races and this forms their opinion - and that can be say both ways - there are whites who don't like blacks and there are blacks who don't like whites - so it goes