Should displaying Confederate symbols be illegal in the United States?

[Green Gaia]

Folks who claim to have such strong feelings against these sorts of things need to just take a look at the products they purchase and find out about the products used in this country and others on the slavery of other sorts that made those products, children men and women making in one week what we could not live on in half a day...if slavery offends you watch what you buy or you yourself are supporting slavery in just as bad a form as those of the old south.

That why UUs have formed the Unitarian Universalist Against Slavery organization, to help with this very cause.

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[Green Gaia]

Well, despite all the rhetoric in this thread, it seems, (by the majority of RF members anyway), that the answer to the question, "Should displaying Confederate symbols be illegal in the United States?", is a resounding NO.

No, it shouldn't be illegal, we do have the right to free speech, even if it offends and is offensive to most other people. But you won't find those types of symbols in my house. I choose respect and compassion.

 

[Natas]

No, it shouldn't be illegal, we do have the right to free speech, even if it offends and is offensive to most other people.

When you say, "most other people", your generalization is in error.
If you ask the people of Mississipi, or other Southern states if they find it offensive, you might not get the answer that you would hope to.

But you won't find those types of symbols in my house. I choose respect and compassion.

That's your right, and you are politically correct in saying that, but don't short change those who also see respect and compassion as something inherent to the Confederate flag and the Southern way of life.

 

[Green Gaia]

When you say, "most other people", your generalization is in error. If you ask the people of Mississipi, or other Southern states if they find it offensive, you might not get the answer that you would hope to.

Maybe if you only ask the white folks, that'd be true.

That's your right, and you are politically correct in saying that, but don't short change those who also see respect and compassion as something inherent to the Confederate flag and the Southern way of life.

I'm not trying to be PC, I'm telling you what's in my heart. I cannot in good conscience use or have association with those symbols. And if the Southern way of life you exalt includes slavery, then I want no part of it. But I grew up in the south too, and I can take the good and leave behind the symbols of the bad. It's not an all or nothing situation.

 

[Natas]

Maybe if you only ask the white folks, that'd be true.

I think you are generalizing again. While many blacks may be offended by the Confederate flag, I'm sure many aren't.

I'm not trying to be PC, I'm telling you what's in my heart. I cannot in good conscience use or have association with those symbols.

And as I stated, that's your right. But please respect the rights of others to feel as they do.

And if the Southern way of life you exalt includes slavery, then I want no part of it. But I grew up in the south too, and I can take the good and leave behind the symbols of the bad. It's not an all or nothing situation.

I would have thought at this point, that it's obvious, and explicit, that support or advocacy for slavery is not championed by anyone in this thread. I didn't grow up in the South, but I did live there for a few years. However; that has no bearing on what I think is right or wrong.

 

[DreamQuickBook]

No, it shouldn't be illegal, we do have the right to free speech, even if it offends and is offensive to most other people. But you won't find those types of symbols in my house. I choose respect and compassion.

I wonder if you can understand how presumptuous and bigoted you sound when you assume that people who choose to honor the confederate flag have no respect or compassion. Hopefully you are not so blind as to think that anyone who loves the South and culture of the South in the days of the confederacy, excepting slavery, is without respect or compassion. If your hatred of slavery has somehow blinded you to the beauties of southern culture, that is a real shame.

 

[Green Gaia]

And as I stated, that's your right. But please respect the rights of others to feel as they do.

Yes they have that right to feel, believe, offend.... I think we've been over this....

I wonder if you can understand how presumptuous and bigoted you sound when you assume that people who choose to honor the confederate flag have no respect or compassion. Hopefully you are not so blind as to think that anyone who loves the South and culture of the South in the days of the confederacy, excepting slavery, is without respect or compassion. If your hatred of slavery has somehow blinded you to the beauties of southern culture, that is a real shame.

Do I think those that turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the hurt and anguish they cause when they use these symbols have any respect or compassion for the people they're hurting? No, I don't. They call them cry-babies and tell them to get over it. Where is the respect and compassion there?

My "hatred of slavery" you say. Is there any other way to feel about slavery? Yes I hate slavery, I think it is evil and those who support it are very wrong. But no, it has not blinded me to the beautiful southern culture that existed once the evil of slavery was eradicated from it. But neither have those beauties blinded me to the evils of slavery.

If I am a bigot for speaking out against what I believe is wrong, then so be it. I don't care what you think, you've said of yourself that you're "not the most sympathetic cat in town" and that you don't care if you offend someone by displaying those symbols in public. So do you really think that someone who has so little sympathy for others calling me names is going to bother me? What else would I expect from a person like that.

 

[DreamQuickBook]

It is hard to have sympathy for people who are so sensitive. It is hard to have sympathy for people so prone to being outraged and offended. If people lack the maturity and thick skin necessary to get along with people of differing opinions, differing flags, differing interpretations of meaning, then how can I sympathize? If you can't handle the site of a flag or a picture, what does that say about the strength of your constitution? (not yours in particular, but in general).

 

[Green Gaia]

It is hard to have sympathy for people who are so sensitive.

That's so very compassionate of you. :sarcastic I guess it's too much to ask you to look at it from their perspective and viewpoint.

 

[DreamQuickBook]

That's so very compassionate of you. :sarcastic I guess it's too much to ask you to look at it from their perspective and viewpoint.

It isn't a matter of looking at it from another persons perspective. It is a matter of being reasonable. You cannot allow words, symbols and flags outrage you. Be offended, but don't be outraged. Disapprove, but don't try to force others to share your sympathies. Seriously, do you think this is a matter of any real importance? The sensitivities of others? Thick-Skin.

 

[Green Gaia]

Seriously, do you think this is a matter of any real importance? The sensitivities of others?

Yes, I do.

 

[Fluffy]

Seriously, do you think this is a matter of any real importance? The sensitivities of others? Thick-Skin.

Yes it is a very important matter.

 

[DreamQuickBook]

I'll never understand that.

 

[Green Gaia]

I'll never understand apathy.

 

[DreamQuickBook]

I'll never understand apathy.

Only apathy toward the irrational sympathies of others; people demanding others to take account of their sensitives, is something I would never dream of doing. It is irrational and wrong, in my view.

 

[Green Gaia]

Only apathy toward the irrational sympathies of others

That's a matter of opinion, isn't it?

 

[DreamQuickBook]

That's a matter of opinion, isn't it?

Yes. It is a matter of opinion. I cannot prove the rationality or irrationality of certain insecurities and sensitivities. But I cannot understand the thought processes which would lead to a differing opinion. It just doesn't make sense to me. I tend to find that the people who indulge their sensitivities and insecurities, have a masochistic inclination to outrage and drama. They have this almost utopic idea about humanity and when men fail to live up to it, they fall apart.

 

[Natas]

You must spread some Karma around before giving it to Jocose again.

 

[jewscout]

But I cannot understand the thought processes which would lead to a differing opinion.

how can you not? did you expect everyone to have the same opinion as you? We all see things differently, some of those differences may be more extreme than others...

I tend to find that the people who indulge their sensitivities and insecurities...They have this almost utopic idea about humanity and when men fail to live up to it, they fall apart.

i do not think Maize is expecting or insisting we all start seeing kum-bie-ya and hold hands like a bunch of hippies...she is simply expressing her opinion and concerns on the subject matter, which IMPO are not without a bit of validity.

 

[huajiro]

Seriously, do you think this is a matter of any real importance? The sensitivities of others? Thick-Skin.

My whole life revolves around not affected others negatively. This is very important if we are to live together. I am on the planet also. If you don't consider how you affect me, you have a problem.