Recently a school in Virginia suspended more than twenty students for wearing clothing that had a Confederate flag on it. The school also banned students from having the Confederate flag on their vehicles. The reason theses students were displaying the flag that much was because a fellow classmate had passed away a week or two before. The family made t-shirts and decals in memory of their son. The design was a Confederate flag that had the date that the young man died and under the flag the shirt stated “Heritage not hate.”. A simple design caused this much trouble. The students that were suspended were called racist and prejudice. How could a shirt and decal that was made to remember a loved one be considered racist? The Confederate flag …show more content…
The definition of racism is the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to the race(Nittle). An example of racism could be discrimination, prejudice, or verbal/physical assault towards a certain ethnic group(“Racism”). The definition of discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people(“Racism”).An example of discrimination is harassing, physically abusing, or judging someone based on their looks. The Confederate flag has not physically abused anyone. The Confederate flag cannot discriminate against people because it itself cannot put people in a group and judge them. If the Confederate flag discriminates anything or anyone it would be the people who fly the Confederate flag, the people who wear the flag on their clothing, or the people who stand up for it and are all for the Confederate flag. It discriminates these people because it is putting them in a group of people that are known as southerners or some people would say racist …show more content…
Even after that talk of the flag died down until now. Recent events have been bringing the Confederate flag back up into questioning. The main event that has recently taken place is the shooting that took place at a church in South Carolina. A white man went to a “black” church, he sat down with them the whole service. he sat in the back quietly and waited until the end. After the service ended he then fired his gun. Nine people died(Eversley). The same thing happened two years ago, except it was a little worse. A black man came into a “white” church. Just like the white man, he sat down, went through the service with the people and at the end fired and killed people. In that situation only four people died. After he killed the people at the church he kidnapped his wife and then killed her(Cowbell). There is not much difference between the two scenarios. The only story that made the news was The first story. An anonymous person quoted this after one of the shootings. “The only reason someone could walk into a church and shoot people praying is out of pure hate.”(Eversley) That quote says it all. It said nothing about race or color or anything. But only the first story made the news because it was a white boy in a black church. After the story was on the news is when everyone said he did it to start a race war.
~~For many American citizens, a controversial flag such as the Confederate flag flying above a government edifice delivers a great amount of pain. Emett Burns, an African-American involved in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, spoke of his views on the Confederate flag: "It [the flag] says to me 'If I could put you in your place, I would.'" (qtd in Schaiver) The NAACP finds the flag extremely offensive and explained their outlook on it with frustration, saying, "enough is enough." (qtd in Cabell) Mims, an African-American 42 year old disabled paper worker, announced his vista upon the flag: "It is like the Germans and the Jews—they are trying to eliminate us." (qtd in Burritt) A recent legal case concerning the Confederate flag, the Plaintiff argued the fla...
Ambiguity Over the Confederate Flag by Frank X Walker tells the story of life in the South during slavery. The narrator, speaks in first person for one part of the poem, while the other half is spoken from an omniescent on-looker. Through both of these perspectives readers are given two separate accounts of what slavery was like during that time. By using the principles of New Criticism readers are able to fully understand the context of the poem. Furthermore, through this technique, readers draw conclusions in response to the text. From this analysis and through close reading it is clear that there is a major tension regarding how whites viewed slavery verses how African American’s viewed slavery.
A) Racism is any hate, through actions or thoughts, intentional or unintentional that causes harm to an individual or group of people based off of their color of skin. I believe one of the most important parts of understanding the definition of racism is knowing that even if it is unintentional, it is still racism, even if it is just a thought, it is racism. Additionally, looking at the formal definition in class, we talked about how race is perceived and backed by structural and institutional relations of domination. I think it is important to remember this simple fact as well: race is not biological. It was created by a society to give advantages to whites and disadvantages to everyone one. Finally, I think it is important to understand that
Southern Pro-Slavery Rhetoric By 1860, the slave states had approximately four million slaves making up approximately one-third of the South's population. However, opposition to slavery began as early as the 1700's by religious leaders and philosophers in North America and Europe who condemned the practice, arguing that slavery was contrary to God's teachings and violated basic human rights. During the Revolutionary War, many Americans came to feel that slavery in the United States was wrong because they believed that protection of human rights was one of the founding tenets of the United States, and slaves were not accorded rights. Slavery was likely opposed more rapidly in the North, in part because fewer people in the North owned slaves.
Confederate Racism The Confederate flag is a famous symbol of the South’s involvement in the American Civil War. The controversy surrounding this flag has received a great bit of media attention considering how deeply affected and offended some people have become. Southerners consider themselves personally affected. A majority of supporters state that banning the Confederate flag strips them of their heritage, referring to the South’s part in the American Civil War.
“The Confederate Flag: Controversy and Culture.” David Sarratt American Studies University of Virginia. Web. 22 Feb. 2014
To southern men, honor was everything. I dictated their standing in society, whether or not they could own slaves; it basically was a secret caste system. A man held in the highest honor experienced a good life from a social stance in the south. The honor system used in the south was related to the language used by southern gentlemen.# Honor and Slavery by Kenneth S. Greenburg attempts to explain the vernacular and customs used by men in the antebellum south. It would be hard for a person in today's society to understand the way honor was shown; it would have even been a challenge for men living in the Northern United States to understand at that time.# As Greenburg states, "Since the language of honor was the dominant language of the men who ruled the slave South, we will never understand masters, the nature of slavery, or the Civil war without first understanding that language."# To be a powerful man in the south, society also had to consider you to be an honorable man. Honor and power in the South were parallel to each other; a man with a high honor ranking was usually a prominent member of society.#
that a majority of the South would have to take an iron clad oath that
When looking back in history there were many wars, and with wars come citizens who are patriotic and serve during the wars. During the Civil War, people had been patriotic in many ways other than going to war. The women, who were at home taking care of the family, would send patriotic envelopes which contained letters that would raise the spirits of those fighting. Some would have flags on them and they would have slogans and mottos saying “God Bless America” or “for God and Country”(Arispe). But these envelopes weren’t just there to raise the spirits of those fighting, they were also there to help inform people of the war. A famous envelope show ‘Quaker Jane’ handing ‘Quaker Jim’ a rifle, telling him to support the war. Though they were Quakers, they had a sense of obligation to fight. Even Robert E. Lee wrote a letter to his son saying " As I am an American citizen, I take great pride in my country, her prosperity and institutions,a dn would be defended any state if her rights were invaded."(Prentice). Robert E. Lee was a general in the Confederate army and though he wasn’t on the...
The Confederate flag was used symbolically during the Civil War. To southerner’s, the flag represented a source of southern pride as well as a way of remembering the fallen Confederates. As the Civil War proceeded, the meaning of the flag began to change. Currently, the flag is being used as a symbol for racism. Due to this change in meaning, controversy over the flag has been exponentially growing. Although many would argue the original meaning behind the flag and that it is a symbol of historical culture that should not be forgotten, the flag should be banned due to its representation of racism and the seceding of the states.
Let’s start with the definition of racism. Racism refers to the belief that race is the primary determinant of human capacities, that a certain race is inherently superior or inferior to others, and/or that individuals should be treated differently based on their ascribed race.
A high school in Chattanooga, Tennessee suspended a student for wearing a jacket that depicted a Confederate flag. The school had already banded the flag prior to the student’s suspension, for fear of racial backlash. In a slim one-vote margin, the court upheld the school’s decision, solely for the possibility that racial retaliation could ensue. The student’s parents did appeal the decision, but the court deemed that this was not a violation of the student’s freedom of speech or expression.
Imagine standing in front of the defaced statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee only to hear two sides of people curse, hurt each other. This situation is too familiar for people who visit Charlottesville, VA, the formerly peaceful town. The controversy between Confederate memorials never ends. Many people argue that Confederate monuments should be taken down because they become the flashpoints of unrest and violence. As far as I am concerned, confederate memorials should remain as these memorials are the legacy of history; history is value-neutral and innocent.
Why be suppressed by a symbol deemed against African Americans when identity is purely subjective? Barkley was tired of having to constantly be reminded of a horrible time, so he took the symbol as his own and changed the meaning. He referred to the flag as representing black-power, which was the complete opposite of what society thought. This created a huge statement and made people stop and think about what an African American man was doing flaunting a confederate flag.
Racism comes in many forms ad can be expressed in many different societies in various ways. 1 The dictionary defines racism as the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. This definition of racism makes it clear that it is a perceived point of view that implies prejudice towards people or a person based solely on their race. Racism has been an issue in many societies for many years and still is an issue in modern society. 2 Recently in the U.S. many cases of racism towards African Americans have been shown in the media. However racism is not just a U.S. culture based issue but also a cross-cultural issue