Should states be allowed to fly the confederate flag on their capitols?

what's the confederate flag. Can you explain what it has to do with slavery ?

The Civil War was mostly about state's rights (although some of those rights happened to be related to slavery). I think that flag symbolizes the south's struggle for self-rule, their independent spirit. Still, there's a certain "good ole boy" association with the Confederate flag that does allude to denigration of African Americans... How about having a majority vote, if > 50% of the citizens in the state want to keep the flag flying there, then fine. ...or perhaps, a campaign to educate people about what the Confederate flag really means (try to re-package it as non-racist).

Wicky, The U.S. had a civil war in the mid 1800's. The War roughly divided the U.S. into the Union (the original government, the northern states), and the Confederates (a new government, the southern states). Before the separation the federal government was creating (or trying to create) laws that were not popular in the southern states. This alienated the southern states. Some of these laws were attempts to abolish slavery, which was much more common in the South and was in fact deeply part of the way of life there.

choosing to display a symbol that offends a subset of your population is a sign that you don't respect that subset much. all things being equal, respect is good. but flags are neither good nor bad.

bill, you should also keep in mind that much of the US civil war was a war of economics (industrialism vs agraianism) and of technology (railroads played a major part in efficient deployment of resources)

Three answers against the flag, one neutral, and one in favor. Methinks the survey is somewhat biased. A lot of people still think the war of northern aggression was wrong and I can see the flag as representative of that rather than anything about slavery.

I think a "I don't care" choice might have expedited my decision-making process.

I find the Confederate flag to be provocative. Up here, it is a racist symbol. Perhaps in the deep south it may symbolize something else, but abroad it is viewed in the same light as the swastika.

The Dukes of Hazard (early 80's TV show) had a Confederate flag on top of their cool/fast car. They weren't racists, they were nice folk.

I agreed with several of these options and thus felt that this survey should have been multiple choice.

Dab: Northern aggression? They attacked us! IIRC, when the Confederates seceded, Lincoln was going to let them go, until they started shooting.

The Confederate flag is a symbol of a failed rebellion.

I've heard more than one person from the South refer to it as the War of Northern Aggression and wanted to point out that that's how they think of it. As for the Confederates shooting first, I've never heard that the Confederates wanted to take over any territory so that doesn't make sense. Doesn't mean it's wrong, it just doesn't make sense unless perhaps as a response to assault. What's your reference for Lincoln being willing to let them go? I'd heard that keeping the Union together was his primary concern and he was willing to keep slavery to do it. Two positions rather at odds with one another.

I don't think I agree with any of these options, but you forgot the necessary "Other" option. Flags do have a meaning behind them and it should be up to the electorate to decide if they want a flag other than the U.S. flag flying on government buildings.

dab: The Confederates started the shooting war by attacking Fort Sumter when the commanding officer refused to surrender the fort with out a fight. And Lincoln didn't want to let the rebellious states go; he just felt that they had an implied Constitutional right to make that decision, and if they didn't start a fight he had no legal way to stop them.

jjg: In every history class I have taken and in every historically-based book I've read, I have been informed that Lincoln wanted to preserve the union at all costs. Do you have any refs that support your claim that Lincoln felt the South had a Constitutional right to secede?

EB: I would need to dig them up, but I think I still have the materials from my foreign policy classes. It'll just require digging in my storage room since that's where they've been for the last five years.

The confederate flag means different things to different people, I'm sure, but when I see one, it makes me feel intimidated and nervous of the people displaying it.

EB: I wasn't able to find the materials I want. I do not concede my statement. I do state that my personal library is not up to the task since nearly all of the material concerning Lincoln covers the period after 1861.

There are more important things to worry about.

I asked my local Lincoln hobbyist and he responded:

"My 'Collected Works of Lincoln' is at home right now but the second part of this argument does sound familiar. The first part of the argument [Constitutional right to secede] I am less sure about, but the issue of ownership of and seizure of Federal property (forts, guns, armories, etc.) was rather important to Lincoln as justification for use of force. The Confederates also threatened to stop the flow of shipping down the Mississippi, and did prevent supply ships from re-supplying Fort Sumter and other forts."

So there's a little more info and one general reference on the subject, if not a specific citation. I find this very interesting, since I agree that's not how it's ever been presented to me.

I agreed with two options ('discouraged' and 'protected').

I don't know...That's a good question....

fudging white-trash redneck sonsadoges...

No, because it isn't the US flag, a state flag, or any city flag. Why use a flag that isn't "official" anymore?