The nation, for a while, was embodied in the great debate over what is called the Confederate flag. Many people have misconceptions on both sides as to what the flag stands for, as well as which flag is the actual flag of the CSA. Whether it be about racism, heritage, or hate, here's an in-depth look at both sides.
The Actual Confederate Flag
The Battle Flag of the Army of Tennessee is what most people know the Confederate flag to be. The popular design first found use under General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, as a perfectly square design. The reasoning? Because the Confederate flag looked incredibly similar to the flag of the United States, creating confusion at the first battles of the war (1st Bull Run has many documents on it). Lee commissioned the design and stuck to it, and so did the Confederacy, so much so that the later designs of the National Confederate flag incorporated the square battle flag in the upper left corner.
In actuality, the flag that people associate with the Confederacy was nothing more than an army banner to guide troops. The flag that should be flown is the Stained Banner of 1865. Though, that's not what the KKK did.
The Klan used the flag!?
Ironically enough, yes. They used it in tandem with the U.S. Flag most of the time. The Confederate flag usage could be traced back to Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest of Tennessee. He served as the first Grand Wizard of the Klan, and the heritage of hate moved onward.
Actual Heritage
Many people assume the following when reading about the South.
There are white slave owners and black slaves only.
That's incorrect, in a major way. Firstly, Cherokee natives fought as the "Cherokee Lincoln Killers" and proved to be one of the better mounted forces the Confederacy fielded thorough the war. Not only that, but less than one percent of the Confederate forces actually owned slaves, or even cared. Many were conscripted to fight for their new nation's freedom from what they saw as the oppressive federal government.
The descendants of these soldiers still have something to be proud of, as do any soldier of any conflict. War is a terrible place to be, and to survive means that honor should come forth to you. That's why there are several monuments to soldiers around. As long as the flag isn't hoisted on state property, I would be inclined to say that's all right to do.
Actual Hate
The hate that befits this piece of cloth is staggering. As a symbol, a St. Andrews Cross, it has the power to invoke racial hatred as a feeling, as well as spark controversy without even a word's notice. Some people who have held this flag dear have lynched people, advocated for the reconstitution of slavery, attempted to oppose polling, attempted to end desegregation, and continue that dark side of the heritage, which is the animosity of defeat and the guerrilla campaign that hijacked a once-honorable symbol.
The hate spreads as far as the heritage, and that's where the issues lie. If everyone is flying this flag, and it's meanings are different, what is the solution?
The Solution is Simple
Education. Nothing is better than teaching the people the facts, and why this flag exists. It's not a bad thing to tell people that a vast majority of Southern soldiers didn't have a slave to their name. In fact, they were nearly slaves themselves to the large plantation owners of the east. When it all comes down to it, that flag is an arrangement of fibers that we give meaning. If people want to change that in the eyes of the populace, it will take some time.
The other solution, with education in tandem, is to let the flag fly on private grounds. Every American citizen has the right to fly whatever symbol they want in their yard. Whether it be Confederate, Nazi, Pan-African Nationalist, or Maoist, it can be flown legally. People will look at you with sickened disdain, but it is a guaranteed right of expression. Those who shout for the removal of the flag from public viewing must, likewise, remove any flags that mean anything, as in equality's eyes, those flags can be twisted and offend as well.
Some would say that's a slippery slope argument. Me? I would say that's a logical, but unnecessary progression.
