Last edited Wed Jul 1, 2015, 02:51 PM - Edit history (2)
http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/24/us/confederate-flag-myths-facts/
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While it wasn't the Confederate states' official flag, the battle flag was flown by several Confederate Army units. The most notable among them was Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
And even Lee distanced himself from divisive symbols of a Civil War that his side lost.
"I think it wiser moreover not to keep open the sores of war," he wrote in a letter, declining an invitation by the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association.
There were no flags flown at his funeral, Confederate or otherwise.
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The rebel flag's resurgence came long after the Civil War
After the Civil War ended, the battle flag turned up here and there only occasionally -- at events to commemorate fallen soldiers.
So, when did the flag explode into prominence? It was during the struggle for civil rights for black Americans, in the middle of the 20th century.
The first burst may have been in 1948. South Carolina politician Strom Thurmond ran for president under the newly founded States Rights Democratic Party, also known as the Dixiecrats. The party's purpose was clear: "We stand for the segregation of the races," said Article 4 of its platform.
Why the Confederate flag still flies
At campaign stops, fans greeted Thurmond with American flags, state flags -- and Confederate battle flags.
But desegregation progressed.
As it passed milestones like the Supreme Court ruling on Brown vs. Board of Education, which gave black American children access to all schools, the Confederate battle flag popped up more and more.
It is not southern heritage being commemorated with flying this flag, it is RACIST heritage. Educate yourself ff2 because on DU we are ALL frankly fed up with those who would apologize/defend such symbols.
That said, I absolutely believe that museums, cycloramas, battlefield parks and other areas with historical and educational purpose should remain-- unquestionably. Even Atlanta's carving of Davis, Lee and Jackson on Stone Mountain Park (now privately owned) has some sense of educational purpose--though I'd surely not mind if they "toned down" just a bit. It is first and foremost a recreational area and a scenic park and that should certainly be celebrated, even while they should note the troubled history of its existence as well, including its ugly past as a KKK destination site.
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