The Confederate Flag

Since the days of the Civil War, there has been controversy surrounded by the confederate flag. To some it stands for their country and honor; however to many more the flag is a representation of an atrocious past. The confederate flag is not an excellent depiction of honor, it symbolizes the time in which the country was at its worst, slavery, and that it also is an example of treason to some.

During the Civil War, many Americans died fighting for what they believed in, from both the North and the South. The two beliefs were different but they stood up for them. The country was divided and people were taking sides. They formed the Confederacy, which was a band of states that fought against the rest of the country. They decided that because they did not want to associate themselves with America, that they would make their own flag. As a result of this separation, the country seemed to fighting a losing battle, against itself. The Civil War was the deadliest war for America, killing more men than any other war ever had.

The fact that the war was based mainly on the South's unwillingness to give up slavery adds more hate to the Confederate flag. Slavery was becoming abolished in the North and President Lincoln wanted to spread his philosophy to the South. Unfortunately they were not ready for it. They revolted against Lincoln and wanted to fight to keep slavery alive in the South. To many African-Americans this flag signifies the horrible past that they have lived. They wore bought and sold like live cattle. They were beaten and killed maliciously with little or no punishment. Slavery is not something to be proud of and the Confederate flag is just and everlasting emblem of this atrocity.

Recently a congressman has introduced a new bill to remove the Confederate flag. He believes that this flag is not just a demonstration of slaver but also of treason. This people went against America. He portrays the Confederate flag as not just "anti-Black, but also as anti-American" (Muhammad).

The biggest argument that the South uses is that it doesn't represent slavery but their honorable past in the Civil War. Ellen Reiss, the Class Chairman of Aesthetic Realism, has a different take on this stating:

If there had not been the desire to maintain slavery, there would have been no Confederacy and no Confederate flag at all. The Confederacy arose