Confederate Battle Flag

[Vance2335]

So much is being made about the flag in SC. The focus has shifted away from the killer and turned into a flag. I think it is stupid for people to be talking about the flag right now, but since the media is driving discussion I guess lets discuss it.
I have heard from some that it was just used to symbolize racism (I disagree), have heard that it pays respect to those who dies in the Civil War. People have made a case that the Civil War was just about slavery, which it was not, it was not the top priority.

Thoughts?
I believe the flag is pride in the south and for the people that died during the civil war. Has the flag been corrupted by some, yes it has but those also corrupt many other things and turn them into hate. Do I care if the flag is taken down, NO. Should the flag be taken down because the the shootings, NO.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/21/politics/south-carolina-confederate-flag-debate/

[orphanedhawk]

It's just a piece of colored cloth and it is not the reason people kill other people or are racist.
However it has come to symbolize racism and white supremacy to many people.( Just as the swastika did not originally mean Nazis, that is in the past)

Should it be banned, no, should it be illegal to fly it, no, should it be flying over a government building, no.

[brice1967]

I don't know about the flag.  I've heard it said that the flag represents the original 13 colonies from which this country once began.  I've also heard that it represents the 13 states that wanted to escape pressure from the northern states and that is where the civil war came from.

I guess you can say whatever you want about the flag.  I do know that it has been adopted by some groups that represent racism and hatred.  Pretending it hasn't is a bit ignorant.  

So from there it goes from pretty innocent to pretty inflammatory.  Personally, I don't have a dog in this fight.  I see it as a piece of cloth but I can fully understand why different people see different meanings in the flag.

[Barb135]

Obviously, the Confederate flag means different things to different people and to some people, it does symbolize racism and hatred.  

"The South" isn't what it used to be, because so many people now live in the south that weren't born and raised here; I'm one of them and even though I've lived a good part of my life in the south, the Confederate flag is not a source of pride to me, you can't really use it in those terms anymore.

I don't think it should be taken down "because of the shootings", but in a sense, flying the Confederate flag is similar to flying the flag of another country.  We are the United States of America and we have just one flag, though each State is allowed to have their own flag... 5 of them have Confederate imagery incorporated into them...