While wandering around Gatlinburg some weeks ago, I noticed several “Dixie-sympathetic” shirts. Confederate flags, Confederate war heroes — the works.
A few of the shirts I saw:
- I don’t wear this shirt to piss you off, but if it does, that makes my day.
(Why would that make your day? Are you just trying to be provocative? If so, to what end?) - It’s a Southern thang. Yanks’ll never understand.
(What is the “it”? The Confederate flag? Racial pride? Pride in one’s heritage? A drawl?) - It’s not a Redneck thang, it’s the RIGHT thang.
(Does that mean that slavery was the right thing “RIGHT thang”?) - Heritage, not hate.
(Yes, but that heritage included a war for the right to keep people enslaved.) - Dixie defenders (with a portrait of Lee)
(I just picture Dixie cups on this one…)
My personal favorite:
I only saw it in shop windows, never on someone. Which is a shame, because I would have loved to walk up to someone wearing it and request the history lesson.
I’ve often heard the “Civil” War or War Between the States as being a war over slavery. That slavery was a contributing factor is unmistakable. However, I seem to have read that it was really about States Rights verses Federal Rights. Although I personally perfer the Federal Rights over States Rights I sometimes wonder if what I read was not written by a southern “scholar.” Odd though, I’ve not seen any exibition of loyalty like the above to the US flag!!
I’ve always understood that the Civil War was fought to keep the southern states from forming their own country.
The view I learned in elementary school is particularly naive: the north fought only to free the slaves. It makes it sound more noble. However, I doubt there were many in the Union army who were hard-core abolitionists, willing to give their lives to free people they’d never met. Many of them were just as racist as the Confederate soldiers they were fighting. Likewise, many of the Confederate soldiers had no stake in slavery and were only fighting for what they saw as their independence. That being said, the truth of the matter — the History the shirt refers to — necessarily includes slavery.
Your last comment — “Odd though, I’ve not seen any exhibition of loyalty like the above to the US flag!!” — is odd. I see shirts like that quite frequently. For example,
and this
More are here, here, and here.
hey i have this shirt and i agree the flag stood for the south not slavery
heritage not hate!
The South was built on slavery; the South tried to remove itself from the United States over the “right” to have slaves; the South was willing to go to war to protect the “right” to have slaves. These are some of the reasons many people associate the Confederate Flag with racism.
If you have the “history lesson” shirt, though, I’m ready and waiting.
Thanks for your comment.
The civil war was about states rights and that’s final. The whole argument was they didn’t want to be apart of a union because that meant one big centralized government controlling the aspects of every state. They feared that someone hundreds of miles away would be dictating their lives from behind a desk not knowing what the state needs for itself.
The whole slave issue didn’t come into play until president Lincoln threw it in there, that upon winning the war (the union), the slaves must be set free.
What a few people do not realize, is that the north owned more slaves than the south. The south did have slaves, and it was built on slavery, but the south was too poor to have slaves like the north.
Just a short history lesson for you yank.
I’m from the south, but thanks for the lesson in assumptive argument, though.
The civil war was about the states rights slaves where only one little thing about the war in fact many slaves fought in the war for the south and don’t think for a secant they where made to fight.
gls you could not be more rong i think every thing on your commit is a wast of time and efart
you r a sad excuse of a human you yanky
Thanks for visiting and taking the time to leave such enlightening comments.
You are welcome.
hey lads how you all doin, im an aussie guy liveing in the southern state of nsw , i live in the south a place called cronulla beach, im into the sport of rowing surfboats and we compete against a heap of north side crews, the north side officals do not like us southerners comeing over there and wipping their butts so they tend to do ther best in beating us through the rule book,, but yea anyways i have now put the confederate flag on all our boats now lol looks great and gives us that lil bit of southern pride and they hate it,,
cheers cashy
i have all the shirts i believe it stnads for south not hate if u got prob wit ur a yankee or a [redacted] both pieces of shit hertige not hate fly it
You good ole southern boys are really making a strong impression.
i was actually looking for a good picture of dixie cups and I came across this.
those shirts are rather ridiculous, and ignorant.
slavery wasn’t a core reason for the civil war really, I mean it WAS a factor but not the whole reason.
still, I understand that they feel like it’s a part of their history.
I suppose we just have to forgive them of their ignorance at how that flag affects others. Im as white as bloody wonderbread, half irish half scottish. (though my mother claims that on my father’s side back in the day we had a ethnic jew and a gypsy.) and it offends me…so i can only imagine how it makes people descended from slaves feel.
you know, Ron paul wants to return more power to the states, which would include education….but judging on the grammar and sentence structure demonstrated by our southern friends, I dare say they need as much help that the federal government can send.
If you like american history at all, I would suggest reading “america’s women” by Gail Collins. She is an amazing author and the book is rather readable, like a novel, rather than a historical text.
have a good day =)
You know this country was built on free speech and freedom of expresion but now days you cant say anything without offending someone come on think about it people are so sensitive now days. this flag means alot of things to diffrent people some good some bad for me it is a sense of pride I have been looked at as a rebel all my life and I’m proud of that and always will be.if people are offended by this flag dont look at it and if you realy look at this country today the people who are decendents of those who made this country great are getting the short end of the stick its ok for a aferican american to call a white guy a cracker but the second the white guy retaleates he is a racest same with all other races it is truly sad that they cant see what this flag means to most of us that fly it proudly without thinking it means somthing to us other than raceisam I hope this helps everyone understand that its not all about bad there is alot of good behind it.
TY
rebel
Pride not Prejudice, Yanks Dont get it
But pride in what? A past that includes the brutal subjugation of a whole race? Of a willingness to throw the country into a war in order to keep the right to deprive others of every single right they have?
I’m a southerner, but you’re right — I don’t get it.
This flag is not about racism! The south was was about more than slavery you close minded fool. the south was an agriculture based economy. this is the number one reason so many country people support it. Its heritage, so get over yourself and this stupid slavery thing and read an F-in history book. And rebel did make a good point. and thats what i believe in too.
Hey GLS!Im not from the south, yeah thats right im from the north and i support this flag just as much as the next southern guy beside me. Maybe if you’d open your eyes then maybe youll see theres more racism on our flag then on good ol dixie. My suggestion is that you take another tact and find someone else to argue with.
I appreciate the erudite comments.
I notice gls you didnt respond to my comment and now I have more to add what about the hispanic sportin brown pride or the aferican americans who sport malcom x or aferican pride or all black colleges but when those of us who want to sport this flag its all about hate. well I for 1 aint about hate and I shure aint about slavery but I do love where and who I come from I have friends of all diffrent races and colors and they know how I feel and they accept me for who I am and what I belive. and another thing you see now days the left can say and do just about anything they want to do including trying to take away our freedom of expression but the second someone shows a little nerve he gets put down for it or worse. like I said before its not about prejudice its about who we are and where we come from.
once again TY
REBEL
How about a history lesson?
The war between the states was not about slavery! The war was over a debate of how the United States of America should govern themselves. The south believed that the centrlal government was taking to much power. Slavery was not an issue in the civil war until the emancipation proclamation (which Lincoln wrote) and that was read after the Battle of Gettysburg which stated that all slaves in CONFEDERATE occupied territories be freed. The power of this highly controversial document was nothing. Lincoln freed no one. The document did not free slaves in the north or slave in Northern occupied Tennessee or Virginia.
Or how about another?
The “confederate flag was a battle flag that was not even the most widely known of the time. The reason it is known as a racist symbol is because some idiot KKK leader thought it would be a good banner to fly for their cause as they marched through the streets. Want anymore just ask i can keep going.
Are you happy GLS?
I am a 17-year-old who just showed you up on how much you think you know about southern heritage and the meaning behind the confederate flag!
For Tabasco
Considering I have a noteboook full of notes on the civil war, since it was a class it took in a “federal government” run public school, I can quite literally “school” you on this subject.
Cody and Rebel, hope this knowledge helps you all out. Southern heritage, they all want it, we are lucky enough to have it.
You should read up on your history GLS.
The KKK, who used the confederate flag as a racist symbol, which it is not, were not just in the south as most people think. One of the largest uprisings was in the northern state of Indiana. THey even had a KKK political party ballot for President.
Also, The Dred Scot v. Sanford Supreme Court Case which declared all blacks, free or slave, could never be citizens. Isn’t that racism according to you? That’s the U.S. Constitution interpretted by the U.S. Supreme Court saying that blacks are property not people.
Facts, all facts.
Some say that the confederate flag is a synbol of slavery but they have not studied the history of the flag they declare “perfect” a symbol of liberty. You aren’t on htis site to hear a preaching and I’m not here to give one just express my opinion which is my right as an American. I love our country i believe in our flag and our people but when ignorance trys to attack my heritage and disregard their own, I fight back. I will not stand aside and watch ingnorance and idiocracy degrade the name of a symbol of a lifestyle, of a heritage, and of a large group of American people. So when you have your history lesson read come talk to me and we can have a conversation of views without the ignorant bad mouthing you have resorted to.
Why did the southern states feel that the Federal government was taking upon itself too much power? They wanted states to decide for themselves whether slavery would be legal; the Federal government didn’t want to grant that much power. So you’re right — it was about states’ rights versus Federal rights, but it was slavery that was the catalyst.
Another cause was the difference was economic. The plantation system, with its rich crops of products, needed cheap labor. Enter: slavery.
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued 22 Sept 1962; the Battle of Gettysburg was 1-3 July 1863; the Gettysburg Address was 19 Nov. 1863. Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg made indirect reference, but it was known and enacted months before that.
Re: Dred Scot — one can be racist and still be against slavery. One can say, “I think black folk are inferior to whites but still human, and still deserving of some basic rights.” Is that morally inferior to what the Civil Rights Movement was after? Of course it is. Is it morally superior to the views of plantation owners who felt their slaves weren’t even human? Of course it is. Moral progress rarely moves quickly.
I think you’re all missing the point, though, gentlemen. One has the right to wear those shirts; one has the right to think the Civil War had little to nothing to do with slavery; one has the right to be racist if one wants (and no, I’m not suggesting that you are — I’m speaking generally, hence “one”); one has the right to comment on it on one’s blog; one has the right to say “You’re wrong on your blog”; one has the right to feel pride in whatever one wishes, Rebel. All I did was comment that it’s a misplaced pride.
Here’s an good article about the Confederate flag and all it represents.
Lastly, please explain my “ignorant bad mouthing” — how am I bad mouthing anyone? Reread the post — I insulted no one. But it does seem to have struck a nerve in you.
I apologize for the rude comments,and i was referring to the mocking of other blogs.
However, it does strike a nerve in me. Maybe it’s because of were I’m from but people around here are very split and use the same argument again and again and it makes absolutely no sense. This topic, as I’ve demonstrated, gets me a little fired up, but tell me this, how is it misplaced pride? Are you saying that we should not have pride in our ancestory? In our beloved homeland? Also, Dred Scot was by the Constitution declared to stay a slave. However, the word slavery is never mentioned in the Constitution, and there is little hinting as to the fact that it ever existes. Doesn’t this mean that the north was just as for slavery as the south?
The reason, the catalyst, for the south was that the relied upon an agricultural system and the federal government had set sn overly large tarriff on all exported goods thus decreasing profits and hurting all agricultural workers.
Also the majority of slaves were owned by a minority that is 20 percent of the southern population of whites own all the slaves.
lol this whole thing is rather silly
and i wasn’t ragging on public school
I have gone to public school my whole life, i was just pointing out the grammatical difference between posts.
i apologize if I offended you.
It’s understandable that “attacks” on the confederate flag offends quite a few southern people.
I get rather offended when people say they are going to have a “real irish meal” on St. patty’s…which to them is some potatoes, corned beef and cabbage.
i see that as people being culturally ignorant, champ and soda bread is some real irish food.
so i understand when you get your knickers in a bunch over people talking bad about the flag.
still though think about it a bit.
Yeah to you it’s pride and to you it’s a symbol of your culture and to you, there is nothing wrong with it at all.
however, there are a lot of people that are offended by it. Perhaps the solution is for people to just let things go, but, blatant and rather grotesque displays of the confederate flag is still rather insensitive.
mostly, I need to get over being so damn irish and scottish. You need to get over being so bloody southern.
and everybody needs to get over letting things get to them.
Im sure though that if the confederate flag wasn’t offensive, nobody would even wear it anymore. if it didn’t have an emotional charge attached, nobody would wear it. Nobody would carry cute little flasks with it on there. My boyfriend got one is South Carolina because he thought it was funny. sigh.
I feel sorry for all of these people who don’t understand the true cause of the Civil war. I guess I could understand being an illiterate Yankee. The cause was not Slavery that was a small fraction. First off it was over state rights not slavery. The north oppresed the south forcing it into a war. Their was no other option. The U.S. government put such expensive taxes on anything imported from Europe, the south had to trade with the north. The north charged expensive prices for everything, forcing the south into a depression. So next time you want to start fussing about the south get your facts right.
it was mainly a selfish move of the north cause we grew there precious cotton and other agricultural products. All they did was use us, and if our plan to cut off cotton from europeans and blame it on the north woulda worked we prolly woulda won but they turned to egyptian and Indian cotton, slavery was a small issue and its not like the north treated them a lot better anyways.
The South Will Rise Again!!
look at the border states they were union but they still had slaves so think about it next time u see a rebel flag were we really so different after all?
The South Will Rise Again!!
I think this has gone on long enough. I appreciate the comments. Let’s agree to disagree.
south will rise again
If you’re so sure and obviously proud about it, I find it odd that you post anonymously.
yup ya all the south will rise again yeee haaaa
Hope you read the post and comment thread carefully.