x-sender: governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com x-receiver: governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com Received: from mail pickup service by sc.lmhostediq.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Wed, 2 Dec 2015 01:30:23 -0500 thread-index: AdEsyuyLuFI//MaFQRitXAbO6IUtDw== Thread-Topic: Confederate Flag From: To: Subject: Confederate Flag Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2015 01:30:23 -0500 Message-ID: <565EA645C8BE4D7A9697B3D9E90D6275@IQ12> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Microsoft CDO for Windows 2000 Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message Importance: normal Priority: normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.1.7601.17609 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 02 Dec 2015 06:30:23.0608 (UTC) FILETIME=[ECAAAF80:01D12CCA] CUSTOM Ms. Sydney Lynn Sander Confederate flag 1912 SW 6th Ave. 515 Portland OR 97201 syd6@pdx.edu 5038301632 GOVE Confederate Flag 38.100.219.7 Nikki Haley, Governor of South Carolina, I'm sure you've received countless letters and countless complaints about the controversy over the Confederate flag, and why or why not it should be flying at the South Carolina capitol building. There are many reasons opposed and many reasons for it to be flown. For the pride of the southern citizens and their heritage, the grandest gesture you can make is to put the flag back up onto your capitol building. Symbols like the Confederate flag have no rooted meaning. People make symbols out of their own ideas and whatever emotions they themselves attach it to. The American flag means a number of different things to different people. The Confederate flag falls into the same category. People take it as a sign of racism, others consider it a sign of history, culture, and heritage. It stands for racism because the southern economy was fueled by slavery and thus their flag is symbolic of racism. This was the rebel flag of the Confederate States of America. People are offended because it omits a sense of racism. However, Rebel flags are not racist. The Civil War rose over states rights as opposed to slavery. The south generally was in favor of state's rights. The North was in favor for people who wanted the national government to attain more power over the states. This is associated with racism because the south was in possession of slaves. The symbol is evident but the values differ according to where a citizen grew up and how it affected them. People make the Civil War out to be about racism, because they look at the facts and asses to themselves the reason they believe it to be that way. A war is never about just one thing. There is never just one reason that a war starts though. There are usually a few different reasons that intertwine into bigger issues. A popular reason as to why the flag is known to show racism is because the states wanted to fight for "rights". People take this as "a right to have slaves", when in fact, other natives take it as having the states rights separate from the countries rights. I will say that yes, there were racists in the south who were strongly in favor of slavery. Other people had the ideology that it was specifically for rights. You could compare this strongly to the "Rainbow flag" associated with the LBTQ movement. This flag means a lot to people because it shows a significant amount of pride, yet to others it's offensive. The Confederate flag means a great deal to those who's ancestors fought in the Civil War. With war comes a certain pride that you don't want to be taken away from you. I am from Tennessee and have a large family in Texas (where I also consider to be from) and I have ancestors who fought in that war. I didn't personally know them but heritage is heritage. I have a hard time dealing with the stereotypes that are thrown on me for being from there. Statement's like the south is racist, unintelligent, and ignorant. I have a hard time accepting the hard truth because history has proven that the South has succeeded in preserving slavery. However hundreds of thousands of men, whom were not slave owners, fought for the states rights and southern independence. There were states in the North in fact who also owned slaves. Another reason for the war was the because of the political tensions that rested between the north and the south. It's evident to see why people link the the confederate flag to racism yet I think the media has been overdramatic about it considering the South Carolina shooting and other shootings that have happened that have been allegedly linked to racism. Now, if the Charleston shooting had not happened, would the flag still have gone down? I ask this question because it became an even bigger controversy when Dylann Roof escapaded in that church and performed a racist action. Yes, that was linked to racism, and unfortunately that furthered the stereotype that people from the south are racist. This is also an incredible catalyst for the racist upbringing brought on the for Confederate flag. The media made this out to be assumed for racism. People say that it was brought on by hate. Yes, in this particular instant, it was brought on by hate. Just because there are specific groups of racists who use the flag for that purpose, doesn't mean that it should be just defined by the meaning that is brought on by some parts of history and an extreme racist. I think another remaining large issue with this is the opinions that the opposed have towards the supporters. This rising controversy has divided our country and labeled sides. The flag is a symbol. The flag is a representation. And the flag is interpreted by many. Aside from my feelings and other feelings based on the flag, I want to also focus on how the flag is a part of our country's history. People have a sense of pride that is attached to the flag, and to see it get torn down, to some, brings sorrow. A sense of degradation is brought onto the people who support it. Don't we all want to feel prideful over some things? Whether it be rights, accomplishments, or success? If there has always been such controversy over the flag, why hasn't it been taken down years ago? I believe that a symbol is what you make of it. You can't ignore the history behind it though because it's evident in our culture. What it means to the south and our heritage. Just because you remove a flag doesn't mean it changes history. The flag should remain for the soldiers that fought.