2 of 10

Yes

Write now Article Tools

The American Civil War was an ugly tragedy. Well, over 650,000 men, women and children were killed ( and that could be on the low side of estimates), vast tracts of land were laid to waste and there remains hundreds of untold atrocities. People were executed by firing squads, hung from trees, or jammed into inhumane, rat infested prisons. It was brother against brother, family against family.

There is enough blame to go around for the start of this atrocity; there were many causes. Certainly, the rich, white plantation owners bear responsibility for their support of slavery, as do, the northern slave traders; both sides of the political spectrum had their share of shady war profiteers.

It is unfortunate that some today try to entirely cloak the cause of the barbaric brutality in such issues as personal freedom, religious issues and state rights. Likewise, it is a disservice to the thousands of dead and maimed, to continue, after more than a 150 years, to entirely emphasize the geographic differences, framing the bloody era as Northern or Southern. The Civil War was much more complex. In many parts of the world today, we continue to see the results of such thinking civil wars and conflicts in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and in Russia bear adequate testimony to the nightmares of geographic nationalism.

America is one country, one nation. It is a nation of more than just geography, North and South; to think otherwise is, simply put, plain backwards thinking.

The Confederate Battle Flag raises some peculiar questions, one of which remains our constitutional right to freedom of expression. Hundreds of thousands died and suffered horribly for that symbol. On the flip side, hundreds of thousands died and suffered horribly for the Union Jack.

Historical facts and events should never be hidden from view.

However, the battle flag continued to be used as a symbol for hate-filled white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan which continued terrorist activities against fellow Americans well after formal hostilities were ended. For well over a century, people were dragged from their homes and lynched, thrown into rivers and lakes, murdered in cold blood under the southern cross. There are even atrocities committed to this day in 2009.

Those who continued the atrocities after the great war of brotherly carnage disgraced the Confederate Flag, and the graves of the men, women and children who died under it. It should be banned from all public display, be it public buildings, monuments, or public gatherings. The symbol of the terrorists and their organizations should be relegated to well documented and scholarly history books and museums for future generations to learn from their mistakes.

America needs to move forward in the 21st century as a united nation not one divided by terrorist symbols and the horrors of racism. Granted, the battle flag of the confederacy for some is a source of historical significance and an important symbol of an agricultural culture; however, it's symbolism has become twisted and tainted by others in the aftermath . Freedom doesn't give the right to shout fire in a crowed theater when there is none.

Learn more about this author, Greg Spinks.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Should the Confederate flag be banned??
We want to hear your view. Write now!