There’s two sides to every story and this case is a great example of that. I think it’s hard to say anything 100% because there is such a gray area. Coming from the North but coming to school in the South, I never realized how much more the Confederate flag meant to people besides just white supremacy. I understand now that there is an underlying Southern culture that permeates pretty much all the states that are south of the Mason Dixon line. It’s something they are very proud of and have the right to do so. Almost everyone in the south that I’ve met who upholds what you could call classic Southern culture has never been anything but friendly, generous, and polite to me. I understand why they associate the Confederate flag with more than just slavery and why to them, there’s not an issue.
But I also understand why there is an issue for others. As someone who is a history nerd, I get that slavery wasn’t the only reason for the civil war, but it was THE hot topic of the time. You could equate it today to gay marriage or universal health care. Remember, that originally our country was founded on the idea that states should have more power than the federal government. The reason the Southern states broke away was because they though their rights as states would be taken away if slavery was abolished across the nation by the federal government. Imagine if some states seceded from the union today over gay marriage? Even if the reason behind it was asserting the states rights to make their own laws, it’s still a pretty bad situation.
As a communications student, I fully support freedom of speech and I’m not disagreeing with the RIGHT to display the confederate flag. There’s no one in America who should tell you otherwise. No matter what you believe (in favor or not) the original poster in cooler connection made a really good point about the way the media portrays Greek life. While it may be unfair to have to watch our actions as much as we do, it’s probably not the best idea to paint one on something associated with any of our letters. I’m not just saying confederate flags either, as someone else said, you know rush boobs on coolers are kind of offensive too. IDK berate me all you want saying that I don’t understand the confederate flag (and I probably don’t 100% because I’m not southern) but in the general goal of promoting greek life as a positive addition to universities across the country and society in general, toting around a sign that half the country associates with ignorance and racism isn’t the best idea.
There’s two sides to every story and this case is a great example of that. I think it’s hard to say anything 100% because there is such a gray area. Coming from the North but coming to school in the South, I never realized how much more the Confederate flag meant to people besides just white supremacy. I understand now that there is an underlying Southern culture that permeates pretty much all the states that are south of the Mason Dixon line. It’s something they are very proud of and have the right to do so. Almost everyone in the south that I’ve met who upholds what you could call classic Southern culture has never been anything but friendly, generous, and polite to me. I understand why they associate the Confederate flag with more than just slavery and why to them, there’s not an issue.
But I also understand why there is an issue for others. As someone who is a history nerd, I get that slavery wasn’t the only reason for the civil war, but it was THE hot topic of the time. You could equate it today to gay marriage or universal health care. Remember, that originally our country was founded on the idea that states should have more power than the federal government. The reason the Southern states broke away was because they though their rights as states would be taken away if slavery was abolished across the nation by the federal government. Imagine if some states seceded from the union today over gay marriage? Even if the reason behind it was asserting the states rights to make their own laws, it’s still a pretty bad situation.
As a communications student, I fully support freedom of speech and I’m not disagreeing with the RIGHT to display the confederate flag. There’s no one in America who should tell you otherwise. No matter what you believe (in favor or not) the original poster in cooler connection made a really good point about the way the media portrays Greek life. While it may be unfair to have to watch our actions as much as we do, it’s probably not the best idea to paint one on something associated with any of our letters. I’m not just saying confederate flags either, as someone else said, you know rush boobs on coolers are kind of offensive too. IDK berate me all you want saying that I don’t understand the confederate flag (and I probably don’t 100% because I’m not southern) but in the general goal of promoting greek life as a positive addition to universities across the country and society in general, toting around a sign that half the country associates with ignorance and racism isn’t the best idea.