According to Historian John Coski, prior to 1948 the Confederate battle flag was flown at events recognizing the soldiers of the south, by students at pep rallies and sporting events and by service men wishing to make a statement about their origin when serving abroad. Each was a different occasion, with a different context, with the intention of conveying a different meaning from the same symbol.
The confederate battle flag only took on a political context in 1948 when Democrats revolted against Harry Truman and Northern Democrats who were trying to achieve racial integration and get rid of Jim Crow.
Those Dixiecrats formed their own party that year and held their own convention and ran their own Presidential candidate, J. Strom Thurmond ( the Governor of South Carolina who would later switch parties to become a long-serving republican Senator.)
During that convention, the delegates made a point of parading around with various forms of the Confederate Battle flag. How do we know? Because it’s on the newsreels.
Watch for the battle flag in this old newsreel from the Dixiecrat convention.
So what will leftists say, that those Southern racist just switched parties and became Republicans?Here’s another video that does a head count of the Dixiecrat politicians and which party they ended up in after the 1948 split from their fellow Democrats (you can count the ones that changed parties on three fingers).
Watch which party ended up with the Dixiecrats
(Note: Bonus video of a Bill Whittle Firewall on Racism and Democrats)
John Coski, Author of “The Confederate Battle Flag: America’s Most Embattled Emblem” was on BookTV” yesterday. You’ll want to watch the whole thing if you want to learn more about the Confederate battle flag, the importance of context, intention and meaning.
The meaning for me of the Confederate/Army Of Northern Virginia battle flag is a sign of respect for my relatives who fought under it. I like it also because it’s a symbol of resistance to big government and rebellion. It does not make me want to go after anybody…it’s kind of like giving the finger to whoever. No different than any other group with their symbols…peace signs, black power fist etc…Stars and Bars are proudly displayed as a vanity plate on the front of my truck for the past 4 years and other vehicles before that.
Because of the history of the Democrat party, their name and symbol(donkey) should be considered offensive and removed from any thing involving the government. Time to start a petition.
@Nathan Carson, watch the presentation by John Coski that’s linked at the end of the post. You’ll pick up interesting details about how the battle flag was designed. I used the square battle flag on purpose for this post.
You’re providing context and that clarifies your intention for flying the flag and that should be acceptable in a free and inclusive society.
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That Jim Crow guy is a damn trouble maker.
Thanks for the link to the John Coski presentation. I will come back and watch it tomorrow.
And Strom Thurmond was not a Republican in any sense of the term.
Thank you for the informative link Dr. Tar. I was just in Richmond and Petersburg today. What a great historical area. Again, thank you.
So WHAT is going to happen to the Dukes of Hazard?
“All this for a damn flag.” – First Moose.