The Confederate Flag Is a Symbol of Racism

Agree: A1: My opponent states that the reason why the states of the Confederacy rebelled was due to the fact ("For that reason...") that they wanted to keep their slaves. This saves me a lot of trouble. There is a popular myth that the Civil War was about States' rights and tariffs. I'm glad we can move past that and immediately recognize that the Confederacy was formed due to slavery. A2: My opponent states that the flag symbolizes the Confederate States of America (CSA) ("meaning of this flag...represented...seceded Southern states...[and] secession from Union.") I agree with this point. It's also a bit obvious, since it is called the "Confederate Battle Flag." A3: My opponent states that many Southerners still use the flag. I agree. Sources critique: My opponent uses no sources for this historical debate. Therefore, all of my opponent's claims must be considered entirely unfounded. My opponent did not offer any way for either myself or the voter for evaluating whether my opponent's arguments are true or false. My opponent: R1: Southern state legislature: Uncited. If true, it demonstrates sentiment that Confederate flag is offensive. The fact that "it" did not pass fails is not evidence that the flag is not racist: only that the issue is questionable enough not to ban its use. R2: American flag flew during slavery: Uncited but true, although it was a slightly different flag at the time [1]. However, because the American flag was the battle flag of the Union who eventually caused all slaves to be freed, and because the Union was not founded in order to keep slaves, and because the American flag was and is the symbol of United States (North, South, East, and West) during its entire history after the slaves were freed, it cannot be said that the American Flag represents slavery. And even if all the reasons I gave are false and the American Flag does represent slavery, it certainly does so to a lesser extent than the CSA flag. R3: North did not free slaves before South: Uncited. Also, even if it were true, it would only be true due to a technicality. The abolitionist movement around the Civil War was also concentrated in the Union, especially supporting Abraham Lincoln (though he was considered a moderate, willing to allow slavery in the South rather than compromise the Union). [2]. By 1810, 75% of African Americans in the North were free [3]. By 1840, virtually all African Americans in the North were free [3]. There were still slight numbers of slaves in the North, because some states choose to release their slaves through a gradual process instead all at once [3]. R4: South had integrated troops. Black persons also owned slaves [4]. Opponent assumes racial unity, that if some black persons fought for the CSA then Southern black persons as a whole sided with the CSA. This is obviously untrue, and actually quite offensive, though I'm sure my opponent did not intend to be offensive. R5: My opponent says that the northern states were believed to be enforcing "their overall political dominance, upon the Southern States in general," but does not say that this was the reason for the Secession, and also does not give any sources to back this claim, so this claim does not seem vital to the debate, and therefore I need not address it for now. Outline: Contention 1 (C1): The "cornerstone" of the CSA was slavery In the Constitution of the CSA there is a passage that states that no law may be passed that would prohibit or inhibit slavery [5]. The Vice President stated that the CSA was founded on the notion of the "natural" white supremacy over blacks and the maintenance of slavery, the "cornerstone" of the CSA [6]. The Civil War was not founded on States' rights or tariffs but slavery [5, 7, 8]. The Southern States gave reasons for secession, and slavery was in all of them and states' rights (except the right to secede) was in none of them [8]. Contention 2: Good intentions of flag-bearer(s) are irrelevant to the flag's being a racist symbol Since we are talking about whether something is racist, we must determine this from the perspective of a stranger observing the use of the flag, and not the owner of the flag. The stranger would not know that the owner had good intentions. Therefore, if the flag is often used as a racist symbol or if there is good historical reason to think that it is a racist symbol, than the "good intentions" of the flag bearer in no way demonstrates whether or not the flag is a symbol of racism. It would have to be the stranger who does not know the owner who decides. Contention 3: Many flag-bearers are racist and use the flag as a symbol of white supremacy [9] KKK and other white supremacist/hate groups use the Confederate Flag. While the swastika had many uses besides the symbol of Nazism, it became adopted as a symbol of that organization. Now, we can certainly all agree that the flying of the swastika in contemporary Germany cannot be taken as a symbol of German pride but of a symbol of Germany during the reign of Nazism, and therefore a symbol of hate. Similarly, the Confederate flag symbolizes the South during that unfortunate and embarrassing Pro-Slave movement of the CSA, as well as modern hate groups. Contention 4: The Confederate Flag symbolizes not generic Southern pride but pride in the South during the time of the CSA The CSA flag was the flag of the CSA. Before and after the Civil War the American flag flew. Therefore, the CSA cannot be taken to symbolize pride in the South any time before or after the Civil War, but only during the CSA movement. (I think my opponent agrees to this point, but intends to show that the CSA wasn't that bad. Let us determine this during the coarse of the debate). Contention 5: It is the perspective of the victims of racism due to the movement in question who are suited to decide what is racist (not the perspectives of white Southerners). Let us look at other more obvious symbols of racism to determine how we should evaluate the CSA flag. Were a swastika to be displayed in modern Germany, we would not ask the flag-bearer whether s/he thinks it is racist (this is unlikely because modern racism tends to be less overt [10]). Conclusion: The CSA flag represents the CSA, which was almost entirely based on pro-slave and racist ideals. The flag does not symbolize the South before or after the Civil War. Even if one ignorantly thinks it does and waves the flag, this person's "pure intentions" do not make the flag any less racist, since it was the symbol adopted by the Confederacy (Obviously. It is in the name.). Though my opponent attempts to portray the North as equally supporting slavery to the CSA, this is thoroughly untrue. The use of the CSA flag in contemporary society would therefore be symbolizing support for the ideals of the CSA, which were thoroughly racist in nature. Contemporary hate societies and historical hate societies both use the CSA flag, and thus an outside perspective has good reason to believe the flag is racist. Lastly, my opponent's arguments tend to come from the perspective of a white person who bears the flag rather than a person of color who sees it. My opponent also has no sources. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org... [2]http://americanabolitionist.liberalarts.iupui.edu... [3]http://en.wikipedia.org... [4]http://www.theroot.com... [5]http://www.britannica.com... (written by a professor of history) [6]http://teachingamericanhistory.org... [7]http://www.washingtonpost.com... [8] http://www.theatlantic.com... [9] http://asagordon.byethost10.com... [10]http://en.wikipedia.org...