The rebel flag flies...

[Karl]

KEVIN LILES FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

A Georgia County Where the Rebel Flag Is Still Revered

5:00 AM ETIn white, working-class Haralson County, the Confederate banner remains a symbol of a unique regional identity.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/08...l-revered.html

[Islandman]

This ignorant defense of the racist flag reminds me of a decade ago when Jamaican schoolboys decided it was "cool" to use the swastika on their flag at Champs, and there were supposedly intelligent people, Mutabaruka included, defending them on the grounds that it had African origins.

Who remembers that story?

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...ka-controversy

[Mosiah]

It was dumb! The schoolboys knew exactly what they were doing and so too did Muta.

However, at the risk of being accused of hypocrisy (that'll be a first!), I will say that a case can be made for the swastika, or the reverse swastika. Many cultures have used this symbol going back centuries. Do you ban it because the Nazis chose it to be theirs? What would that mean to the native Americans who revere it for different reasons?

On the other hand, if someone can show me where the confederate battle flag had a different meaning going back centuries, than a flag of treason to defend a way of life that depended on slavery, then, let's hear about it.

The context is important.

[Islandman]

I don't think either of them should be banned. If you believe its your culture or history then go ahead and put it on your car or fly in your yard. I much rather to know how you think than have to guess about it.

However, contemporary symbols of hate, whatever their origin, it should NOT be displayed on government property and should NOT be associated with public schools as a symbols of pride.

No excuses or exceptions to that.

[Mosiah]

I agree!

[Peter R]

The swastika is a symbol that originated in what we call India today. It was called svastika in Sanskrit and according to Wikipedia, it originated in neolithic times, or over 2,500 to 4,000 years ago.

Hitler basically hijacked a religious symbol and made it something ugly in the eyes of the rest of the world, i.e. outside of Hinduism and Jainism.

[Peter R]