Posted on Aug 22, 2014
Feelings on displaying the Confederate flag on your POV or person while on a military installation?
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Recently, I had a long and heated discussion with a fellow veteran about this issue. I don't know for sure whether a branch-specific reg or a DoD-wide reg exists that prohibits/allows personnel on a military installation to display the Confederate flag on their personal vehicle or on their person (e.g. a belt buckle). Maybe this is a base-specific policy and left to the judgment of the installation commander. Display of the Confederate flag is a divisive issue and people often feel really strongly one way or the other. But today, it is still a relevant topic and touches on other military leadership/discipline areas, including the actions of one member deeply offending another member -- regardless of whether said action is legal/authorized. That can create huge problems in a military unit, and this happened in a unit I personally served in. So, below are my questions for the RallyPoint community about this issue.
Please try to keep comments professional (don't attack one another) and explain your thoughts as best you can.
Questions:
(1) How do you feel about the Confederate flag being displayed on the vehicle/person of a service member if he/she is ON post? How does your opinion change if the member is OFF post?
(2) What does the Confederate flag symbolize to you personally? What do you think it can symbolize to other people around you who may perceive it differently?
(3) If you have personally experienced a military-related situation where a symbol/flag caused someone to be offended, what happened and what did you/would you have done as the leader?
I look fwd to everyone's thoughts on this. Personally, I have some strong feelings about this issue, though I don't want to bias people's answers upfront. Please be as honest as possible.
Tag: SSG Emily Williams Col (Join to see) 1SG Steven Stankovich SSG Scott Williams 1LT Sandy Annala CPT (Join to see) SSG V. Michelle Woods MSG Carl Cunningham
Please try to keep comments professional (don't attack one another) and explain your thoughts as best you can.
Questions:
(1) How do you feel about the Confederate flag being displayed on the vehicle/person of a service member if he/she is ON post? How does your opinion change if the member is OFF post?
(2) What does the Confederate flag symbolize to you personally? What do you think it can symbolize to other people around you who may perceive it differently?
(3) If you have personally experienced a military-related situation where a symbol/flag caused someone to be offended, what happened and what did you/would you have done as the leader?
I look fwd to everyone's thoughts on this. Personally, I have some strong feelings about this issue, though I don't want to bias people's answers upfront. Please be as honest as possible.
Tag: SSG Emily Williams Col (Join to see) 1SG Steven Stankovich SSG Scott Williams 1LT Sandy Annala CPT (Join to see) SSG V. Michelle Woods MSG Carl Cunningham
Regulation
Policy
Respect
Confederate Flag
Edited 10 y ago
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 326
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I live in Mississippi and there is a constant and ongoing debate about the confederate flag being on our state flag. My thoughts on it are that if it offends people, remove it. With that said, I don't think society should cater to every single person who is offended by something but the confederate flag flew over a country that enslaved people and treated them like animals. Like it or not, that's grounds for being offended. Does anyone get mad at Jews who are offended by swastikas? Maybe at one time the confederate flag wasn't offensive. But groups like the KKK and neo-Nazis have gone out of their way to ensure it's offensive by flying it while they commit atrocious hate crimes. Does flying the flag make you a member of the KKK? No, but can you see how someone might draw that conclusion? Here's a hypothetical: I'm a Christian and as such I have things with crosses on them. It's a symbol of my faith. If some terrorist group started using the cross as their symbol to the point where the general populace saw a cross and immediate thought of a hate group, I'd stop displaying the cross. It wouldn't make me less of a Christian. It's simply a symbol. If my practice of Christianity offends you, that's a different story. I won't stop being a Christian just like people don't have to stop being proud of their heritage. This philosophy can be applied to anything. I drink alcohol. That's my right. And it's also my right to talk about it around those who don't and those who are recovering alcoholics. But why on earth would I do that knowing that I was offending these people? I don't have to stop being who I am but I don't have to celebrate it in front of everyone either.
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NEWS FLASH.....Almost anything you do could offend or upset someone.... We are becoming a nation of wimps.... for me the racist I can see is better than the racist hiding behind a plastic smile.
FIRST For some people this flag is a symbol of racism and the ugliness of slavery....for others it has nothing to do with racism but is a symbol of heritage and southern pride.....
SECOND Does forcing someone to take down this flag make them NOT a racist anymore.....
THIRD the US Constitution....the Constitution we swore to uphold, defend and protect ....guarantees EVERYONE the right to fly or burn whatever flag they want..... that includes the rebel flag....the Marcus Garvy colors....the Black Power banner ..... the constitution gives you the right to be an IDIOT if you want to be an idiot.
The logical question is there a correlation between yelling fire in a crowded theater.....inciting a panic.....getting people hurt.....AND flying this or any other flag that could or might cause a violent outburst / riot? ..... MY OPINION....the comparison is weak .... the risk is small..... and the violation of the first amendment is a greater danger
SOLUTION....Grow a set and stop letting STUPIDITY or your imagination create problems
TRUE STORY At an 82nd Div CSM meeting.....we had a racial mixture but the division CSM was a known racist good old southern boy..... as he was about to take a drink of his coffee..... one of the black CSM's said, "Careful sergeant major....black coffee will turn your skin black!"....the sergeant major almost broke the cup setting it back down.... everybody laughed..... racism is REAL....DEAL WITH IT..... nothing is more important than you make it
FIRST For some people this flag is a symbol of racism and the ugliness of slavery....for others it has nothing to do with racism but is a symbol of heritage and southern pride.....
SECOND Does forcing someone to take down this flag make them NOT a racist anymore.....
THIRD the US Constitution....the Constitution we swore to uphold, defend and protect ....guarantees EVERYONE the right to fly or burn whatever flag they want..... that includes the rebel flag....the Marcus Garvy colors....the Black Power banner ..... the constitution gives you the right to be an IDIOT if you want to be an idiot.
The logical question is there a correlation between yelling fire in a crowded theater.....inciting a panic.....getting people hurt.....AND flying this or any other flag that could or might cause a violent outburst / riot? ..... MY OPINION....the comparison is weak .... the risk is small..... and the violation of the first amendment is a greater danger
SOLUTION....Grow a set and stop letting STUPIDITY or your imagination create problems
TRUE STORY At an 82nd Div CSM meeting.....we had a racial mixture but the division CSM was a known racist good old southern boy..... as he was about to take a drink of his coffee..... one of the black CSM's said, "Careful sergeant major....black coffee will turn your skin black!"....the sergeant major almost broke the cup setting it back down.... everybody laughed..... racism is REAL....DEAL WITH IT..... nothing is more important than you make it
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To display the rebel flag on a military instillation should not be a question. You should be allowed to display it. Hell Fort Bragg is named after confederate general Braxton Bragg who was a North Carolina native. Its not a big deal. Let soldiers be happy.
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My statement to you on this is if you worry about what others think all of the time you will never live your life and never have your freedom of speech because you will always worry what others think. Try living your life and let others live theirs with out being so thin skinned that if they glance in your direction you get offended. What others have on their vehicle is none of my business as long as it isn't obscene or crude or blatantly racial on post what difference does it make it is their choice to put it there. They have just as much right to free speech as you do that is why they put on the uniform. if you take things like that to heart then you need to do away with every thing that could be remotely be offensive and that would be just about every thing. No bumper stickers no logo t shirts no logo shoe's nothing but 1 style hair cut no ring tones because some one might over hear it and be offended. Live your life and let others live theirs stop the decline grow up be an adult let others live free to the real limits of good taste quit being so easily offended.
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I personally have no feeling on this issue and think people spend too much time debating it. All I care about is the Confederacy was defeated to keep the nation unified. and slavery was abolished.
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(1) How do you feel about the Confederate flag being displayed on the vehicle/person of a service member if he/she is ON post? How does your opinion change if the member is OFF post?
If it is someone who is still serving active, guard, or reserve then they aren't allowed to have a political view. This means bumper stickers, flags, other stickers, social media everything is off limits. This is on and off base. If it is a veteran then it is up to them until something comes out saying that this kind of thing is not allowed for veterans.
(2) What does the Confederate flag symbolize to you personally? What do you think it can symbolize to other people around you who may perceive it differently?
I look at the flag as a piece of history. While I don't agree with slavery I do understand that it was a rampit problem all over the world at the time and not just in the South. I do hate to see all the monuments getting destroyed, vandalized, and taken down across the South even as we speak. To me even if you don't agree with the message or what they stand for it is still this countries history and you can only learn if you teach history. If you erase the past we are likely to repeat it again in the future.
(3) If you have personally experienced a military-related situation where a symbol/flag caused someone to be offended, what happened and what did you/would you have done as the leader?
While I have never seen anyone punished for a flag or symbol I did receive a verbal reprimand because I identified myself as a redneck and a hick and another NCO was offended that I identified myself that way even though I was country boy growing up.
If it is someone who is still serving active, guard, or reserve then they aren't allowed to have a political view. This means bumper stickers, flags, other stickers, social media everything is off limits. This is on and off base. If it is a veteran then it is up to them until something comes out saying that this kind of thing is not allowed for veterans.
(2) What does the Confederate flag symbolize to you personally? What do you think it can symbolize to other people around you who may perceive it differently?
I look at the flag as a piece of history. While I don't agree with slavery I do understand that it was a rampit problem all over the world at the time and not just in the South. I do hate to see all the monuments getting destroyed, vandalized, and taken down across the South even as we speak. To me even if you don't agree with the message or what they stand for it is still this countries history and you can only learn if you teach history. If you erase the past we are likely to repeat it again in the future.
(3) If you have personally experienced a military-related situation where a symbol/flag caused someone to be offended, what happened and what did you/would you have done as the leader?
While I have never seen anyone punished for a flag or symbol I did receive a verbal reprimand because I identified myself as a redneck and a hick and another NCO was offended that I identified myself that way even though I was country boy growing up.
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I was born in NC and to me tbe flag represents division and racism. Do I think this was its intended use no...however over time it has morphed into that. I am of mixed ancestry Germanic on one side black and Native American on the other. I would like for the people of NC and other places still showcasing the confederacy to host educational talks on tbe subject for both sides in other words begin the healing process for the divided people.
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Why the heck should the U.S. Military tolerate the display of symbols of treason. That is what the Confederacy was, a treasonous body that made war on the United States. If this is OK, then bring on the Battle Flag of the Third Reich, the Vietcong/North Vietnamese or ISIS Battle Flags; all of which are far less repugnant - since they were mere enemies, not TRAITORS!! Forever NO to the display of Confederate garbage. They were traitors, and anyone who displays it are seriously close the being the same.
Heritage, slavery, prejudice, state's rights, symbol of the South - all don't matter, It is about treason to the United States and them making war on this country. If you see it as representing your "heritage" then your "Heritage" is all about TREASON; not anything that is at all heroic.
Heritage, slavery, prejudice, state's rights, symbol of the South - all don't matter, It is about treason to the United States and them making war on this country. If you see it as representing your "heritage" then your "Heritage" is all about TREASON; not anything that is at all heroic.
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To me it symbolizes rebellion. They were brothers fighting brothers. The darkest part of our history. It should not be flown without the US flag at the bare minimum.
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