Walmart to stop selling Confederate flag merchandise

[Gonad the Barbarian]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/22/politics/confederate-flag-walmart-south-carolina/index.html

Wow, I think the Union has finally won.

 

[waggy]

lets see if other stores fallow walmarts lead.

 

[HomerJS]

lets see if other stores fallow walmarts lead.

+1

 

[DrDoug]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/22/politics/confederate-flag-walmart-south-carolina/index.html

Wow, I think the Union has finally won.

I laughed at this headline over at LGF:

150 Years After the Civil War, South Carolina Finally Surrenders

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

lets see if other stores fallow walmarts lead.

If Walmart does it I guarantee other major chains will follow suit. Most of them probably stock very little if any anyway, but Walmart? At least around here they have about as much as you'd expect from a place that also sells camo patterned LCD TV's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOYWcMXfOKQ

 

[waggy]

If Walmart does it I guarantee other major chains will follow suit. Most of them probably stock very little if any anyway, but Walmart? At least around here they have about as much as you'd expect from a place that also sells camo patterned LCD TV's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOYWcMXfOKQ

oh don't knock it. lol i know a few man caves that would be great in.

 

[mizzou]

What's funny is that this is actually hurting some chinese manufacturer the most more then likely.

Do other countries buy rebel flag merchandise at all? I know sometimes there is some odd quirky local/regional thing that is huge in a completely foreign area.

 

[Strk]

What's funny is that this is actually hurting some chinese manufacturer the most more then likely.

Do other countries buy rebel flag merchandise at all? I know sometimes there is some odd quirky local/regional thing that is huge in a completely foreign area.

You never know. Thailand has their weird fascination with Hitler/Nazi stuff. Maybe Kazakhstan will enjoy some stars and bars?

 

[Londo_Jowo]

You never know. Thailand has their weird fascination with Hitler/Nazi stuff.

Huh??? Are you really this ignorant? The Swastika was in use by Buddhists long before Hitler chose to use it for the Nazi symbol. My bet is you've never traveled outside the US.

http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols/swastika

In Buddhism, the swastika (Sanskrit svastika, "all is well") is a cross with four arms of equal length, with the ends of each arm bent at a right angle.

90% of the population of Thailand is Buddhist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Thailand

Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school, which is followed by 90% of the population

 

[Sonikku]

Hiter's depiction used it at a different angle.

 

[fskimospy]

Huh??? Are you really this ignorant? The Swastika was in use by Buddhists long before Hitler chose to use it for the Nazi symbol. My bet is you've never traveled outside the US.

http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols/swastika

90% of the population of Thailand is Buddhist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Thailand

No, like Thailand really loves nazis. Hitler in particular.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...-by-prime-minister-glorifies-nazi-leader.html

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Granted I haven't been in Thailand in 2 years but when I was there I never noticed any of this Hitler/Nazi worship. Then again I was in a tourist area (Krabi) enjoying a vacation.

 

[fskimospy]

Granted I haven't been in Thailand in 2 years but when I was there I never noticed any of this Hitler/Nazi worship. Then again I was in a tourist area (Krabi) enjoying a vacation.

I didn't notice it last time I was there either, but it's been reported on by a number of different sources and I haven't seen anyone contest it.

 

[Strk]

Huh??? Are you really this ignorant? The Swastika was in use by Buddhists long before Hitler chose to use it for the Nazi symbol. My bet is you've never traveled outside the US.

http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols/swastika



90% of the population of Thailand is Buddhist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Thailand

Oh, I'm well aware of the history of the swastika, but that's why I said Hitler/Nazi stuff. Others have already beaten me to posting the links

 

[Phokus]

What's funny is that this is actually hurting some chinese manufacturer the most more then likely.

Do other countries buy rebel flag merchandise at all? I know sometimes there is some odd quirky local/regional thing that is huge in a completely foreign area.

Yes i'm sure the loss of sales from the confederate flag will cripple that economy.

 

[nageov3t]

I would love the irony of they donate their existing merchandise stock to poor towns in Africa.

 

[Jaskalas]

Bigotry against Southerners continues.

106 years ago the rebel flag stood tall across the South. The people 150 years ago, those who bled in the Civil War, were more tolerant and respectful of their fellow Americans than you lot. They had more reason than any to hate the South, but they did not go this far in their hatred. In reconstruction they never attempted to eradicate Southern identity.

Today you'll look for any excuse.
If the next psychopath holds an American flag, do we ban that?

 

[nageov3t]

Bigotry against Southerners continues.

106 years ago the rebel flag stood tall across the South. The people 150 years ago, those who bled in the Civil War, were more tolerant and respectful of their fellow Americans than you lot. They had more reason than any to hate the South, but they did not go this far in their hatred. In reconstruction they never attempted to eradicate Southern identity.

Today you'll look for any excuse.
If the next psychopath holds an American flag, do we ban that?

I don't think many people are saying that displaying the flag should be illegal, but it's a symbol associated with slavery and people/organizations embracing such a symbol should be rightfully shamed in public.

 

[Brainonska511]

Bigotry against Southerners continues.

106 years ago the rebel flag stood tall across the South. The people 150 years ago, those who bled in the Civil War, were more tolerant and respectful of their fellow Americans than you lot. They had more reason than any to hate the South, but they did not go this far in their hatred. In reconstruction they never attempted to eradicate Southern identity.

Today you'll look for any excuse.
If the next psychopath holds an American flag, do we ban that?

I don't understand confederate flag defenders. First, we're told that it wasn't really the Confederate flag, merely the battle flag for the Army of Northern Virginia. But then people go on and on defending its use as if it was the adopted flag of the traitorous region.

Anyway, you're defense of this symbol is cute. Contorting yourself like a pretzel to ignore the realities that this particular flag has been used by hate groups and terrorists as a symbol of white supremacy for generations. It also ignores the fact that the Confederacy was a country founded on that principle and the principle of the ownership of people of color. That's not a set of principles we should look up to. It's a dark mark on our history as a nation. To only look at that particular flag through the lens of some nebulous things like "states rights", southern bravery in the fighting, etc... and to ignore the darker parts of what the Confederacy really was is being deliberately obtuse and ignoring the fact that for generations of Americans, this flag has served as a symbol of pure hatred and terror.

If you want to fly that flag on your property, go right ahead. To paraphrase John Oliver, it's great when people wear and fly that stuff, because then we, as a society, can easily identify the world's worst people. But as a representative of the people, the government should not be flying this odious symbol.

edit:
I also have to love the bigotry against bigots argument. It never gets old.

 

[unokitty]

Fiesta Confederada: Confederados in Brazil

... Do other countries buy rebel flag merchandise at all? I know sometimes there is some odd quirky local/regional thing that is huge in a completely foreign area.

Washington Post: Why do foreigners fly the Confederate flag?

"I am proud of the Confederate flag because it is a piece of history that I am directly connected to," 34-year-old João Leopoldo Padovese... told Reuters. "For us in Brazil, it has no political meaning at all."

... Confederate flags can be seen at Swedish car shows, for example, beloved by "raggare" enthusiasts who see the flag as part of their love for kitsch Americana, or soccer matches in Cork, Ireland, where it was apparently chosen purely for its colors ...

In 2013, a school in Canada had to ban the flag after schoolchildren began wearing it. “I didn't even know it was racist,” one student told the Toronto Star. “Then I Googled it.”

Bizarrely, American Civil War reenactions have become popular in Germany, with significant numbers of Germans preferring to fight on the Confederate side...

...the Red Hand Defenders, a Loyalist Ulster paramilitary group, has carried Confederate flags during marches (they argue that they do this as many soldiers in the Confederate were from Ulster).

Prominent Israeli journalist Arieh O’Sullivan said he took a Confederate flag with him while serving with the Israeli army in Lebanon (Sullivan was raised in Louisiana and Mississippi and has dubbed himself a "Jewish Redneck"). Confederate flags can still be spotted in West Jerusalem.

... whatever happens to the flag on South Carolina's state Capitol, don't expect Italian soccer fans to give it up just yet. Given the anti-authority connotations the flag has, it may well embolden than further.

I'm not into flags. US, Confederate, whatever... Don't own one. Wouldn't fly one if I did.

Still, the Post makes an interesting point "Given the anti-authority connotations the flag has, it may well embolden than further."

Uno

 

[Screech]

In reconstruction they never attempted to eradicate Southern identity.

Yeah, which was an unfathomably terrible mistake. If the North had been a bit more, shall we say, convincing in how they treated the South after the war, perhaps there would have been a few less curb stompings, lynchings, etc:

https://pando.com/2015/04/10/war-nerd-the-confederates-who-shouldve-been-hanged/

Remember, glorification of 'Southern Heritage' or 'Southern Identity' -- especially with the whole terrorizing and killing black people thing -- is one of the core tenets that the confederate flag has stood for since its inception. Would you argue that the nazi swastika is an honorable symbol of german manhood and independence? That example keeps coming up because it is frankly a perfect comparison.

 

[mizzou]

Oh crap...is this just going to make the flag more popular and visible now? I hate that anti-effect things have. I used to own when I was a young tike, but I was a huuuuuge civil war buff and am still very interested in that period of history. I displayed it next to my ninja turtles posters and quickly took it down, and I think trashed it, after I realized that public perception of the flag was that you are racist, white trash, and stupid. Quite a lot for a 7-8 year old to digest .


The flag is really quite diverse in how it is perceived. Everything from white power to a symbol of saying fuck you to the establishment, to a statement about being "country".

This whole burn the flag down thing is going to cause quite a distraction, I'd imagine even more in the south. The civil war wasn't that long ago.

In my opinion, it isn't a whole lot different then waiving a Nazi flag. Two different situations, but both involving lost causes by white governments who sought to subjugate "lesser races". One sought to enslave the lesser race and the other sought to annihilate it. Who would you rather drink a beer with, Jefferson Davis or Adolf Hitler? D:

The flag needs to go from publicly funded buildings. It sounds like most of them went up as a middle finger gesture towards civil rights movements in the 50's and 60's.


In the end, that is what the battle flag represents to me. It's a middle finger. It's vulgar and inappropriate. It's a perfect visual representation to display those feelings in one succinct cloth medium.

 

[DrDoug]

Bigotry against Southerners continues.

106 years ago the rebel flag stood tall across the South. The people 150 years ago, those who bled in the Civil War, were more tolerant and respectful of their fellow Americans than you lot. They had more reason than any to hate the South, but they did not go this far in their hatred. In reconstruction they never attempted to eradicate Southern identity.

Today you'll look for any excuse.
If the next psychopath holds an American flag, do we ban that?

Bigots whining about being targeted for supporting a racist symbol and they are the ones whining about bigots? Now that is funny! Southerners were more tolerant and respectful back of their fellow Americans back in the Civil War days? Not only "NO", but "FUCK NO"! You don't do reality very well, do you? The south lost the battle to split the nation and keep their slaves, it's over and it's time for them to stop pretending it was never about slavery. Talk about denial...lol!

If you believe the shit you wrote then you're a fucking moron who makes excuses for a racist symbol and the people who support it, or you are one yourself.

 

[mizzou]

The whipping boy of the south continues. As if the other countries flags we wave haven't committed equal or greater human rights violations....

 

[fskimospy]

The whipping boy of the south continues. As if the other countries flags we wave haven't committed equal or greater human rights violations....

As has already been mentioned repeatedly, it's most likely because those flags stand for a large number of things. Some of those things are good, and some of those things are bad.

The Confederate flag represents a nation that only existed for a brief period of 4 years or so that existed for the express, stated purpose of perpetuating race-based mass enslavement. There is no good to balance it out.

A good similar example would be that the flag of the Soviet Union is not as reviled as that of Nazi Germany, despite being guilty of at least comparable human rights violations.