The Confederate Flag and NASCAR

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Grandpa Troll
Please folks, no rebel flags, dun wanna stir anything up

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

Because some regional identities are less evil than others

You wouldn't be able to fly the Russian flag if evilness had anything to do with it.

I'd prefer a Soviet flag, but I cannot select it. Sorry.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by LordShiva


I think this might be the first instance of someone being on another user's ignore list while having his HoF vote

[SlowwHand]

uh oh.

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar


I'd prefer a Soviet flag, but I cannot select it. Sorry.

To keep it on topic, this is from Southern Russia

[SlowwHand]

What a piece of crap looking flag.

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
What a piece of crap looking flag.

Yeah..maybe so..here I'll make it look more presentable

[SlowwHand]

That's better.

[Nubclear]

[SlowwHand]

Tass likes that one. Go figure.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Why does Poly allow us to fly an EU flag, but not a Confederate flag? Why is one regional identity considered more valid than the other?

The EU is a political entity.

[SlowwHand]

And?

[Cort Haus]

and the Confederacy isn't. As I understood it, the United States is the political entity to which the southern states belong.

[Drake Tungsten]

Why do we have a UN flag, then?

[Cort Haus]

Well, for a start there's only one UN. There must be any number of extinct political entities. Rome springs to mind - I don't recall seeing an SPQR flag in the list.

Also, there are probably more touchy-feely types who like to think they are 'citizens of the world' just to prove how progressive, modern, and cosmopolitan they are than wannabe secessionists who want to fly what Imran amusingly described as a TRAITORS flag.

After reading the debate (and I started off by knowing nothing about it other than the word 'Nextel') I've decided that this isn't about racism, but about identity politics. These days it's nice to have an ethnicity to brandish, if you've got one, and the confederate flag is a way of expressing this for some southerners.

What it might also be is a pride in NASCAR as a southern sport, which has become the premier series in US motor sport. As a fan of US single seaters, sorry, open wheelers, I would prefer if USAians turned out to watch the IRL or Champ Cars instead, as both series are struggling, but that is beside the point. [/drunk]