I've just spent a great deal of time debating this issue on another forum. There's another article here, from today's The State:

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thes...ics/ 5046580.htm

The deal is, Dean says the flag is pretty dumb and racist to boot, but he admits what the other candidates know and won't say out loud -- there's not a damn thing that he or any other would-be president can do about it. Lest we believe that Dean's stance suggests latent racism, it should be noted that he yelled louder than any other candidate (except possibly Sharpton) about Bush's UofM affirmative action stance, going so far as to call Bush "cowardly" for using the word "quota," when we all know full well that the UofM program isn't a quota.

Also, I think it goes without mentioning that he signed the civil unions bill, which is hardly the work of a bigot.

Okay. End of rant.
Joey Dee | Email | Homepage | 01.28.03 - 11:12 am | #

Gotta Love Dean!!!! Finally someone who actually understands the Constitution and what was meant when this great country was created 200+ years ago!

No matter how you personally feel about the flag, it is up to the people of South Carolina to decide for themselves if they want to fly it or not. The Constitution gives NO POWER to the federal government to dictate to states what flags they may or may not fly over their houses. Period. End of issue.
Scott | Email | Homepage | 01.28.03 - 1:03 pm | #

Dean is absolutely right on this issue. As an African-American, I find the Confederate flag a curious relic of a failed cause. My feeling about states or private citizens who want to fly it is: if you want to celebrate a doomed armed rebellion against the United States, go right ahead. People celebrate failure in this country every day. I was in Columbia SC in December of last year and I had the chance to drive past the state capitol building, where the flag flies in all its 'glory'. Didn't bother me in the least. My side won.
CB | Email | Homepage | 01.28.03 - 4:21 pm | #

DB, thank you so much for sharing your perspective with us. i cannot imagine what it's like to walk in your shoes, so your comment is especially valuable to me.

my thoughts on the flag are as follows... as a white southerner, i'm ashamed that people still fly the flag. i am bothered by it, perhaps more than you are (or seem to be), because to me it symbolises the worst of what it means to be white in america. it symbolises an antiquated ideal that failed miserably, and it reminds us of a past where discrimination was encouraged. every time i see that flag flying, i feel it still reflects upon every white person. and perhaps that's where i get ashamed: i wouldn't want any black american to think that just because some ignoramus flies the flag, that they represent me and my ideals. they most certainly do not.

having not been alive when the civil rights battles were fought, i can't imagine a world where segregation was actively encouraged. it blows my mind to think that is a part of our collective history. i struggle to understand what it must mean to be black in america, and especially to have been black back in the early days of our country.

thank you so much for sharing your perspective. i've never heard it put that way before.
anna | Email | Homepage | 01.28.03 - 4:30 pm | #

Listen to Howard Dean on Tavis Smiley

Hope this link works!

I thought he might address the flag issue, but the topic did not come up.
FHC | Email | Homepage | 01.28.03 - 5:33 pm | #

The confederate flag flier is an American, and the postman, and the teacher, and the Irishman, and the Swede, and the African American, even George Bush. None of these things are racially motivated clasifications. We must win states in the South and middle Amerioca. We need blue states and that means we need the votes of all Americans.
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