The topic on whether or not the Confederate Flag should have been taken down is very interesting. It is rewarding to learn about the history and true meaning behind a symbolic piece of history that has flown at the South Carolina State House for decades as well as, the mass controversy that surrounds the topic. The question that resonates with me is whether the flag really is a problem or is it the select few people that are stuck in past instead of facing the ever evolving society? My values are strong regarding my views on the Confederate Flag. However, this topic and all the tragedy that comes with it, has had a mass impact on my perspective. Personally, the flag stands for South Carolina's heritage in the 1860s and standing as South Carolina's own away from the Union. Nevertheless, it is hard to turn a blind eye to the lengths some people go to in order to keep the actions set forth by those during that time period. I have lived in Columbia, South Carolina my entire life. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union and the last to take the flag down from its capital. I lived here in 2000 when the flag was taken from the dome of the capital as well as in 2015 when it was completely removed from the state house grounds. Living in the heart of the debate over the flag, I have witnessed many acts against the flag and read many articles about it. In fact, I was even there when the flag was taken down. 

In David Sarratt's website about the history and different people's stance behind the flag, he speaks of the issues of blacks versus whites and the origin on the Confederate Flag. Sarratt says that the war was not fought over slavery in the South but slavery in the new territories. The South puts blame on the North, saying that wage slavery was much harsher than the southern slavery. Throughout the entirety of the Civil War, both sides agreed on the fact of white supremacy. Blacks see the Confederate flag as a racist past full of slavery and the treatment of blacks to be subhuman. The fact that the flag is around and flies today is their justification that racism is very much still alive. David Sarratt produced this website as a project for American studies at the University of Virginia. On his website, he provides a bibliography of some very credible sources. At times, he seems to be a bit biased. He defends the South more often than not, but he also counters back a lot, giving credit to the North. His website is in all a very credible source. 

The second source is a column writer by Jason Presssburg for Elon University. He wrote about how most people get an extremely biased education up until college. Most were taught that the South was considered "bad" and the North was considered "good" and at the same time taught that the flag is a symbol of hate. Most Southerners who affiliate themselves with the topic would tell you the flag represents pride and Southern hospitality. Pressburg leans to the side that the Confederate flag supporters don't view it negatively, but to all outsiders it carries heavy negative connotations of racism and needs to be taken down. The author is a columnist at Elon University, most likely a student, and does not draw from any sources. This article seems somewhat biased toward the South. It drills into the negativity of the South during the Civil War Era and the Confederate flag, however, it says nothing to counteract the negativity. 

In my final article of dispelling the myths of the Confederate history states that the South was not solely the part of the nation that was involved in racial inferiority acts. The South was not the only part who owned slaves; the North had many slaves as well, many of whom were freed later than those in the South. The Confederate Flag has been corrupted by the racial hate groups that use it as their organization symbol and the flag itself does not carry the same meaning. This article does not have an author nor any sources that it draws from. It is merely an opinion based article. This author is biased because they defend the South on numerous occasions and says the North was just as bad and doesn't back it with any facts nor does it draw from other sources therefore making it not credible. 

This research question about whether or not the Confederate flag should have been taken down is very arguable because you have an obvious two sides. One side being that the flag stands for southern heritage and that southern people were not all bad in Civil War times. The other side being the hate crimes behind the flag and it standing for bigotry and racism and upholds white supremacy based on the fact that the South was full of slavery and wrongful treatment of blacks. The sources agree that it was not only the South that owned slaves and upheld the notion of white supremacy. They disagree on the fact of whether the flag stands for the good in the South and has no justification otherwise or whether it stands for a long history of discrimination. The different sources draw from the fact that even though to some the flag may stand for pride, to most it stands for hatred and for that it needs to come down and I agree with that but it changes my stance of how this old South is being look at versus the old North when in reality the North was just as bad. My research question needs to be tweaked to broaden its scope. Right now, it is a narrow-minded question that only pertains to the flag itself. It needs to be opened so that the essay can cover not only the views of the flag but those also over the Old South versus the Old North. 

