LadyEllen
Posts: 10931
Joined: 6/30/2006 From: Stourport-England Status: offline
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LaM - not sure how it is in the US, but in the UK if the victim feels that the harassment, abuse or attack was motivated by the victim being of another race, culture, religion, sexuality, ability, gender etc - then it is a hate crime, regardless of what the perpetrator might say was the intent. The Confederate flag will always be popular, whatever is done; for one thing its pretty, but its used over here a lot too, mainly it seems as a token of non conformance to society in a similar way that the South no longer wanted to conform to the Union. I've seen all sorts using it, for all sorts of reasons - bikers, travellers, kids on the street etc. Its sewn to clothing, worn as a bandana, and yes even sometimes flown. It means different things to different people I guess. In a similar way, and since its been mentioned, the sunwheel (swastika) is also banned in polite society and for good reason since the nazis abused and perverted it and it has evil association with them. But for Hindus in the UK, and for me as a follower of Asatru, the same symbol is holy. I dont wear it or display it anywhere solely out of concern for those who find its evil associations too much to bear, and I positively hate the nazis for what they did with it, but that doesnt mean that the sum total of the sunwheel over thousands of years is now evil. It means different things to different people. The real and only problem in both cases is that some unbalanced idiots attach redundant meanings to both, for their own ends. But then, that would also be the case had the South used a rainbow flag or the nazis used a star. E
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