--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not like the Confederate flag. It…" description: "\"I do not like the Confederate flag. It excludes me, profoundly. And if many good people fought honorably to defend it, I still experience the sight of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/shelby-steele-3370_aggression_i-do-not-like-the-confederate-flag-it-ex_3050245.png" --- # I do not like the Confederate flag. It excludes me… ![“I do not like the Confederate flag. It excludes me, profoundly. And if many good people fought honorably to defend it, I still experience the sight of it as a little racial aggression against me.” quote by Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/shelby-steele-3370_aggression_i-do-not-like-the-confederate-flag-it-ex_3050245.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/shelby-steele-3370_aggression_i-do-not-like-the-confederate-flag-it-ex_3050245.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ab/shelby-steele-3370_aggression_i-do-not-like-the-confederate-flag-it-ex_3050245.png) > “I do not like the Confederate flag. It excludes me, profoundly. And if many good people fought honorably to defend it, I still experience the sight of it as a little racial aggression against me.” [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A personal rejection of the Confederate flag, viewing it as an exclusionary symbol despite historical arguments. **In simple terms:** Dislikes the flag, sees it as racial aggression. Key Takeaway Consider symbols' impact on inclusion. Themes identity politics symbolism exclusion Mood critical empathetic Type political social When to use this quote - political discourse - activism - education - personal reflection Key Concepts social justice historical memory racial dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do symbols affect marginalized groups? - Can a symbol be reclaimed? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex history. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aggression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggression/) [Confederate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confederate/) [Confederate flag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confederate-flag/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Flag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flag/) [Flag Excludes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flag-excludes-5069253/) [Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good/) [Good people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-people/) [Like Confederate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-confederate-1986174/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Racial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racial/) ## Related quotes > [For me, the things like the Confederate flag - I just don't think that it does anybody much good, and it certainly causes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-isbell/for-me-the-things-like-the-confederate-flag-i-just-don-t-think-that/) [Jason Isbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-isbell/) > [We know that the elements in play in a show like 'Confederate' are much more raw, much more real, and people come into them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-b-weiss/we-know-that-the-elements-in-play-in-a-show-like-confederate-are-much/) [D. B. Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-b-weiss/) > [I think that it's appropriate to have the Confederate flag perhaps in a museum, but it is not a unifying symbol.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-iii/i-think-that-it-s-appropriate-to-have-the-confederate-flag-perhaps-in/) [Martin Luther King III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-iii/) > [ \[Confederate flag\] it's a symbol of racial hatred. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-santorum/confederate-flag-it-s-a-symbol-of-racial-hatred/) [Rick Santorum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-santorum/) > [I think the ties to slavery and the terrible tragedy that followed the Civil War with Jim Crow and racial violence is closely linked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-r-ferris/i-think-the-ties-to-slavery-and-the-terrible-tragedy-that-followed/) [William R. Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-r-ferris/) > [For black folks, the Confederate flag represents the same thing that the Nazi flag represents to the Jews. There is absolutely no difference when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-page/for-black-folks-the-confederate-flag-represents-the-same-thing-that/) [Ken Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-page/) > [The people that don't want change, the ones that don't see how removing Confederate flag creates so much more opportunities for our sport to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bubba-wallace/the-people-that-don-t-want-change-the-ones-that-don-t-see-how/) [Bubba Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bubba-wallace/) > [Now, that doesn't mean that individuals can't have Confederate flags on their property. They have the right to do that. But again, it represents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-iii/now-that-doesn-t-mean-that-individuals-can-t-have-confederate-flags/) [Martin Luther King III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-iii/) > [I don't fly the Confederate flag on my property, but I'm not going to try to belittle or embarrass anybody who wants to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-stewart/i-don-t-fly-the-confederate-flag-on-my-property-but-i-m-not-going-to/) [Corey Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-stewart/) > [The only reason we used the Confederate flag was just because we were from the South, and we were proud of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-rossington/the-only-reason-we-used-the-confederate-flag-was-just-because-we-were/) [Gary Rossington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-rossington/) > [Anyone who says the Confederate Flag is a symbol of hate should be required to go to sensitivity training classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezola-b-foster/anyone-who-says-the-confederate-flag-is-a-symbol-of-hate-should-be/) [Ezola B. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezola-b-foster/) > [I live in the South; there are Confederate flags everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-live-in-the-south-there-are-confederate-flags-everywhere/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [In South Carolina, the Confederate flag flies high on countless flagpoles. Those who defend this practice by saying it is part of Southern culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-schlossberg/in-south-carolina-the-confederate-flag-flies-high-on-countless/) [Jack Schlossberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-schlossberg/) > [ It's time for the \[Confederate\] Flag to come down, because it just doesn't represent who we are as a people, as Americans anymore. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hunter/it-s-time-for-the-confederate-flag-to-come-down-because-it-just-doesn/) [Jack Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hunter/) > [South Carolina, as a matter of compromise, displays the Confederate flag on a flagpole in front of the state capitol. Because I grew up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edwards/south-carolina-as-a-matter-of-compromise-displays-the-confederate/) [John Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edwards/) ## More by Shelby Steele > [When blacks become humanly visible, when their true beliefs are known, their mask shatters and their symbiotic bond with whites is broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/when-blacks-become-humanly-visible-when-their-true-beliefs-are-known/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [I alienated myself from the academic world almost entirely because it's a left-wing world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/i-alienated-myself-from-the-academic-world-almost-entirely-because-it/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Freedom is just freedom. It is a condition, not an agent of change. It does not develop or uplift those who win it. Freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/freedom-is-just-freedom-it-is-a-condition-not-an-agent-of-change-it/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [In Vietnam, America fought one whose communism was driven by an underlying nationalism, the desire to live free of the West. Whatever one may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/in-vietnam-america-fought-one-whose-communism-was-driven-by-an/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Our great presidents have been stewards, men who broadly identified with the whole of America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/our-great-presidents-have-been-stewards-men-who-broadly-identified/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [No doubt Israel and America have made mistakes in the Middle East. Certainly, Israel was born at the price of considerable dislocation and suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/no-doubt-israel-and-america-have-made-mistakes-in-the-middle-east/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [And if you want to make many of our black leaders angry, just tell them that racism is not the number problem that black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/and-if-you-want-to-make-many-of-our-black-leaders-angry-just-tell/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Thomas Sowell, among many others, has articulated the power of individual responsibility as an antidote to black poverty for over 40 years. Black thinkers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/thomas-sowell-among-many-others-has-articulated-the-power-of/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton cannot write a timeless letter to us from a Birmingham jail or walk, as John Lewis did in 1965,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/jesse-jackson-and-al-sharpton-cannot-write-a-timeless-letter-to-us/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [My father bought three ramshackle houses, rebuilt them, rented them out, kept clawing his way up the ladder. A man with a third grade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/my-father-bought-three-ramshackle-houses-rebuilt-them-rented-them-out/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Whatever I'm doing, I try to write well. I try to give the reader a nice, clean well-written surface, where the writing is transparent.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/whatever-i-m-doing-i-try-to-write-well-i-try-to-give-the-reader-a/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [We have laws on the books. If somebody's discriminating against you, I strongly advocate suing them. That's the most effective thing you can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/we-have-laws-on-the-books-if-somebody-s-discriminating-against-you-i/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [The first thing I ever heard about Barack Obama was that he had a white mother and a black father. Interestingly, the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/the-first-thing-i-ever-heard-about-barack-obama-was-that-he-had-a/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Racism is endemic to the human condition, just as stupidity is. We will always have to be on guard against it. But now it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/racism-is-endemic-to-the-human-condition-just-as-stupidity-is-we-will/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Without an ugly America to loathe, there is no automatic esteem to receive. Thus liberalism's unrelenting current of anti-Americanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/without-an-ugly-america-to-loathe-there-is-no-automatic-esteem-to/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) [Explore all 132 Shelby Steele quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) ## More Aggression quotes > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I used to fight with hate. There's been a lot of aggression in my past growing up and stuff. That's because I was hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-namajunas/i-used-to-fight-with-hate-there-s-been-a-lot-of-aggression-in-my-past/) [Rose Namajunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-namajunas/) > [We have nothing in our history or position to invite aggression; we have everything to beckon us to the cultivation of relations of peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-have-nothing-in-our-history-or-position-to-invite-aggression-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I take up the standpoint that the tendency to aggression is an innate, independent, instinctual disposition in man, and I come back now to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/i-take-up-the-standpoint-that-the-tendency-to-aggression-is-an-innate/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Boxing can be so important to young people, it keeps you off the street and you can channel your energy and aggression in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-benn/boxing-can-be-so-important-to-young-people-it-keeps-you-off-the/) [Nigel Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-benn/) > [“That which is of great value cannot be attained through aggression. You will be able to find the mystery of life only if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/that-which-is-of-great-value-cannot-be-attained-through-aggression/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/a-society-that-presumes-a-norm-of-violence-and-celebrates-aggression/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [I can remember watching MTV Cribs - these amazing houses - and looking around my house where there was no carpet on the floors.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bugzy-malone/i-can-remember-watching-mtv-cribs-these-amazing-houses-and-looking/) [Bugzy Malone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bugzy-malone/) > [Nationalism, on my opinion, is nothing more than an idealistic rationalization for militarism and aggression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/nationalism-on-my-opinion-is-nothing-more-than-an-idealistic/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I really like battle ropes. They're so versatile; you can get a terrific workout doing a ton of different exercises with them. My clients…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-peterson/i-really-like-battle-ropes-they-re-so-versatile-you-can-get-a/) [Gunnar Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-peterson/) > [ Now they \[the Powers\] have started the aggression, and the extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/empress-dowager-cixi/now-they-the-powers-have-started-the-aggression-and-the-extinction-of/) [Empress Dowager Cixi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/empress-dowager-cixi/) > [I'm not going to appeal to violence or aggression - of course not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexei-navalny/i-m-not-going-to-appeal-to-violence-or-aggression-of-course-not/) [Alexei Navalny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexei-navalny/) > [This is passive-aggression in action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/this-is-passive-aggression-in-action/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [When a child hits a child, we call it aggression. When a child hits an adult, we call it hostility. When an adult hits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-a-child-hits-a-child-we-call-it-aggression-when-a-child-hits-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Major international interventions are doomed unless the US is directly or indirectly involved. But if American politicians, officials and servicemen are to be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/major-international-interventions-are-doomed-unless-the-us-is/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) [Browse all 860 Aggression quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggression/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I do not like the Confederate flag. It excludes me, profoundly. 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