Heritage and Hate: Mississippi’s State Flag 

They didn’t rebuild the south together. Ever hear of Jim Crow laws and sharecropping?

How can it be about heritage? The confederacy lasted ONLY 4 years. That's like saying my emo stage in high school is my heritage.

The only thing I learned from this is that when Kumar isn't looking for the nearest White Castle, he's working for Vice

"The civil war was about states rights." Ah yes, the state right to have slaves. People that believe it's anything other than slavery have bought into the rewriting of history taught from the losing side.

"African Americans fought for the confederates freely".........that is laughably incorrect.

It's funny how they always say, "you need a history lesson," and then never give the history.

Kumar looks like a brown Jimmy Kimmel

My great great great great grandpa who came over from Germany was a farmer. He signed up to defend the union. He got injured in the Civil War, then went back home. when he found out that the Confederacy was going to march on the capital of Missouri he signed back up and went to defend the capital. I’m very proud of my ancestor.

Wow that girl in the beginning must of been real close to her great great great great grandparents

Screw the meaning of the video, that food at the beginning look good af

I've owned pairs of underwear that lasted longer than the Confederacy.

Every state submitted a "Declaration of Causes" In this document Mississppi clearly stated that their reason for leaving the union was slavery. Therefore the reason for the war was slavery.

I respect this man for listening to all side without placing judgment, that the only way to salve a problem is to fully understand it

Robert E. Lee himself said to get rid of that flag after the south lost the civil war. "History lesson" number 1.

The people at the barbecue are sober when they start to drink they will sing a different tune.

The confederacy constitution EXPLICITLY says slavery. The South ceceded due to slavery issue. Period. The flag was used in battle for that cause. It is "dripping" with rascism, intimidation and suppression.

Didn't see any blacks at the rally, and only one at the bbq.

When did Kumar start working for Vice? And is Harold the one filming?

We live in the US now! Not the Confedarate states!!

I appreciate his understanding of the people. Many people do not want to see it as racist. The fact many people will argue on and on about how it isn’t shows they don’t want the flag nor themselves to be perceived as such.

For the lady at the beginning, let’s do the math: the Civil War ended in 1865, 2020 - 1865 = 155 years. How were you so close when you never met them?

as part of their heritage... THEY ALSO BELIEVE THAT THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN... what do you think that means???

Drinking Mexican cokes Lmao Hell yea

Why do I laugh so hard at that blonde girl everytime she says “it’s my heritage “ 😂😂

It's like a German saying; "But the Nazi flag is my culture" No. You lost.

They can’t be racist if they have Mexican coke w the bbq

I don’t understand Americans. Wasn’t that the flag of traitors?

Here’s a quote from the CREATOR of the confederate flag. “As a people, we are fighting to maintain the Heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race…” from the Savannah Morning News, April 23, 1863. If you google this paper and look at page 527, you can also see that the flag was nicknamed “The White Man’s Flag.” I understand that it is a symbol of American history. I understand that is representative of some peoples’ ancestors. However, it is not patriotic. It is not a symbol of America or unity - it literally symbolizes Americans fighting our own fellow Americans. Regardless of the *many* things the civil war was about, slavery IS one of those things. It IS part of the story. You can’t pick and choose what it does or does not symbolize. It encompasses ALL of its history, INCLUDING racism, no matter how you twist the story. If you’d like to show your patriotism, why not fly the American flag? If you’d like to honor your ancestors, why not honor any of the ones who DIDNT fight to oppress another group of people? Why not honor the ones who DIDNT participate in a war against their own country? By flying the confederate flag, you are choosing a side. You are choosing the LOOSING side. The MORALLY CORRUPT side. The one that was MEANT to lose. If I’m wrong, then why doesn’t ANYONE fly the flag from the Northern side of the civil war? It’s the same as the American flag, only it has 20 stars instead of 50. Nobody flies that flag because the North won, and that flag was adapted into the current national flag. Because that one represented true EQUALITY and UNTIY amongst Americans. To this day, the confederate flag only stands to divide the American people. It is sparking yet another divide in our citizens. Maybe they do not realize it, but the people who still flaunt the confederate flag are celebrating the racism that ruled our country since day one, even if they choose to mask it as patriotism. You are able to appreciate a corrupt history without glorifying it. They simply choose to glorify it, as that is easier than admitting our ancestors were wrong. The people who fought in that war knew what they were defending. The people who sided with the south knew it was dubbed the White Mans Flag. They lived when it was conceived, when all the racism was alive and prominent. They knew what it meant to defend slavery, even if that was not their main concern. There’s no reason to respect that part of our history. It is very important to remember and acknowledge it, but to glorify it? Inexcusable. Once something is responsible for the death of innocent lives, it is no longer harmless. It is a symbol of death and prejudice and hate.

Driving around in a japanese truck with a confederate flag hilarious

Imagine someone saying I’m German the swastika is my heritage

This comment will be a little lengthy so please bear with me. I'm a black man, born and raised in Corinth Mississippi. Love is all around that state from most everyone, but there's no doubt a tarnished history there. What most people fail to realize about that flag is that the Klan would brandish it whenever they did their dirty work back in the day, and even in the present, so of course there is some emotions whenever a person of color sees it. It brings back very painful memories of things that shouldn't have happened. Think of it as peeling a scab and recuting the wound. When they say it's apart of their heritage I understand, however it's technically apart of ours as well. A lot of hatred, death, and deceit surrounds that flag and it can't be taken away. My ancestors died senselessly for it as well, and were continually harassed after the war, even though the black code, Jim crow, and modern era. Let us not forget how the Freedom Riders we're welcomed by the state troopers in the 60's and this is just one of many displays of ignorance. At the end of the day I just hope we can move forward and rebuild our state and live together peacefully, because it's more important to focus on the future than the past, especially since our state is in the shape it is now. I love every Mississippian and want the world to see how much love there is from the people that live here, no matter the color.

The South is the only place I know which celebrates and takes pride losing a war.

I love that 90% of the people in the comments don't even know what the civil war was about

"People that think it was about slavery need a history lesson." - completely ignorant person

It was about states rights.... A state’s right to what tho...

I've seen people fly the Confederate flag here in Pennsylvania, a Union state. It's not about heritage; it's about white supremacy.

Can’t believe they got jimmy kimmel for this video

I used to spend summers in Alabama as a kid.....Southern hospitality is a mile wide and an inch deep.

So even though the confederate states explicitly fought to maintain their "peculiar institution" of slavery, the civil war was somehow not about slavery? Complete absurdity.

No, there weren't black confederate soldiers. Blacks were forbidden by confederate law to enlist. The thousands of blacks in the various confederate armies were camp slaves. Often brought by their masters when their masters enlisted. They cooked, drove wagons, washed clothes, carried their owner's gear on marches. But, with the exception of March 1865, they did not enlist to fight.

I have a feeling they were taught a skewed version of american history....

You know the kkk also uses the American flag not just the confederate flag

This honestly is the best reporter from vice I've seen in a long time

If you forget history it’s bound to repeat itself.

"so, beyond slavery, what other significance does it have for you?" - no answer

The flag was about slavery and that doesn’t mean northerners were fighting to protect blacks or all southerners owned slaves, but the focal point for why the war became was 100% centered around slavery and it had been brewing below the surface since the Declaration of Independence was signed. The economics of both sides of the country: The north was industrialized and therefore did not have to rely on slavery for its workforce. The south was not industrialized and was agricultural and had to heavily rely on slavery to make the bulk of its profits. Northern states started to make laws that prohibited the trafficking of slavery which angered the southerner slave owners. The appointment of Lincoln as president who the south felt was an abolishist scared slave owners and felt he unlawfully became president because he did appear on any ballots in 13 southern states. The truth is Lincoln wanted to avoid war at all costs, that was gone when the south decided to skip diplomacy and fired on fort Sumter starting the civil war. Lincoln did not have to appear on those 13 ballots because he appeared on every ballot in all northern states which gave him 40% of the electoral voters which won the election for him legally. Yes, the majority of southern soldiers weren’t slave owners, so how could it be about slavery? Because the ones that ran the south and represented the south in government are the slave owners. They recruited those dumb farm boys to go off and fight for their wallet, so those soldiers were indirectly fighting because of slavery, those rich plantation owners had everything to lose and if farm boys had to die then so be it. The civil war was about slavery.

I've got an idea for a movie. "Harold and Kumar escape from Mississippi"😂

The lady saying Black soldiers fought for the Confederacy. . . ummm, no, they didn't because by the Confederacy's own laws, it was illegal for a Black man to serve as much as it was for a Black man to vote. They DID, however, contribute to the Confederate war effort in the form of cooks, manual laborers, stable hands etc, and any image presented of Black men in Confederate uniforms is doctored for the purposes of the rewritten agenda. There is zero difference between the Confederate Battle flag and the National Socialist flag. Yes, you absolutely have the freedom of expression to display both to your hearts content. Just pahleez don't go cryin' to Jesus when someone takes exception to said display and wraps you up in it with a one way ticket to meet him.

This brother is saying EXACTLY what I've been trying to articulate! Black people have a Southern heritage, too! They have a Southern history, too!

Kumar...what are you doing

Slavery, they say “get over it”! Well, why don’t you get over losing the civil war!? Why can’t we ALL enjoy them sweet ass Daisy Dukes!? It’s a symbol, LET IT GO!!!

I'm a southerner and I don't fly the flag because of what a black guy said in the video about how he automatically thinks that someone who does fly it has a problem with black people. I don't want anyone making that assumption about me.

Every flag has led to death and oppression of someone, even the American flag.

Did she just say they had to start all over “black and white together”? I think you are the one who needs a history listen ma’am.

That badass 69 Charger, hell ya!!!

That's right. The flag IS NOT RACIST. It's the thought about it is. Look, let's dive deeper into it: 1. Georgia AND Mississippi flags changed. Closed Stone Mountain. Removed the names of our revered leaders from different things, such as: Schools. Roads. All of it.

Traitor's flag. Sincerely, U.S. Service member

The South has the best food in the U.S.!!!

The southern states said in their declaration of independence that the main reason for leaving was because they feared the union wanted to free slaves

"You ever been to Mississippi? Big hunk of racist dirt!" - Chris Rock

“They were dirt poor and they didn’t own any slaves” so you saying if they were rich, they might have?

Jimmy Kimmel got a tan

Mississippi has one of the worst education system and crazy ws

It’s almost like carrying around a swastika and say well my grandpa was a nazi! It’s my heritage!

I am a Persian American and I live in the south and I Love southern people white and black.

Yo can we get Kumar for some more Vice docs again? That'd be great. He has a great speaking voice and a friendly face that I think makes for good docs.

I'm a fifth generation southerner. I am in my 60's. Even as a little girl, I could see the racism.

lol. The flag was not the cause of slavery. There are racists in every state, of all colors.

I LOVE southern hospitality. Some of the nicest people I've ever met were southern.

Kumar... Whattttt ?

It's was about slavery and any thing else is a sad excuse.

And you believe "your heritage" really is something to be proud of?? Sometimes...."your heritage" is nothing to be proud of....it just isn't.

I actually love how unbiased this was... usually, VICE leans so blatantly left its obvious, but this was done nicely. Pure, and wholesome, journalism from Kumar.

“The state is changing “. Yes, to what it was 60 years ago

I love it when people get triggered over the General Lee without knowing the context

THE ONLY TRUE CONFEDERATE FLAG 🏳️

Please just ask 1 question: 1. Aren't you glade the North won? After that, nothing else needs to be said.

Vice is one of my favorite news sources, they cover both sides.

The ignorance of southerners about our own history never ceases to amaze me.

Not owning slaves because you can't afford to is entirely different from not owning any because you believe slavery is wrong.

(5:19) slaves Who fought in the war they were promised freedom and land, so of course they choose that.

What happened to Vice News Daily?

I grew up in the 80's the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard is still one of my favorite cars . As a boy me and all my friends who happened to black was not offended nor our parents by the confederate flag until white liberals told people they should be offended .

Ask native Americans about the the flag of the USA a flag that nearly destroyed them and their culture? The US never forgave the native Americans for fighting with the south. The extermination of the native Americans was done by the USA and I know native Americans who hate the flag of the USA so do you ban that too?

Mississippi's flag is just the Confederate battle flag on top of the inverted Dutch flag.

Kumar remember when you and Harold crashed a clan meeting 😂

is that the guy from Harold and Kumar?

This is like telling a Native American to not wear regalia or not to wave their tribe’s flag

Remember that time when Mississippi was on the right side of history? Neither do I.

Funny that everyone ignores that the stars and stripes flew over slavery from beginning to end

Kal Penn- We miss you in the movies. When are you coming back with your friend John Cho? Thank you....

As a 38year old white male i unfortunately grew up n an environment where one of my best friends older brother had a Confederate flag above his bed in his room. Often giving us lessons on how whites are being taken over by the blacks and how they are a thorn in the side of the white community and if we didn’t do anything about it they would destroy our fabric of life. I also remember dressing in bomber jackets, red and white chucks, doc marrtins as well thinking I was cool. But it wasn’t at all i was being brainwashed by friends because I wanted to be accepted and be part of something and that something was nothing but hate. For these people to say that the Confederate flag isn’t racist and doesn’t have anything to do with hate should read a history book. I’m honestly scared for our society in the next 10-15years.

Imagine if someone great uncle fought in ww2 and they started carrying around a swastika

So she wants to replace the general Lee flag with a flag that she wants?

Heritage not hate.

"NOT a hospitable symbol". So eloquently and succinctly expressed! Bravo

My grandfather was a farmer and shared his land with an African American man, one day a group of men showed up with a confederate flag and burned both their lands down. The next day my grandfather burned their entire farm down, my grandfather wasn’t never racist but those people were taking my grandfather’s livelyhood

I'm Hispanic I never had a Problem with White or Black people in America if anything we got along just fine I'm in TX by the way .

It's Kumar

exactly; even putting aside the racial implications, why would you want to fly the flag of a loser?