Apple Removes American Civil War Games from the App Store

I don't have a horse in this race - I'm a 'Northerner' who doesn't fly the Confederate flag and has never been a fan of people who do, but I never felt like it was my place to call others out. As such, I don't particularly take issue with the removal of the flag from public institutions. It's probably a good thing.

However, I do take issue with narrow oversimplifications, and as such I would encourage you to do some research before making such blanket statements.

I have some people close to me who once wore t-shirts that had elements of the flag on them. If I were to ask them why they wore it, they would not answer or think anything along the lines of "overt racism." They're just people who have a bit of a redneck streak, are into country music, hunting, etc.

Symbols are what we make them to be. As someone in the design world I am very aware of this. Perhaps your experience is that everyone around you who sports the flag is an overt racist, but that hasn't been the experience for me. Do I still think it's misguided to use the flag? Personally, yes. But I think to paint the issue with such a broad brush doesn't do anyone any good.

Same thing about those "who think the Civil War was about anything other than slavery" - I think there's a solid case to be made for that among the "power brokers", but as is the case in history, things were much more nuanced, particularly for the rank and file. Search around a bit for why your average non-slave-owning Southerner signed up for the war, or even look at a guy like Robert E. Lee.

If you're interested in the nuances of the secession question, check out http://history.stackexchange.com/q/2056 - lots of good points on either end of the spectrum.

TL;DR: History is complex, be careful about blanket statements.

There's a lot of talk about historical accuracy with regard to Apple's decision. Hence it's in context to post what exactly that flag represented to the people at the time of secession. When I lived in the South I never saw anyone other than white people flying that flag. It didn't represent pride to non-whites and the declarations of white people that it was part of their heritage went along with talk about 'those' people.

Here are some things I experienced while living in the South. My first promotion ever was when I worked as a bag boy in a grocery store. I was promoted because, "There's nothing but a bunch of sorry niggers working here so I'm giving it to you." I was told once by an evangelical, white Christian that black churches didn't really count as Christian because they don't truly believe. They don't have the commitment that we do. I was told by another person that slaves were treated well and that the war had nothing to do with slavery.

These are all anecdotes but the impression left was indelible. The people telling me these things were nice people. People I never suspected of harboring such feelings. Whenever the Confederate flag is flown or defended in anyway I think it is appropriate to remind people of just what secession meant to the people at the time. I typically encounter defensive reactions to such reminders and this means, at least to me, that more reminders are needed.

Why would Amazon refuse to sell the Confederate flag but not Nazi merchandise?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/25/us-usa-shooting-so...

Apple has proven, time and again, that it heavily favors censorship in the name of profits. The real issue we should be talking about is the de-facto monopoly Apple has because of their hardware device success (e.g. iPhone), and how and when this monopoly will be prevented from censoring the speech and content of millions of lives.

Or do we expect monopolistic censorship to be the new norm of the future? Disgusting.

> I don't ever remember even hearing a peep about people even giving a shit that it was for sale or flown.

Well, yeah, people did peep up. Georgia's flag had the Confederate battle flag on it from 1956–2001. We can presume that people gave a shit enough to change it.

Furthermore the Confederate flag used to fly over the State House (I believe, or Capitol Building, can't recall exactly). Moving it next to the Civil War monument was a compromise.

>Not one person in government trying to get it removed or one article online (before this incident) wanting it removed.

This is beyond silly.

"North Carolina taking down confederate flag from old capitol buliding[sic]" March 29, 2013 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-carolina-taking-down-confe... " A Confederate battle flag hung inside the old North Carolina State Capitol last week to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War is being taken down after civil rights leaders raised concerns."

"SC marchers demand removal of Confederate battle flag" January 20, 2014 http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article1383... "Mary Ann Williams has been bringing her church youth group to the King Day at the Dome rally for 10 years, and, every year, they always sit in the same spot: by the statue of Benjamin Tillman."

"Most South Carolina Governor Candidates Stand Firm On Flying Confederate Flag" 05/31/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/31/confederate-flag-so... "Still, it raises ire. There's an ongoing boycott of the state by the NAACP because of the flag and the NCAA refuses to bring tournaments here because of it. Football coach Steve Spurrier has said he doesn't understand why it flies where it is."

"Va. city bans public Confederate flag displays" September 2, 2011 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/va-city-bans-public-confederate-... "But many speakers complained that the flag was an offensive, divisive symbol of the South's history of slavery and shouldn't be endorsed by the city of 7,000 people."