Scott Neidich
Aug 8, 2017 · 2 min read

I think cornbread in a cast iron skillet sounds like a great symbol of southern pride, as well as delicious.

But you’re still drawing your conclusions around the facts running counter to your claims. It’s like trying to recognize a constellation of stars, and you are ignoring some of the brightest lights in the sky because you’re convinced you see a bear, whereas I see a shark.

This is a form of cognitive dissonance I’ve used as well in my rejection of the claim Human religion persists within the Star Trek universe: I acknowledge various points that support the claim as true, but refuse to give them creedence as a constellation because I have other considerations preventing them from connecting into a cohesive unit. Shark overlaps bear, and seems more obvious. While none of those points individually proves religion in Star trek is as you and others have argued it is, and each can be individually dismissed, my argument against the concept is that other points exist directly contradicting the constellation you are seeing. Thus, I claim my constellation is brighter and more obvious than yours.

Here, you are making claims that go against an individual fact that a majority of White Americans view the flag as a southern pride symbol. when in truth the 2015 poll of white Americans does not support this claim. The CNN poll clearly establishes that a majority of White Americans saw the flag as primarily as a symbol of Southern Pride: That is a fact we can’t get around without full acknowledgement.

But it doesn’t mean that hope for the South is dead, or that the country views us exclusively as Racists. There are more to these polling data than that single figure suggests.

The 2011 Pew Poll showed that even though nearly twice as many White Southerners viewed the flag positively rather than negatively (22% positive, 13 negative, and 64% saying neither), only 9% of Americans surveyed at the time viewed the confederate flag with a positive reaction.

The polling data overall show that the Confederate flag is at minimum a complex symbol, and much like the hijab means different things to different people: Which is the major modern reason why I think either ones’ portrayal in a distant, utopian future needs to be carefully weighed and fully explored if it is to happen at all. Hence the TV show being a better venue than the Film.

Scott Neidich

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Postdoctoral Researcher working on HIV vaccine. Views are my own. If you are planning a public debate and would like to invite me, please email sdneidich@gmail