In some Swedish schools it’s forbidden to wear clothes with the Swedish flag on because it’s associated with racism. It’s absolutely absurd! By doing so we’re giving our flag to the racists. We’re saying that the flag is theirs. It’s not. They might use it as a symbol of the things they stand for but what the Swedish flag truly stands for is Sweden as a country.
Apparently there’s people who are offended by others wearing clothes with the flag on. At least that’s what the principals at those schools say. In actuality it’s not the clothes they’re offended by but the opinions of some of the people wearing those clothes. If a immigrant wore a shirt with a Swedish flag on I doubt his/her immigrant friends would find that offensive. However if someone with racist opinions do they probably will.
But is the solution to forbid our flag? Of course it isn’t. It’s not a racist symbol but we’re pretty damn close to making it so. What we should do is reclaim the flag. Take it back and let it stand for what it’s meant to stand for.
Another thing which isn’t a bad thing but now is considered bad is calling yourself a patriot. Or nationalist. People associate patriotism with racism but the true meaning of the word is simply a person who love her/his country. I love Sweden. I love our freedom, our political system, our equality, our history. So I’m a patriot.
Does that also make me a racist? Of course it doesn’t. It hasn’t anything to do with politics at all. I simply love my country. You can do that no matter if you’re far-left (as I am) or far-right.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a far-left person call themself a patriot. Most definitely because of what that word is associated with. But I’m a patriot. And a socialist. And a anti-racist.
What do you people from other countries think of this? Are things like this in your countries?
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I’m glad to hear you say this, since I know of you beeing left wing
Beeing a nationalist is something from other cultures are proud of. We had a chinese artist at our school today lecturing, for him chinese heritage and culture, and old traditions was very important. In our school, none of the swedish artists or teachers we’ve had have ever said that swedish heritage and culture is important to them. It’s so sad, we have no since of nationality anymore.
Being proud of your country and your heritage should be encouraged. In this country its all just political– trying to make the other guys look bad. Actually it all just comes down to people being greedy and wanting all the $ for themselves.
I do know that in this country the confederate flag is associated with racism (I won’t go in to that here!) but if you go in to certain areas wearing aiyou’re just asking for trouble.
why exactly is the swedish flag associated with racism? i feel out of the loop there..
i agree with what you are saying though. there is no reason to stop using the flag of your country because it is associated with racism, what really should be done is finding a way to remove that association instead. i would never be offended by seeing someone wearing a swedish flag, heck as i asked above, i don’t even understand how it is associated with racism…
the confederate flag in the us has been considered by many a symbol of racism, but that i feel is fact and should not be used as the confederacy was disbanded during the civil war times.. so there is nothing to be proud about in that flag.
Aww thank you hun
WHO THE HELL IS BEING RASIST?!
I hate rasist people…
I just have to say to the confederate flags defense that it’s not a racist symbol, and the fact is that war had nothing to do with slavery:)
That is very interesting. But kids can (for example) wear a shirt with the colors of the swedish flag, right? I don’t know what flags have to do with racism. Unless it is a flag of a racist group.
a lot of people wear stuff with american flags on them here but usually we just end up calling them hilbillies, not racists, sometimes they have too much pride in america.
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That sucks that you can’t wear stuff with your flag on it. I would be outraged if that happened here in the United States >:(
It’s a different case here in the Philippines! I’m not sure about wearing the flag on our uniforms (we never do XD) but we are very patriotic people. Nationalistic really because in down in our history. What is saddening though is the lack of it nowadays because of the Americanization and all. But we’re still patriotic people.
Nog för att man inte ogillar sällskapet av den man äter middag tillsammans med, men ibland är det inte ett dugg fel att spendera middagen med lite tv-zappande eller en bra rulle. Och äter man själv så finns det inte i min värld att sitta vid bordet och titta in i väggen, utan då är alltid tvn eller datorn alternativet. :]
Det du skriver om får mig att asgarva. En del människor borde dra ut den pinne de har i röven och lätta upp lite. Påminner mycket om hur skolorna började bete sig efter Columbine-massakern och suspenderade en elev för att hon hade slöja, en för att han hade blått hår, en för att hon hade puttat sin kompis lekfullt i korridoren och en sexåring för att han hade hållt i en chicken bit som såg ut som en pistol och hade glatt sagt “Pang pang!”. Jag förstår hur man vill undvika komplikationer och bråk, men någonstans måste man ju se att man går lite över gränsen och gör livet ganska omänskligt.
Just coz you love your country doesn’t mean you’re a racist. In our country it’s actually good to see that a lot of people are already having this sense of nationalism in them. Believe it or not, in the past years it wasn’t as common as it is now where I live. There’s much improvement. Too bad in your country they obviously despise those kinds of actions :\
Håller med dig. Allt det där är helt sjukt.Ska muslimer få bära slöja ska jag få bära svenska flaggan om jag vill. Vissa har verkligen gått lite över gränsen gällande det där…
What the fuck? That’s just plain fucking stupid, Jesus, seriously. I mean the flag thing. If that’d happen here in Finland I’d be totally pissed off – well, I’m already pissed off that’s happened in Sweden! Gah. I ran out of words.
I’d have to agree that this is VERY ridiculous. And I am curious, how is it connected with racism exactly?
I agree with you completely. I am a socialist, yet I am also a patriot and very proud of my country, this is something that confuses some people.
Similar things have happened with the flag in the UK. You’ll very rarely see a flag flying in the street, and this due to how the flag has become related to nationlist politicak movements, and therefore unfavourable with other people in the political spectrum – not a single non-exteme UK political party has a UK flag in their logo! Which I do think is wrong.
Ahh, I’m sorry for the mini rant haha. I actually had a long discussion with someone about this the other day too. A country’s flag should never be something that people are ashamed of, and it shouldn’t be allowed to be assosciated with racists and nationalists because that’s not what it’s meant to stand for.