My People Died Because of This Flag
Commentary
“My people died because of this flag” is a comic strip written by Walt Handelsman in the year 2000. In order to understand this comic strip, it is necessary for the readers to look at the contextual information.
In the comic strip, two men are discussing/ arguing about a matter which seems to be that their people died because of a flag which is on the shirt that the white man is wearing. The two men, in term of appearance, have different skin tones, which show that they are from different races, which are more likely to be white and black. From the way they dress, we can conclude that they are both from the modern societies. In term of look, both of them are modernly unhealthy and overweight, which leads to a prediction that they are American, as obesity has been a particular problem in the States nowadays. Moreover, an important fact which adds into the point is that the flag on the white man’s shirt is a flag of the Confederate States of America. This flag is strongly related to the characters’ history as it is derived from the American Civil War, which is strongly associated to slavery and racism towards the black.
The conversation of the characters in the comic strip has helped to clear the meaning of it. The white man is pointing at the flag on his shirt, saying “My people died because of this flag!”, and then the black man says “So did mine…” while folding his arms, which shows that he is uncomfortable or quite offended. The statement of the white man reveals that he is from the southern states, which are the Confederate states in the Civil war. These states are also the defeated side in the Civil war, and are said to be supporting slavery and racism at that time. However, there are opinions who say that they were actually fighting for independence. Therefore, in my opinion, the white man’s statement can be interpreted in two ways: he is either proud to be from the southern states because his ancestors had bravely sacrificed for independence
“My people died because of this flag” is a comic strip written by Walt Handelsman in the year 2000. In order to understand this comic strip, it is necessary for the readers to look at the contextual information.
In the comic strip, two men are discussing/ arguing about a matter which seems to be that their people died because of a flag which is on the shirt that the white man is wearing. The two men, in term of appearance, have different skin tones, which show that they are from different races, which are more likely to be white and black. From the way they dress, we can conclude that they are both from the modern societies. In term of look, both of them are modernly unhealthy and overweight, which leads to a prediction that they are American, as obesity has been a particular problem in the States nowadays. Moreover, an important fact which adds into the point is that the flag on the white man’s shirt is a flag of the Confederate States of America. This flag is strongly related to the characters’ history as it is derived from the American Civil War, which is strongly associated to slavery and racism towards the black.
The conversation of the characters in the comic strip has helped to clear the meaning of it. The white man is pointing at the flag on his shirt, saying “My people died because of this flag!”, and then the black man says “So did mine…” while folding his arms, which shows that he is uncomfortable or quite offended. The statement of the white man reveals that he is from the southern states, which are the Confederate states in the Civil war. These states are also the defeated side in the Civil war, and are said to be supporting slavery and racism at that time. However, there are opinions who say that they were actually fighting for independence. Therefore, in my opinion, the white man’s statement can be interpreted in two ways: he is either proud to be from the southern states because his ancestors had bravely sacrificed for independence