Swastikas, Nazism, and Christopher Columbus

[Almighty Colin]

Interesting news that was posted yesterday about the swastika showing up on a Coca Cola product in Hong Kong.

Symbols are so powerful :: an insignia, a flag or even a person can be symbolic.

For some people Christopher Columbus is a symbol of the new world meeting the old world. He's a symbol of the beginning of the American way - or the Puerto Rican way, or the Mexican way. he is a symbol of technology and progress and the Western way of life. For other people, he is a symbol of genocide and oppression - the systematic and brutal killing of a people.

Martin Luther King is a symbol of rising civil equality for millions of people. For many others, he is meaningless; just another name in history.

One person may feel outraged to see an American flag being burned and stepped on. Another may feel angry about a Rebel Flag flying over a capital building. We draw quick conclusions from the symbols people knowingly associate with themselves; the fish, the Darwin fish, the peace sign, the flag, a cross on a necklace, the swastika, a bumper sticker, a t-shirt, a hairstyle and even a car.

At what point is someone being insensitive by celebrating and symbolizing what they believe in even when that same symbol has a very negative meaning for someone else?