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I’ve been quiet for over month now as I’ve been working fulltime then coming home to stressful to-do lists related to grad school, and because I’ve been trying to transition the blog to a website before posting again. But the transition is proving to be more arduous than I had hoped and things keep coming up that I’d like to comment on, so here I am.
Specifically, I’d really like to put my two cents in
concerning the current Confederate flag controversy. There’s been a lot said on
this already, and the issue is certainly more complicated than simply “if you
support the flag, you’re racist.”
I understand that there is a debate concerning the south’s
motivation for attempting to secede. Some would argue that slavery was only one
in a host of state’s rights issues, and was not the sole reason that young men,
many of whom came from poor families that couldn’t even afford slaves, chose to
take up arms and risk their lives. Many would also argue that the Confederate
flag can be waved as a sign of southern pride and heritage rather than
prejudice or hatred.
The purpose of this blog is not to investigate history and
modern interpretations of it. Nor is it an attempt to label those who would
argue for the flag as a symbol of heritage to be a pack of liars. As a matter
of fact, for the purpose of the point I’d like to make here we can give those
folks the benefit of a doubt.
Let’s discuss the flag in that framework...as a symbol of
heritage. I can see that. As a matter of fact, I emphatically agree.
But that’s the very issue. The Confederate flag is a huge
piece of America’s heritage. It’s a symbol from a very important part of our
history...our Civil War. A war that tore a fledgling nation in two and
threatened to destroy the new country that so many had died to create just the
century before.
The Confederate battle flag a part of everyone’s heritage, not just white people
and not just white southerners. Many people died fighting for it, and many
people died fighting against it. For many people it promised freedom from the Union,
but for many others it threatened to bar the freedom to live and dream and act
as human beings rather than a pieces of property.
Yes, it makes many feel regional
pride and reminds them of the land their ancestors died to protect. But for the
majority of our country’s African American population, it stands for a war
that was fought at least in part to keep them in slavery. And even to other
whites, it represents the rebellion their ancestors died to quell.
It represents a piece of everyone’s history, it makes
everyone feel something, it harkens back to many view points of the American
past.
Now am I saying that people don’t have the right to express
themselves? No. Am I saying that anyone has the right to not be offended? No.
Firstly, this isn’t just “removing everything that offends
someone,” as one of my Facebook friends so painfully put it. The flag is not simply "something that offends someone." That is both an inaccurate
and insensitive way to refer to a symbol that reminds millions of people of the
inequality that still effects their socioeconomic status today and reminds even
more of us of the racial tensions we are so pained to see dividing our beloved nation.
Secondly, this isn’t just an issue of American citizens
expressing themselves. The debate has largely focused on Confederate flags in public
areas, such as the flag now being removed from the grounds of the South Carolina State House.
Basically, it comes down to this: to campaign for the
Confederate flag to remain in public areas is not simply to champion a symbol
which has positive associations for you. It’s to stick a middle finger right up
at the rest of us, black and white, who have negative associations with the
flag.
You’re not just saying “my heritage is important.” What you’re
saying is “my heritage is more important and has more of a right to be seen
than yours.”
