Because racism was at the core of the Charleston church shootings last week, the debate about the “Confederate flag” on the South Carolina Capitol grounds is back in the news.
As a southerner the flag controversy matters to me, but I can say unequivocally that the flag doesn’t. It holds no meaning for me whatsoever.
In fact, I have never met nor known any southerner for whom the Confederate flag has any meaning.
I grew up only a few miles from the Mclean House at old Appomattox Court House where Lee surrendered to Grant. My great great grandfather fought in Lee’s army.
My mother was raised in Appomattox where we used to gather for family reunions, and I remember many times a bunch of us driving over to what we called “the surrendering grounds” to visit the Mclean House (we didn’t romanticize the place) .
Never once do I remember seeing somebody in my Mother’s family displaying the Confederate flag or arguing that it should be flown above the state capitol in Richmond. It could have happened, but I have no memory of it or recall it being something significant if it did.
So my take on this controversy is that it is all about what I call the tyranny of the minority.
That minority is composed of racist southerners who claim the Confederate flag is a symbol of their heritage when in truth it is nothing more than their way of saying they still believe in white supremacy and the days of slavery and segregation.
The truth is, the so-called “Confederate flag” has never been a symbol of southern heritage. The only reason it is still around is because it was pulled out of a closet somewhere and used by the old Dixiecrat Party as its symbol when it broke away from the Democratic Party in 1948 led by racist Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, of all places. Later members of the Ku Klux Klan started using it for their symbol.
Nor did the Confederate flag ever have any official status during the Civil War itself. It was one among several flags used by soldiers as they went into battle.
If it is a symbol of southern heritage, then it stands for humiliating defeat because that is what happened to the southern army. Let’s not forget that the Confederacy did lose the war.
Sadly this tyranny of the minority now controls many southern state legislatures, including the one in South Carolina. It is possible that they represent the majority of South Carolina voters, but I doubt it. My guess is most voters don’t care one way or the other whether the flag is flown on Capitol grounds or not.
In that regard, though, they are tacitly supporting racism because the Civil War was fought for the sole reason to protect and perpetuate the institution of slavery. Every time that flag is flown it is a reminder of that awful, ugly period in southern history.
I truly believe only a minority of southerners who are still racists take pride in that kind of heritage.
The rest of us see the Confederate flag for what it actually is, a symbol of shame rather than pride.
To take it down and put it away forever would be a great favor to every southerner who is honest enough to admit our heritage is a mixed bag of good and evil, and there is nothing we can do about it except to stand for the good in our own time.
Taking down the Confederate flag is one simple way to show we do.
linnposts.com 