Steven Donahue's Blog: Books and Stuff - Posts Tagged "confederate-flag"

There has been a lot of talk lately about the controversy surrounding the display of the Confederate flag.

Is the Confederate flag a symbol of hatred and racism, or is it a representation of Southern heritage?

The truth, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Northerners, like myself, tend to view the flag as offensive, a reminder of our nation’s disgraceful bondage of human beings because of their skin color. However, Southerners tend to see the flag as a proud reminder of how their ancestors fought for what they believed in.

I grew up in the 1980s, and I was a big fan of The Dukes of Hazzard. However, at my young age, I didn’t know the significance of the flag or the name General Lee. I just thought it was a cool show with a cool car. Now, toy versions of the famous car are being pulled from store shelves. Products with the flag on it are also being removed from stores, and Apple is pulling Civil War games from their App Store because of the appearance of the flag.

Is all of this just? Is all of this necessary?

The true question is why did this issue take so long to grab the headlines? Why did it take the murder of nine innocent black folks in a South Carolina church to stir this debate?

For me it comes down to this: If someone wants to display the Confederate flag on their property or wear the flag on a t-shirt, they do have the right to do so. However, for the Confederate flag to wave at a government building, anywhere in the United States, is just wrong.

It may be my Northern sensitivities, but I do not like the Confederate flag. To me it does stand for racism and slavery. It also stands for a group of Americans who wanted to split our nation to keep their economic structure intact. Slave labor made many Southerners rich, and, like it or not, the Confederate flag will always be tied to that horrible institution.

If it were up to me, Confederate flags would only be visible in museums.