How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

by Clint Smith

It was clear that the Confederacy, and the flag flown in its honor, meant something very specific to Jeff. But for myself, and so many people I love, it meant something different, something far more sinister and violent. Jeff was quick to assert that he believed the symbolism of the flag had become distorted by “other groups” who stole it and have used it as a symbol of hate, which according to Jeff it was never intended to be. Though he didn’t say it explicitly, it sounded like Jeff was talking about the Ku Klux Klan. I asked him directly what he thought about people likening an organization like the Sons of Confederate Veterans to the KKK. “No, they’re not the Klan,” he said, speaking with renewed conviction, his jaw stiffening. “No, that’s what I was just saying. Even the Klan will admit that that flag does not mean that at all. It means something else to them. They just like the flag. They took our flag and used it. They use a Christian flag too and all that. But the thing you’ve got to remember, like I said, here in this area, the Sons of Confederates are representing their ancestors.” Founded in 1896 in Richmond—the former capital of the Confederacy—the Sons of Confederate Veterans describes itself as an organization of around thirty thousand members that aims to preserve “the history and legacy of these heroes, so future generations can understand the motives that animated the Southern Cause.” It is also the oldest hereditary organization for men who are descendants...