Not many symbols in history make me as angry as the Confederate flag. We see it everywhere even today. Even in states that weren't even states at the time of the Civil War.
Some say it is a symbol for a rebel spirit and independent thinking. This thinking has spread to Canada where the flag is even depicted there. Some say it represents the rights of the states to push back against Federal regulation. I do not agree.
This flag represents the Confederate States of America. Technically, it is the Battle Flag but it is the flag most associated with the Confederates. Let's not get hung up on that. This flag represents the reason that 750,000 or more Americans were killed. The South fought for their rights to keep slaves and the North fought to hold the Union together. Later there was a bit about freeing the slaves, but the initial goal of the North and President Lincoln was to keep the country together.
Some would argue that the Civil War was fought over "state's rights." Yeah, sure, I can agree with that, but can you tell me what specific right they wanted the states to have power over? The right to own slaves.
U.S. History is not as comforting as you are led to believe from the nice survey history textbooks you read in grade school. It is a harsh story with many players that have good and bad parts to their individual tales. The Alamo, for example, was not this bastion of freedom that some people like to claim. This battle was fought over the rights of the Texans to keep their slaves. Texas was part of Mexico at the time and Mexico had just abolished slavery. They fought for Texan freedom, yes, but not for all.
So when I see this flag on trucks, barns, shirts, and hats all over the country I cannot help but think the owner/wearer is either ignorant to its meaning or is a racist. I really don't think it's a stretch to think that since the KKK has used the flag and the KKK was founded by former Confederate officers after the Civil War. “The [revival of the] flag is a sign that the south is trying to relive their glory days,” and they are “holding onto a glorified identity that never existed.”
North Carolina decided to hang the flag in their Capitol building as part of an exhibit commemorating the Civil War. The exhibit, with the flag, was set to remain until April 2015 to mark the 150th anniversary of Federal troops arriving in Raleigh. Once it was known that the Governor was going to use that part of the Capitol as a work space, the exhibit was set to be moved. State Historic Sites Director Keith Hardison had said Thursday the flag should be viewed in what he called the proper historical context.
“Our goal is not to create issues. Our goal is to help people understand issues of the past. … If you refuse to put something that someone might object to or have a concern with in the exhibit, then you are basically censoring history.”
North Carolina NAACP president Rev. William Barber did not share Hardison's thoughts on the matter.
“He is right that it has a historical context,” Barber said. “But what is that history? The history of racism. The history of lynchings. The history of death. The history of slavery. If you say that shouldn’t be offensive, then either you don’t know the history, or you are denying the history.”
The exhibit is remaining up, but across the street in another building.
I actually don't oppose the exhibit itself because of the historical context. I do think that it was inappropriate to have it in a working part of the Capitol building. I think it is a neat idea to have the flag flying in the proper context of representing the 150 year anniversary of the Civil War. I think there should be some sort of ceremony in 2015 to represent Union troops entering Raleigh and bringing the flag down. That could be very interesting but I don't know if they have something like that planned.
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