In the past, I was always told that the Confederate flag was a racially offensive symbol. At my old high school, a student once parked his truck with a display of the flag and was told to remove it— sparking controversies. The infamous Charlottesville rally in 2017 then became perpetuated in the media narrative, with viral pictures of white supremacists waving the flag along with the Gadsden and Nazi flags. Another photoshoot from January 6th served a similar purpose. All these factors have made this flag, as well as any memorial of the Confederacy, increasingly associated with racism in recent years.
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, the NCAA threatened to bar all colleges in Mississippi from participating unless the state flag, which included a battle flag in the top-left corner, was replaced. The replacement happened shortly after. Many memorials of Confederate generals have been taken down too. In Richmond, Virginia, a statue of Robert E. Lee riding a horse that had stood there since 1890 became the hotspot for protests and vandalism in 2020, and was ultimately removed. Similar calls for removal have been made upon the Stone Mountain carvings in Atlanta, Georgia as well, where several leaders of the Confederacy are featured. Last but not least, UT’s Eyes of Texas lyrics were deemed controversial for a similar reason— they were inspired by a quote from Robert E. Lee.
However, I am somewhat baffled by this movement of “canceling” anything related to the Confederacy. I remember visiting a vacation town in Missouri and seeing Confederate flags printed on shot glasses and shirts in gift shops, and people didn’t seem to have any problems. Once, while road-tripping in the Deep South, I saw this flag flying almost everywhere in rural areas. I realized that this controversy is in fact quite nuanced, as, while the displaying of the flag by the alt-right plus the South’s dark history are undeniable, they are not the full context.
Claim One: The Confederate Flag Stands for a Failed Treason
I am personally a proponent of state rights by themselves and am not opposed to states leaving the union. But of course, anyone who has done at least some research into the Civil War history should be aware that the South’s secession was almost entirely based on keeping slavery amid concerns over a growing abolitionist force. In other words, although Lincoln’s “invasion,” which enormously devastated the South through, for example, Sherman’s March to the Sea, was ethically questionable, the Civil War was after all about slavery instead of the alleged “state rights” that many people claim. Thus, any rational thinker should disregard the idea of the “Lost Cause” which glorifies the South’s role in the war.
On the other hand, however, numerous arguments condemn the modern display of the Confederate flag due to it representing a failed treason. I find such remarks ridiculous.
The Constitution includes no clauses upon the legality of secession. If gaining independence is now considered traitorous, then we must also re-evaluate the earlier American Revolution. Washington’s role would not be inherently different from that of Jefferson Davis. And of course, we must apologize to the British and sing, “God save the King!” Or, should we always disregard the losing side in history? What if I ask you whether any politicians or media have ever celebrated the history of the white men’s one-sided conquest of the indigenous people of the Great Plains? Remember that the conflict was such a fiasco for the Natives that the reservations’ establishment could even be framed as a graceful mercy granted by the whites. What about the dominance of Israel in the Middle East, given that the Palestinians and their Muslim allies have always been the losing side throughout the decades, bearing defeats after defeats? How about that since the Taiwanese endured a humiliating loss to Communist China in 1949, the US should ally with the obvious victor instead?
These are obviously sarcasm. Indeed, some losing sides get people’s sympathy while other winning teams get booed, because people tend to judge historical events based on today’s moral standards, and morals change over time. The loss of the Confederacy should take no part in the evaluation of the Confederate flag’s presence in our society.
Claim Two: The Confederate Flag Is Racist
If your argument against this flag is based on its historical connections to slavery and racism, which I absolutely acknowledge, just think one step further about the beloved Star-Spangled Banner. What does this flag mean to the British that died during the Revolutionary War, the indigenous people that lost their land, the Japanese that were either imprisoned in camps or nuked, or the innocent people of Vietnam and Iraq? Then why is the US flag still officially flown everywhere, instead of being revised like what Mississippi did to its state flag? Don’t get me wrong, I am very supportive of this flag’s many widely accepted ideals, but we should as well recognize the fact that almost every political symbol in the world contains some controversy— depending on your perspective.
In a civilized society, people should always be able to distinguish different contexts, because often, it matters way more than what is being said or done itself. It is true that the Confederate flag is commonly used by white supremacists during their rallies and anyone with a brain should denounce them completely. However, while Hitler was a vegan, that does not make all vegans Nazis. The same logic applies here: this flag has always been flying in the South; it has already become a common symbol of identity for many Southerners; and most of them do not associate it with hate.
In the past, this flag was not nearly as stigmatized as it is today. In a popular TV show back in the 1980s called The Dukes of Hazzard, a Dodge Challenger bears a Confederate flag on the roof with little criticism. Though deeply divided by race, a 2015 study found that 57% of Americans still see the flag representing more southern pride than racism. However, that number might have gone down by now due to the media consistently bringing up stories of racial tensions, almost always portraying this flag negatively. While many criticisms of this flag stand true, it is unwise to ignore its many nuanced contexts.
Instead of stigmatizing the South, do the right thing
Overall, I believe that the Confederate flag, along with those memorials of southern generals, is within the realm of free speech and worth protection, and society should not continue to compromise over this massive campaign of political correctness over so-called problematic symbols. I strongly disagree with Mississippi’s and Richmond’s decisions to remove their Confederate symbols because it is unnecessary and may stigmatize a large group of people. If politicians really care about the lives of black people today, they should diligently work toward better education, higher standards of law enforcement, and a thriving atmosphere for business, especially in the inner cities, rather than merely focusing on petty symbols or whether a state has a history of racial discrimination or not.
