Should the Confederate Flag still Hang?
James Tuck, Univrsity of South Carolina
Rank upon rank of men in Confederate uniforms marched through the streets of Columbia, South Carolina, with muskets on their shoulders. Their womenfolk were out in force to support them. The names of Confederate war casualties were read out. It could have been 1861. Instead, it all happened two weeks ago in this brave new year of 2000.
The marchers were part of a rally of 6,000 people protesting any move to haul down the Confederate battle flag which has flown from the dome of South Carolina's Statehouse for the last 38 years. That "stars and bars" flag continues to divide people as much as ever. Some see it as a symbol of hate, bondage and oppression; others view it as a vital part of Southern heritage, a definition of a whole culture.
Last Monday, as our campus was closed to commemorate the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the NAACP held a counter-rally in Columbia. The attendance numbers were astounding — expecting 10,000 protesters, the organizers instead found themselves addressing a crowd of over 50,000 people. In addition, the NAACP has a tourism boycott in force against the state until the flag comes down, and South Carolina lawmakers will vote on the issue shortly.
The rhetoric being used is beginning to heat up with a senator by the name of Arthur Ravenel telling the pro-Confederate crowd last weekend that South Carolina's politicians should not bow to pressure from what he called the "National Association of Retarded People."
Well, that comment is easy to condemn as odious and repulsive. Indeed, the whole flag issue might look relatively straightforward to most of us who are part of a multi-racial student body on the West Coast. The flag should go. It's a part of history, a flag raised in an attempt to perpetuate slavery of African-Americans. It's the opposite of a liberty flag.
The controversy was addressed in the Republican presidential race. Texas Gov. George W. Bush as always took the safe, political course and won cheers during a debate in South Carolina by saying it was up to local people to decide. Arizona Sen. John McCain was more candid, saying, "I understand how it could be offensive to some people, but I had ancestors who fought in the Confederate Army and I thought they fought honorably."
Strangely, although a British citizen, I'm in the same position as McCain. I'm a quarter-American, as my grandmother came from a proud society family in Baltimore. Like almost every other person with Southern links, I can claim to be related to Robert E. Lee. I own an antique chest at home with brass letters spelling L-E-E on it that's been passed down as a family heirloom.
My forbears fought under that Confederate flag. They were wrong. But they still form part of my personal history and it's hard to disown that. However, while remembering that history, I believe we should get beyond it. Move on and not get trapped like the toy soldiers marching in Columbia.
Like McCain, it could be said my ancestors fought honorably. My father gave me a memoir of one of those relatives, Lt. Col. Richard Snowden Andrews, who commanded the First Maryland Artillery. In the book, his wife said she was reading the newspaper one day at breakfast in 1862, when she read he'd been fatally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Run. She refused to believe the report, rushed to the battlefield and found her gravely ill husband in a nearby farmhouse with most of his stomach blown away, but still alive. She nursed him back to health. According to his wife, Snowden Andrews felt there was only one thing for him to do when civil war broke out in 1861: "His heart was with the South, and the principle of States Rights was very dear to him."
Back in the present day, supporters of the flag say the banner represents those states' rights against any interference by the federal government and it's not about race. That, to me, is complete nonsense. The main states' right the South was fighting for was the right to keep black men, women and children as slaves. What could be more racist?
There is heritage in that flag, but there is also evil, cancerous, ugly oppression. It has no place in this day and age and should be hauled down. Luckily, even in South Carolina that seems likely to happen. The latest opinion poll showed nearly 60 percent of citizens want the Confederate flag removed from the Statehouse.
Perhaps it's time the politicians looked to the future instead of the ugly past.
James Tuck is a student at the University of Southern California. This column first appeared in the Daily Trojan at the University of Southern California and is reprinted here courtesy of U-Wire.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Tuesday, January 25, 2000
