C ould you imagine saying the pledge of allegiance to a Confederate flag? A relic of the past which one would usually expect relegated to textbooks, the Confederate flag is actually alive and still flourishing in the South today. A haunting symbol of those days of slavery which many Americans would rather forget, the flag is continuing to stir up emotions in groups with opposing interpretations of history. "A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday does not know where it is today" said General Robert E. Lee before leading the Confederacy's unsuccessful fight against the North during the American Civil War. The Confederate flag which his army proudly waved into combat has since become an object of much controversy. Tensions have arisen between Southern heritage groups who associate it with the honor and tradition of the Old South and blacks who view it as a symbol of racial hatred. Not only was the flag used in the 1800's to represent a union of states which promoted the institution of slavery, but it is also presently embraced by many hate groups to further their causes. These groups include the Ku Klux Klan, which waves the flag to encourage the re-adoption of racist attitudes towards blacks and other minorities. Yet supporters of the Confederate flag are not limited to these openly racist organizations. State-wide debates over the waving of the flag have uncovered a large number of Southerners who oppose the flag's removal since they do not associate it with racism.
The most recent confrontation occurred in South Carolina late last year, when Governor David Beasley proposed to remove the Confederate flag from the State House dome and relocate it at the Confederate Soldier's Monument on the north side of the State House. This has revived the debate over how the Old South's history should be interpreted.
Many blacks claim that those who see the flag as a representation of regional pride and identity in the South are refusing to remember the entire past, including the years of slavery endured by the ancestors of black Southerners. By selectively choosing which events to include in a region's history, supporters of the Confederate flag are only presenting the past from the perspective of the powerful white majority. Instead, all interpretations must be taken into account and every person's heritage must be respected when deciding whether the flag should fly above a state government building that is supposed to reflect the entire state, not just the majority group. To know where a nation is today, as Gen. Robert E. Lee pointed out, requires one to remember the past. However, those who support the flying of the Confederate flag over the State House dome are not recalling all the events of their history, especially the most blatant example of oppression by the US government: slavery. Unless they are further educated in the horrors of this practice and its continued effects on the position of blacks today, they will, unfortunately, remain in ignorance.
The controversy over the Confederate flag stems from a debate over the interpretation of the Confederacy and the war. Groups such as the Dixie Defenders, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Southern Heritage Association claim that states of the Confederacy were not solely dedicated to preserving the institution of chattel slavery, but primarily joined together in opposition to the centralization of power in the hands of the federal government, federally-funded internal improvements, and high protective tariffs. The civil war, they believe, was a war between opposing visions of civilization, between the agrarian South and the industrial North, and not a war of black against white. Yet while slavery was not the only reason behind the division between North and South, its importance as a major aspect of the Southern way of life, a practice which the South refused to eliminate, must be recognized. If the South had won the war, it would have formed an independent nation and continued the practice of slavery within its borders. The flag's supporters, instead, accuse all who approve of Beasley's proposal of saying that there is nothing redeeming or honorable in the traditions of the Old South and the Confederacy. In their support of the Confederate flag, they are choosing to remember certain Southern traditions while purposefully failing to mention the institution of slavery, a key component in the lives of ante-bellum Southerners.
The proposal to move the Confederate flag from the State House dome in South Carolina has been a heated issue for years. First raised at the centennial anniversary of the Civil War during the racial tumult of the 1960s, the Confederate flag has been viewed by many as a symbol of the heritage of the South. While the dome in South Carolina is the last statehouse where the flag flies, Mississippi and Georgia's state flags still incorporate the Confederate flag design. Georgia Governor Zell Miller failed to convince the State Legislature in 1993 to pass a proposal to redesign the flag. In 1994, South Carolina also attempted to pass a resolution to relocate the flag, but the measure was not approved. The fight against the flying of the Confederate flag seemed to be over when David Beasley, one of the state's more conservative Republicans, was elected Governor in 1994; prior to his election, he promised voters that he would never take the Southern banner down. Nevertheless, he proposed to move the flag late in 1996 due to rising racial tensions in the state. Pointing to the recent church burnings and a drive-by shooting of black teens by two men with ties to the Ku Klux Klan, Beasley claims that the changing times have led to this change in policy and admits he was wrong. Yet the main impetus behind this sudden political move may not be a concern for race relations but a desire to placate business leaders who can bring more industries into South Carolina. His proposal was eventually rejected by the GOP-controlled state House which plans to let the issue be decided by the voters in a special 1997 referendum election. Since this is an odd year when there will be few important offices to vote for, the voter turnout will probably be very low, making it difficult to predict the outcome of this proposal.
The attempt to relocate the flag from the State House dome to a prominent national Civil War monument does not address the root of the problem, however. Supporters of this proposal, who are hoping to improve race relations and thereby recruit more industry into the state, will create a new situation which is just as offensive to a large number of Southerners. The Confederate flag will still be flying proudly on state grounds, a celebration of a time in history which brings feelings of oppression to black residents of South Carolina. Governor Beasley has sought to develop a compromise on this issue which will appease both sides, thus strengthening his chances at re-election in 1998. Yet he is only succeeding in furthering the alienation of the black population by continuing to allow the Confederate flag to fly triumphantly in public. As is apparent in his 1994 pledge not to relocate the flag, Beasley is obviously not being motivated by set principles of his own but by political polls indicating that the racial divide is beginning to threaten his upcoming election, making him need a ploy to seemingly unite the state. Unfortunately, he did not realize the entire scope of the problem or foresee the split in his own party due to his sudden change of policy. This divide in the Republican party may cost Beasley his re-election, and possibly lead to victories for either General Charles Condon (who opposes relocating the flag) or the Democratic Mayor of Charleston, Joe Riley.
Instead of the proposal which is currently being debated, what is really needed is a measure that will completely remove the Confederate flag or any image of the flag from all state buildings and monuments which are meant to represent the entire population of the state, black and white. Simply relocating the flag only strives to placate everyone involved, and does not provide an adequate solution to the problem. If Beasley's referendum is passed by voters in November, it will simply create the delusion that blacks no longer have the right to complain about the Confederate banner and will prevent the flag from being contested in the future. By eliminating all Confederate images from state grounds, the South Carolinian government would send a message to its residents and the entire country that it does not promote or tolerate racism or any other form of oppression. The danger of lingering symbols of hatred, which can instill racist beliefs into the minds of even more people, cannot be trivialized. While the past of the Confederate South must not be forgotten, it must also not be repeated.