The role of what many call the “Confederate Flag” in contemporary America has been an ever-present discussion and particularly ardent since Dylan Roof’s pre-meditated terror last June. Both sides in this debate have been going at it like the Chiefs and the Dolphins on Christmas in ’71 (the longest game in NFL history).
But let’s be honest here —isn’t this discussion played out? Aren’t you tired of all the back and forth on this “Confederate Flag” nonsense?
Yeah, me too.
I’m tired of hearing it called the “Confederate Flag.” At no point was the banner Bree Newsome removed the Confederacy’s official flag. It’s actually called the “Battle Flag of the Army of
Northern Virginia.” It was used to deter Confederate friendly fire during our white supremacist inspired civil war.
However, it was incorporated in the CSA’s “Stainless Banner,” created by William Tappan Thompson in 1863, who wrote, “As a people, we are fighting to maintain the heaven ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race…” It’s no wonder the final iteration was dubbed the “Blood Stained Banner.” Pretty straightforward, wouldn’t you say?
Unsurprisingly, Thompson’s pro-human slavery spirit spread across the treasonous leadership of Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and South Carolina faster than Walmart in small rural towns. Not only did these states go on record for why they flew the banner, but they continued flying it — granted, unofficially — as recent as this year, over a century later.
I’m more tired of the “History and Heritage” argument, the trendy red herring of choice lately.
Everyone knows how it symbolizes pride and memories of the past. I mean, how could anyone forget the one emblem proudly shared by the KKK and Dixiecrats during the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s? Ah, such tranquil times for each and every American, am I right?
Except Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t die of old age. Nor Malcolm X. Nor Emmet Till. Nor the countless working citizens of East St. Louis in 1917. Nor the “two million” African slaves that didn’t survive inhumane travel across the Atlantic to an arguably worse fate awaiting in Jamestown, VA.
Indeed, the battle flag stands for resistance, but we mustn’t let the pandemic of twenty-first century racial blindness haze our sensibilities. Of course some of us won’t look at it today and think, “I hate black people.” Some of us aren’t in public saying nigger, either.
The hard truth is this flag epitomizes several centuries’ worth of dead bodies — black, brown, and white — and the considerable lengths a hefty portion of this country was willing to travel to preserve such barbaric traditions.
What’s more, this reality will always supersede any alternative.
If you’re tired of hearing about all the “Confederate Flag” hoopla, I’m right there with you. I imagine we all prefer to wake up, turn on our screens and read our local papers without having to collectively roll our eyes.
Unfortunately, we don’t always get what we want.
Keem O. Muhammad,
Editor-in-Chief of LEGACY Magazine