The Confederate Flag has long been a symbol of the American South. Many claim that the flag represents a racist culture, one that fought to keep blacks in slavery, and one that continues to try to limit equal rights for African-Americans. Others believe that the Confederate Flag is just a symbol of Southern history and pride. Recent events in the country have brought this controversy to the forefront of American consciousness once again.
The racial connotations of the Confederate flag originate from its beginning. It was first developed as the battle flag for Robert E. Lee, who commanded the North Virginian Army for the Confederacy . It was later incorporated as part of the flag of the state of Mississippi toward the end of the Reconstruction period (Hayes).
When we consider the origins of the Confederate flag, it is easy to see why it contains such strong racial connotations. If we consider the generations of African-Americans who toiled on American soil as slaves, and the fact that slavery was one of the major issues leading up to the Civil War, it is easy to see how a battle flag of one of the major fighting forces for the South could be considered as a racist symbol. Mississippi had some of the most repressive laws toward African-Americans after the Civil War, especially with the Black Codes they enacted . For them to adopt the Confederate Flag as part of their state flag signifies the racist nature of the entire state, at least in the eyes of African-Americans and equal rights advocates.
In his piece on MSNBC, Hayes points out that the Confederate Flag was not used as a political statement until 1948 when Southern Democrats formed a party to oppose President Truman’s Civil Rights programs, which included de-segregating the military (Hayes). The primary purpose of this party was to prevent the adoption of more equal rights measures for African-Americans and to prevent further integration. The Confederate flag has also been adopted as a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist organizations in the United States (Hayes). This is especially telling when we consider that the Ku Klux Klan and other racist organizations were formed after the Civil War with the sole purpose of violently preventing African-Americans from achieving equality with the whites . When organizations whose sole purpose is to intimidate minorities and advocate for the supremacy of a single race adopts a flag as a symbol of their organization, it is rather difficult to argue that it represents Southern history and pride.
Given the history of the Confederate flag, and the organizations who have adopted it to represent them, it is extremely difficult to regard it as anything other than a symbol of hate and racism. As one commenter mentioned in his response to Hayes story on MSNBC, the flag belongs in a museum. It clearly should not be flying above any official government buildings or institutions.
Works Cited
Hayes, Chris. The real history of the Confederate Flag. MSNBC. 23 June 2015. Web. 23 April 2016.
Rebuilding the Old Order. ushistory.org. 2016. Web. 23 April 2016.
<http://www.ushistory.org/us/35d.asp>
Reconstruction. ushistory.org. 2016. Web. 23 April 2016. <http://www.ushistory.org/us.35.asp>
