1. TVLand shouldn't have pulled The Dukes of Hazard off the air. As a reflection of its times and
the reason why so many of us begged our parents to let us get into the car
through the window, it's fluff entertainment. If the network was that concerned about the presence of the
flag, they shouldn't have put the episodes into rotation in the first place. So
it'll be back on the air in what – August? September?
2. What we call the Confederate Flag has always been a
symbol of White Pride and White Supremacy. It may not have been conscious for
some, but that is the Heritage which is celebrated. Why else has it been so
prominently used by the Klan and Neo-Nazi groups? Why else did it gain
prominence in the wake of Brown vs. the
Board of Education?
3. We should all probably (re)watch Ken Burn's Civil War.
4. I get that some white Southerners were indeed fighting
for the little they had. They didn't own slaves, and the economic benefits of
slavery didn't trickle down to them. They were likely conscripted into service,
or were paid to take a wealthier person's place. Maybe for some, the Confederate
flag represents what the family went through, the war they survived?
5. Changing the names of schools and statues and bridges and
streets, etc. should be on a case by case basis. Let's not be like the Taliban,
destroying the history of a region. We need not celebrate it, per se, but it could
be informative, instructional. It's important to know that such and such statue
was erected in the days after Reconstruction, when lynchings began to increase.
Or that the bust of so and so came to be displayed prominently in the State
House after schools were ordered to integrate. In some cases, the landmark is
remembered for something other than who it is named for.
Take the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Named for a Confederate
general and a Klan Grand Dragon (thanks, Wikipedia), it is best known as the
site of the Selma March led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Don’t change the name. We should be elated by the
fact the bridge is known for ideals its namesake vehemently opposed.
6. Let's not forget that the North and West is/has been just
as racist as the South, if not more so. The most infamous race riots in
American History all took place in Northern cities. That
riot at the end of
Gangs of New York? White mobs burned
down a Black orphanage and killed 11 men over the course of 5 days. Have we
forgotten about the Internment Camps? Here, learn a little bit about
Alvarez vs. Lemon Grove.
Do not be deceived - American racism is not encapsulated in the Confederate flag. The Stars & Stripes do that just fine.
