Symbolism and the Confederate Flag
By Albert B. Kelly
Recently, I was reading a
book and it had a chapter about church growth. In it, the author speculated
that one of the reasons for the lack of growth and the declining numbers in
many houses of worship had to do with romanticizing the past; specifically the
tendency of parishioners to hold on to the past rather than modernize services,
buildings, music, etc.
As a result, many churches
fail to attract new members and families. Holding on to tradition, they fail to
be as relevant and meaningful as they might be in our fast-moving society. I
have often heard the refrain “I would rather die than change” and as the chapter
so amply illustrates, many houses of worship did eventually die off.
My point is that we all
have a soft spot for those times and seasons gone by. True or not, it seems like
life was simpler back when; food tasted better, air was sweeter, people were
friendlier, right and wrong were more clearly defined, and the list goes on.
I had these thoughts fresh
in my mind when the news broke from South Carolina; nine African-American
citizens shot and killed in church while attending a weekly bible study at the
hands of a 21-year-old white supremacist. With his motive, came the secondary
debate around the Confederate Flag; flying it at statehouses and even selling
it online.
In the wake of this
tragedy, we’re now seeing some state and federal officials backtracking on either
their previous silence or their affirmative statements in defense of this flag and
the right to fly it on public grounds. For the most part, these ones previously
defined the issue as a “states’ rights” issue; though now they’ve seen the
light, or claim they do, recognizing the flag as a symbol of a bygone era.
It comes down to change
and whether it’s a house of worship hoping to grow and be relevant to a
community, an elected official, a bureaucracy, or a “culture”; there comes a
time when people and institutions need to put away their most cherished myths
and take a fresh look at things.
Symbols matter and if you
doubt that, look again at the photograph of Marines raising the American flag
over Iwo Jima in WWII, Neil Armstrong planting the Stars and Stripes on the
Moon, or the firemen raising the flag over the ruins of the World Trade center
on 9/11. These iconic images served as rallying points for the American spirit
and they fill us with pride to this day.
If a flag- in this case
the American flag- can fill us with pride and move us in noble ways; so too can
a flag fill one with shame, bring dishonor and cause offense. When it comes to
the Confederate flag it was, as it was for any other battle flag, a standard
that men rallied under and died for.
But that’s only part of
the story. They also died defending slavery- America’s original sin. Had this
symbol, the Confederate flag, remained a symbol of the Civil War era, I doubt
we would be having this national debate and Walmart, Amazon, and how many
others would not be pulling product from their shelves.
But in the late 1950’s and
early 1960’s; precisely because the Confederate flag is such a powerful symbol;
segregationists used the flag as a rallying point and a stage prop for
“segregation then, segregation now, segregation forever”.
Don’t misunderstand, I
respect and admire those who want to connect with their past; especially those
who are willing to share their unique heritage…warts and all. But for the sons
of the south, there are many other aspects to their heritage worthy of
celebration that don’t involve this flag.
For me and perhaps many
others; when it comes to healing the racial and cultural divide in our nation,
putting away this flag is the low-hanging fruit. There’s a lot that remains to
be done, but this shouldn’t be on the list because whatever benefit or comfort
some might derive from raising this flag, it will never be equivalent to or
outweigh the hurt and humiliation it symbolizes.
This was never more
obvious than when I traveled to the plantation in eastern Virginia to stand
graveside where my forefathers, shackled by the institution of slavery, were
laid to rest. I had to wonder what they would think of us today, debating this
issue, 150 years after the Civil War ended.