I just responded to a reader’s comments about the Confederate flag. It made me revisit something that I had discussed with someone else in the not so distant past.
What is the problem with the Confederate flag, today?
To some, my take on it might sound over-simplistic, but I see the problem as “layers.” The flag has historical “layers.”
Even at the time of the Civil War, different layers were “woven” into the meaning of the flag. I wish that I could separate one layer from all of the rest… (wartime and postwar) that being the layer that represents the men, as humans and battlefield warriors; humans who had endured many different hardships and had truly varied opinions about the war and their own reasons (and depending on the each man individually, a soldier’s “reasons” were not necessarily in-tune with the government under which he served) for fighting being present in the ranks (and… willingness and unwillingness of a person’s service can be defined in many different ways). If I decided to fly a Confederate flag (and no, not the symbol of the historically ignorant in the form of the rectangular “naval jack”… that is, unless I was flying it in the memory of my Confederate naval ancestor… which is besides the point, because I don’t have a Confederate naval ancestor anyway) from my front porch and it be understood by all that this was the reason that I was flying it, then I think that (keeping in mind that the other layers were not represented in the flag as a symbol – including the layers that represented the preservation of the institution of slavery) most folks wouldn’t “flinch” when they saw it flying from the porch.
However, it’s all of the other layers that make it a problem. I would know what I was flying it for, but everyone who saw it would have multiple takes on what it represented. Do I take the “and the others be damned” approach, or am I conscious of other takes on meaning? First, there are the layers that were laid on the flag at the time of the war. Among the first (and actually, one might see this as the foundation upon which all other layers were laid), is the symbolism (let’s call it the “governmental cause” of the Confederacy) in the preservation of the institution of slavery. Let’s take it another step and say that there was yet another wartime layer… another meaning of the flag at the time of the war as a symbol of people that opposed the threat to the social order of the South… even if a soldier didn’t own a slave, the thought of freeing the slaves would threaten the social structure. Let’s take a look at yet another wartime layer (one that others might see as more obvious than the last two)… the symbol of the flag as representative of secession from the Union.
In these last three, we have set benchmarks that represent challenges to some modern sensibilities (just how thick is our skin?). Frankly, this (modern sensibilities when reflecting back on historic events) is worthy of another post altogether, so I won’t go there just yet.
I’m sure there are other layers from the war itself that could be added here, but for the sake of time, let’s start looking at some of the layers that were tacked on in years after the war. I’m going to take just a few here and point out the symbolism of the flag is also representative of 1) white supremacy, 2) the KKK (I know that 1 & 2 can also be merged, but I’m making a distinction between the two right here because white supremacists do not necessarily have to belong to the KKK), 3) the stereotype of the “redneck” (thanks “Dukes of Hazard” for perpetuating the good ol’ boy image!), 4) the Southern people as a whole (oh brother!), and 5) those who don’t know anything about the Civil War other than it was a symbol of a people in rebellion against the “Man.”
So, spending all of the time that one would like in trying to untangle this mess from the flag, it’s still going to be one big sticky mess; but it doesn’t end there. The Confederate flag today, as it flies… wherever… is, as a single material symbol, a rallying point for too many meanings. People rally around this one symbol, but see that one symbol as representative of too many different things. It gets to be darn complicated.
Yet, the worst part of it… in my opinion… is that even under the cry of “heritage preservation” too many agendas are present, coupled with ignorance of historical facts (and even ignorance of their own history), mythological perceptions of the past, and so on and so on… and yes, despite the “heritage not hate” battlecry (and despite what some will say), there is a racist element present (in some, not all; but I’m sure a survey issued would ultimately be seen as an unreliable measurement of the whole). So, as the Confederate heritage organizations tout the Confederate flag as a symbol of their “struggle,” the cries of some of the loudest do not by any means represent the interest of the whole (descendants of Confederate Veterans within their own organization or “at large”).
Cenantua's Blog 
Michael Aubrecht
September 24, 2008
Interesting post Robert. I have been quite vocal myself on the subject of the Confederate flag. I cannot stand all of the inappropriate uses for it such as: bikinis and shot glasses etc. and I’m fairly certain that the men who fought and died under that banner would not approve of the uses and abuses of commercialism that we see today.
Personally, I proudly fly the ‘Stars and Bars’ aka First National Flag of the Confederacy (in addition to a 50-star US flag) because I am sensitive to the tension that is created by the ‘Southern Cross’ aka Battle Flag. Like it or not that banner has been hijacked by racist organizations and people tend to get the wrong impression. I may not like that reaction, but I must understand where it comes from.
Both flags fly on my property here in Fredericksburg in tribute to the Confederate soldiers of yesterday and our American troops of today. I live in a very mutli-racial community and no one has ever approached me in a negative way. It may be a little different as I live in Civil War central, but it is appropriate (to me) and a compromise I will gladly endure.
cenantua
September 24, 2008
Hi Mike,
I agree, the Confederate Veteran would frown on the uses of the flag in the commercial industry. There is nothing “honorable” about it.
In regard to that First National that you fly. I take it that the flag is one with thirteen stars? (keeping in mind a post that I wrote earlier this year).
While flying the First National does cut back on the “layers,” there are still layers present, but mostly those that would be under limited scrutiny… specifically, under critical discussion in the historical context of the four years of the Civil War. Then too, I don’t think that the First National is representative of the Confederate soldier.
Incidentally, I don’t think a lot of people know it, but the Confederate battleflag was never to be used by the SCV. It was mandated in a UCV convention (don’t ask me to cite a source, but I do clearly remember seeing it in official documents of a convention). Yet, strange to say, those in the SCV who decided, a few years ago, to adopt the battleflag as the official flag of the SCV have either ignored or are simply unaware of the mandate. In fact, the UCV said that the sons could have the Third National. Of course, with the more familiar image in the corner of this flag, the issue returns to the issue presented by the common image of the Confederate flag and its many layers.
Richard Williams
September 25, 2008
Are there “layers” regarding the American flag? My wife, who is of Native-American heritage, would say so. Its all a matter of perspective.
My ancestors fought under both the Confederate battle flag and the American flag and I will fly both to honor them. While I don’t want to offend anyone, I’m less concerned about that than I am about honoring the sacrifice and bravery of my ancestors. I won’t allow others to dictate how I honor those brave men.
Virginia Senator James Webb said it best when he wrote the following in “Born Fighting”:
“Even the venerable Robert E. Lee has taken some vicious hits, as dishonest or misinformed advocates among political interest groups and in academia attempt to twist yesterday’s America into a fantasy that might better serve the political issues of today. The greatest disservice on this count has been the attempt by these revisionist politicians and academics to defame the entire Confederate Army in a move that can only be termed the Nazification of the Confederacy. Often cloaked in the argument over the public display of the Confederate battle flag, the syllogism goes something like this: Slavery was evil. The soldiers of the Confederacy fought for a system that wished to preserve it. Therefore they were evil as well, and any attempt to honor their service is a veiled effort to glorify the cause of slavery.”
“This blatant use of the “race card” in order to inflame their political and academic constituencies is a tired, seemingly endless game that is itself perhaps the greatest legacy of the Civil War’s aftermath. But in this case it dishonors hundreds of thousands of men who can defend themselves only through the voices of their descendants.”
cenantua
September 25, 2008
Richard,
While I appreciate your taking the time to comment about the issue of layers in the meaning of the Confederate flag… and the mention of layers in others (which actually takes away a little bit of the thunder from the follow-up post that I had hope to put up today but couldn’t get around to doing it), the inclusion of the quote from Webb takes this down another avenue; not to mention that I think little of Webb’s book anyway.
In my approach to blogging, I try as much as possible to focus on one small item at a time. By doing so, there is less of a chance of blurring the focus on the one particular topic. I’ll deal with other issues that are within Webb’s quote at a later time, and at length. However, since you posted this quote, I will briefly address the different points he makes… and then we need to move back to what this post is all about in the first place.
1) As for “vicious hits… dishonest or misinformed advocates” against Robert E. Lee… I agree, it’s wrong… Yet, I also think that the sensitivities of people who adore him reveal something not so much different from sensitivies that are brought to the surface by the display of the Confederate flag. There is a double-eged sword there; but that’s not the start of it. I think that the neo-Confederate crowd needs to cool it’s heels in the manner in which it employs (and endorses) the same tactics against those who fought for the Union (not to mention the club of he-man Lincoln haters). It’s a pathetic tactic used in knee-jerk eye-for-an-eye fashion.
2) revisionist politicians – yup, they exist… but I wonder… it may well be that Webb may be seen as one in the same from another angle.
3) revisionist academia – they are out there, but not as many as the neo-Confederate crowd would like to label as such. Just because an academic historian comes across with new information, found in primary sources (real primary sources), that is contrary to one line of thought makes neither the information or person revealing the information, revisionist. In fact, too many findings labeled as “revisionist” are significant in understanding the past. Along that same line, if someone was to keep count, I wonder how many real revisionist initiatives made by the neo-Confederate crowd would stack against perceived revisionist history.
4) defaming the Confederate army – some do, but again, in many cases the reference goes back to #3 above. Honoring a Confederate soldier, or Union soldier for that matter, is an effort best made through understanding the man behind the soldier and looking at each soldier, one at a time. Flying a flag in honor of the soldier doesn’t scratch the surface in the effort to understand the man… and don’t tell me that all of the people out there, who fly a Confederate flag, put forth the effort to understand the Confederate soldier. I particularly find it interesting (and I have seen it happen on more than one occasion) when a person being sworn into a Confederate heritage organization can’t even remember the name of the veteran under whom they joined in the first place.
5) The “nazification” argument thing… I won’t even go there because the joining of one term (Nazi) with another (Confederate) term is invoking the thought of relatively modern-age white supremacists. While these people do exist, the term used in reference to the Civil War era is historically out of context.
6) the display of the Confederate flag – one of THE WORST things that Confederate heritage organizations have not done is to set standards to distinguish themselves from the rest of the flag-flyers/bumper sticker people (but why would they, after all, it’s about building numbers! It doesn’t matter as long as a person flies the flag!). A prime example of the ignorance to this is in endorsing the flying of the “naval jack” version of the flag in Florida… the image of the naval jack, in fact, being a significant symbol not so terribly long ago, and invoking a lot of pain in a lot of people for events that took place mostly in years after the war. If the lack of initiative in not setting structure (and care) to symbolic display isn’t the result of ignorance of the pain it invokes, it smacks dangerously of possibly cloaking (in some) evil in the name of honoring ancestry.
7) the “slavery was evil argument” – In retrospect, we see that slavery was evil. In today’s mindset, we can (well, not everyone) see both the wrongs of slavery and the segregation of society. However, to look back at the way people thought 150 years ago and, with our modern mindset, be condemning of the people who either owned slaves or simply didn’t want to see the slaves freed because of the threat it posed to the social order; that may be a practice that may be out of place in historical studies, at least in the manner in which it might impact objective studies.
… and last… “the soldiers fought for a system that wished to preserve slavery” – YUP, the system (i.e., people in the government) DID want to see the institution of slavery preserved. Any argument against that is entirely ignorant of the breakdown of compromises that took part over many years, all in the name of the expansion of slavery. As for the soldiers and their reasons for being in the ranks; there are multiple reasons why they were there… and this part of the discussion can take up many pages.
Ultimately, Webb displayed his ignorance of history and contemporary issues in several parts of this statement.
But why stop there? I wonder why Webb didn’t say anything about, hmmm… why is it that some, under flag-flying remembrance and in the name of honoring ancestors, refuse to take part in the pledge of allegiance? What was the purpose, a few years back, of presenting the “real meaning of the pledge” in the agenda of the conference for chaplains of a Confederate heritage organization? How many, under the guise of heritage preservation, are true “neo-secesh?”
Oh yes!… and… how is it that (in some… not all), as people who praise the humble character of Robert E. Lee, claim to take to heart the meaning in “honor” and the code of the “gentleman” so quickly forget the gesture of an extremely forgiving United States to allow any postwar celebration at all? How many other wars has the U.S. participated in, and won, and then allowed, not terribly long after the war, the erection of monuments, the flying of wartime flags, the praise of wartime leaders, etc., etc.? Some cry “RECONSTRUCTION” till they turn blue in the face, but they have conveniently forgotten that assembling in the name of Confederate remembrance is, in fact, not a right, but a very generous privilege.
C.L. Hennessy
November 4, 2008
I was very interested in your opinion and how well you expressed the modern and historical perceptions on the display of the confederate flag.
We are currently having a bit of a feud with a neighbor who began flying the confederate flag after we placed a Obama sign in our front yard. Needless to say we were shocked by the message that action portrayed. This controversy even made it on out loal TV news. Our neighbor claims it was just a coincidence and that they are not racist. Funny how they never in the 5 previous years I have lived next door did they ever feel the need to fly this flag. I also feel very strongly though that just the display of this flag in itself is disrespectful and insensitive to the African american community and others who have fought and supported equal rights. There is no denying in this day that this flag often has very strong racist overtones. I am a middle age while female, born and raised in the south, I have never felt comfortable with the display of this flag outside of a historical (as in battlefield/museum/marker) location.
cenantua
November 4, 2008
Ms. Hennessey, Certainly, it is odd that the flag came up after you placed the campaign sign in the yard. Is this flag one of the rectangular variety so well remembered from the era of segregation? What did the neighbor say, exactly, about this “coincidence?”
C.L. Hennessy
November 6, 2008
Yes, what is now often called “The Confederate Flag” or “The Confederate Battle Flag” (the same design found in national flags, battle flags and the naval jack). They never elaborated further on the fact that it was just a coincidence that they decided to fly this flag at this time. A I stated above they have never in the previous 5 years I lived next to them did they ever feel the need to fly this flag. I can’t imagine that they could be so naive as to think it could be viewed otherwise.
cenantua
November 6, 2008
Sad and extremely frustrating. Looks like similar reactions to now President-elect Obama are underway. Take a look at this.