The American Civil War ended 150 years ago, and again we are discussing the display of the Confederate Battle Flag being memorialized in state flags, particularly in South Carolina and Mississippi in addition to landmarks of Confederate generals here in New Orleans. Why this discussion is ongoing and not subject to an executive order of some sort is largely beyond me, however, I think I'm pleased by this dialogue. I have said once before that thought leads to dialogue and dialogue in turn leads to action. Even still, references to the Confederacy belong in museums and not anywhere close to any building representing the people of the United Sates and it's beyond time we rectify this. Right-wing politicians and their respective media outlets, yes, you FoxNews, will have you to believe that racism is dead and any problems that African Americans have when it comes down to equality is largely their own doing as evidenced by the nation's black president. Supporters of references to the Confederacy on public property cite to history for the reason why such an abomination is allowed to continue. Sights such as these will cause one to think that the South won the war and as with most things, we seem to be sitting by idly when recent history has dictated that ideas aiming for the equal treatment of African Americans are only a good idea when they come from whites. These are the things we have to answer for when looked upon from other countries or even African Americans from the North; why do blacks in the South subject themselves to this kind of treatment? But again, unless one of their own starts the fight, it's never really given the discussion that will ultimately lead to action and for that reason alone, this dialogue is good. However, why are we having this discussion years later and a few months after?
This discussion is unnecessary because history shows us that those who win can indeed put whatever spin on the events as they choose...but the South lost. We have seen Native Americans pick up and fight for the abolition of Native American sports mascots, but how many schools still call their teams rebels? The "stars and bars" only represent the history of those who would like to see slavery occur again, it cannot be anything more. These states seceded from the union, they should have been tried as traitors and hung just as many of the slaves in the South were for much less. If you as a person choose to fly that flag, you have a constitutional right to do so, but it cannot be allowed in places that belong to the public. It is the flag of hatred, inequality, and more importantly, that of a loser. As The Daily Picayunne of New Orleans wrote in 1884 "We cannot ignore the fact that the secession has been stigmatized as treason and that the purest and bravest men in the South have been denounced as guilty of shameful crime...by every appliance of literature and art, we must show to all coming ages that with us, at least, there dwells no sense of guilt." This is what the Confederate flag still flying in any form on state buildings represents, the unapologetic attitude behind a cause that failed. Also be sure to include that none of these state flags had Confederate symbolism anywhere on them before 1861, so how was this even allowed?
It is time to kill the illusions of grandeur that the South will rise again and that the plight of the men who fought on the side of the Conferderacy was an honorable one. They were traitors to the republic and they should be acknowledged by history as such. In regards to monuments dedicated to the Confederacy, Wynton Marsalis asked "does that space represent who we were, who we are, or who we aim to be?" It is indeed who we were, but it cannot represent who we are or who we aim to be, and for that reason alone, these displays only belong in museums...
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