Confederate Flags Are Falling, But What Will That Change?

[thelakelander]

Jacksonville's Confederate Park

BRENTIN MOCK

Southern cities are lowering the flags and considering bringing down Confederate memorials, too. But the character of a city is harder to transform.

Today, 150 years after the Confederate Army was defeated in its fight to preserve slavery, the flags and memorials honoring that great Lost Cause are finally coming down in cities across the South.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley had the Confederate flag, in all of its variations, removed from state Capitol grounds today. Bentley told a reporter that his decision on this came partly in response to the tragic Charleston killings last week. And also because, as he told a news reporter:

We are facing some major issues in this state regarding the budget and other matters that we need to deal with. This had the potential to become a major distraction as we go forward. I have taxes to raise, we have work to do. And it was my decision that the flag needed to come down.

In other words, Bentley didn't wake up with a #Blacklivesmatter epiphany about the deeper, racist meaning about the Confederate flags. It sounds like he more just wanted to get in front of a potential PR headache. Whether the governor's gesture will make a difference in race relations in the city or beyond is another matter.

The Confederate insignia is still almost-ubiquitous across Montgomery—will they also dismantle the "First White House of the Confederacy," a tourist attraction that sits right across the street from the state capitol building?

"Montgomery has 59 markers and monuments to the Confederacy. Most of our streets are named after Confederate soldiers," Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative executive director Bryan Stevenson told The Marshall Project. "The two largest public high schools [in Montgomery] are Robert E. Lee High and Jefferson Davis High—those are 90 percent black."

Full article: http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/06/confederate-flags-are-falling-but-what-will-that-change/396533/

[Adam White]

I don't think the flags alone will change anything. But it's the process of having the dialogue and examining our past and our way of doing things that is promising. I think we have a real hard time admitting we're wrong about stuff. But in this case, it seems that we're at least starting to seriously ask difficult questions. I just hope it continues.

[mbwright]

Maybe they should use the actual flag (there were 3), and not the one typically seen on rednecks.  Be historically accurate.  Take down the racially motivated one.  I think this is a good step, but lets not forget history.  Taking down the flags will not take down hate, nor fix racial issues.

[Adam White]

Maybe they should use the actual flag (there were 3), and not the one typically seen on rednecks.  Be historically accurate.  Take down the racially motivated one.  I think this is a good step, but lets not forget history.  Taking down the flags will not take down hate, nor fix racial issues.

It won't - but it will get us closer, even if only ever so slightly. You've got to get rid of the symbols or people will never have the appetite or motivation to change what's in their hearts.

[Bridges]

I like Jacksonville's method of dealing with confederate symbols.  We name a park Confederate Park, we put a plaque up in it, and then we completely turn our back on the park maintenance.  We may name a park after you, but we'll make it look like Sherman marched through it on his way to the sea.

So subtle Jacksonville, but I see what you did.

[CityLife]

I like Jacksonville's method of dealing with confederate symbols.  We name a park Confederate Park, we put a plaque up in it, and then we completely turn our back on the park maintenance.  We may name a park after you, but we'll make it look like Sherman marched through it on his way to the sea.

So subtle Jacksonville, but I see what you did.

^Brilliant

[I-10east]

The POTUS himself said that flag had nothing to do with those deaths in Charleston, so why was that tragedy was politically tied in with the Stars & Bars? The way I see it is that politicians always have to change something in the wake of a tragedy; Sandy Hook = Gun control. Charleston church shooting = Rebel flag.

Before everyone start to blow a gasket, I don't give a damn about the Rebel Flag, and I don't understand why those folks are holding on to that mess. I just think this political 'grasping for straws' isn't genuine, that's all. This banning of that flag is having an adverse effect. Arson to black churches around the country, and rednecks flying those 'suddenly popular' things on the back of their pickup trucks. I saw a multiple number of them since the aftermath of the shooting.

[Adam White]

I have yet to hear anyone claim the shootings in Charleston were caused by the rebel flag.

[urbanlibertarian]

To me the problem with placing a lot of importance on any symbol is that the meaning of a symbol can be very subjective.  Making a judgement about a person or a group because they display a certain symbol can be completely wrong.

[JeffreyS]

Changing the flag itself will make no quick or large change. I think General Lee nailed it when he said having the memorial celebrations,  dressing up in the uniform and flying the flag keeps alive the "sores of war".

And in my opinion flying the Confederate battle flag is something anyone who has said the Pledge of Allegiance shouldn't do.

[WarDamJagFan]

This whole situation has turned into an absolute fiasco. A lot of people take pride in being from the South and only view the flag as such - a symbol of Southern pride. Many others, obviously, feel the exact opposite. But when government officials try to appease one group of people over another based on current circumstances, then you will continue to see this issue only escalate further.

[Tacachale]

^As far as the governments go, it won't escalate beyond taking Confederate imagery off of government property, and that should have been done years ago.

[jph]

This whole situation has turned into an absolute fiasco. A lot of people take pride in being from the South and only view the flag as such - a symbol of Southern pride. Many others, obviously, feel the exact opposite. But when government officials try to appease one group of people over another based on current circumstances, then you will continue to see this issue only escalate further.

Anything that government officials do will "appease one group of people over another". Some people want the flag to fly on government property and some people don't. There doesn't seem to be a decision that would allow these nefarious government officials to not appease one group or the other. The question is whether government officials will appease the group that knows less about Southern history, that is more likely to disapprove of interracial marriage, and that is more likely to believe that blacks don't face job discrimination. In other words, the racist group.

[WarDamJagFan]

^As far as the governments go, it won't escalate beyond taking Confederate imagery off of government property, and that should have been done years ago.

Taking it down from a courthouse or city hall - I agree that in itself won't cause any issues. But wanting to completely take down memorials? That's aggressive.

[WarDamJagFan]

This whole situation has turned into an absolute fiasco. A lot of people take pride in being from the South and only view the flag as such - a symbol of Southern pride. Many others, obviously, feel the exact opposite. But when government officials try to appease one group of people over another based on current circumstances, then you will continue to see this issue only escalate further.

Anything that government officials do will "appease one group of people over another". Some people want the flag to fly on government property and some people don't. There doesn't seem to be a decision that would allow these nefarious government officials to not appease one group or the other. The question is whether government officials will appease the group that knows less about Southern history, that is more likely to disapprove of interracial marriage, and that is more likely to believe that blacks don't face job discrimination. In other words, the racist group.

So a Washington Post opinion writer sites a survey that is over 10 years old based on a sample size of less than 600 people in one state ... and viola! White people only like the Rebel flag because they are racist.  Sorry, but that's grasping at straws.