There, I said it. That's the first step to solving a problem, right? Let's hope so, because we need help. South Carolina has a pride problem. I know this because I'm more often a part of the problem than the solution. In fact, I think it's our collective love of this great state that has kept us from doing the right thing in regards to the Confederate Flag on the State House grounds. It shouldn't take murdering of innocent civilians for us to contemplate change. Unfortunately, it has. And I'm to blame. And so are you, if you call the Palmetto State home.
If anyone needs proof of my SC cred, here it is: I've lived in South Carolina for over 30 years. I was born in Columbia. I've lived in the upstate and the midlands. Coaching basketball at 2 small high schools has allowed me to visit every county in SC. Every year, I enjoy the serenity of our beaches and the history of our low state. I covet the mountain view on my drive home from work on 385 to downtown Greenville. I think that mustard-based sauce is the only barbecue sauce. I grew up a Clemson fan and am a graduate of the University of South Carolina. It sounds confusing, but that doesn't stop me from wearing orange or stopping in my tracks to toast a health to Carolina. The bottom line is: I live here, I work here, I have roots here. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
For years, my fandom of my home state blinded me to a serious pride problem in SC. In fact, I believed racism a problem of the past. I also believed that the Civil War was over states' rights, and would take great pride that South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union. As a Junior in college, I argued (to great success, I might add) in a history class that the confederate flag was an important piece of my state's heritage, and removing it from the state house grounds would be denying its rightful place in our hearts and minds.
I was wrong.
It's liberating to admit that you're wrong. In fact, I should do it more often. In the case of the Confederate Flag, I was monumentally (pun intended) wrong. Most arguments for the flag boil down to one of three components. I'll list them here, in order of least to most disconcerting: History, Heritage, and Heart. Here's why they're invalid:
The History Argument: "The flag has nothing to do with slavery"
One of my biggest problems as a history major in college was simply that I thought I knew history better than you. College Me would say things like, "If you think you know the history of the confederate flag, you obviously don't because it has nothing to do with slavery." Boy, College Me was an idiot.
I can't really blame College Me, though. I was doing the best with what I heard. Heaven forbid I go read a book for myself or something crazy like that. I remember going to Palmetto Boys State at the Citadel in 2000 and hearing now Lt. Governor Henry McMaster speak on the Confederate Flag. His winning arguments were some of the same arguments I hear today: 1)A Confederate flag was never flown on a slave ship and 2)The Confederate Flag was a battle flag of a war over states' rights. Bam. Argument over. I had been history-ed. That was all I needed. 17-year old me had it all figured out.
It turns out, those are 2 horrendous arguments. The first one is outright preposterous, considering how overseas slave trading was stopped by Congressional legislation in 1807, a solid 50 years before the CSA even existed. Saying the flag wasn't on any slave ships was like saying nobody drank Budweiser on the Mayflower. The lack of its existence is a problem, don't you think?
Argument 2 is equally as bad. The idea that the Civil War was fought over states' rights is an accurate one.... I just prefer to spell the term "states' rights" as "slavery". It's 100% factual that southern states believed the Federal government wielded too much power and that states should have the right to nullify any Federal law with which it disagreed. It just so happens that the overwhelming majority of the federal laws that angered the south had something to do with the social and economical implications of slavery.
Alexander Stephens was the Vice President of the CSA. He wasn't some fringe nut-job; he was the quintessential southern politician of the 1860's. He said the following:
"Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition."
The CSA was founded on this ideal. Sure, there were plenty of people in the south that didn't own slaves or thought slavery was immoral, but they also knew the importance of slavery to an agrarian economy. I read somewhere that only 6% of SC soldiers in the Civil War owned slaves. That may be true, but at one point 57% of our state's population were slaves... not to mention the 4 to 5 million slaves across the southern US. Slavery was a common, understood part of southern economics and the fear of losing that workforce is the direct cause of the Civil War. If you want to bundle that fact in a cloud of "states' rights", fine. I hope you sleep better because of it.... but just so you know, the Heart argument is coming, and you may not like it.
The Heritage Argument: "Heritage, not Hate"
2 confessions: 1) this argument ties closely in to the History argument, but it works better for the alliteration and structure for me to split them up, and 2) I clung to this argument longer than the other two. "The Confederate Flag is a symbol of my ancestors, and how hard they fought. Robert E. Lee flew this flag before the CSA did, and he didn't fight because of slavery. It's not about racism. If people are making it about racism, that's their problem. That's infringing on the importance of remembering where I come from."There's some truth to the core of this argument: Any symbol can be made good or bad depending upon the lens through which it is viewed. In all honesty, if all of a sudden pizza was considered "anti-Italian American", I'd be in a real pickle.... because to me, pizza is just awesome, and while I don't want to offend, I'm probably still gonna eat pizza.
The problem with this argument lies within its context. When did the people of South Carolina decide that they had to see the Confederate Flag in order to honor their heritage? Here's some history for you: The flag was indeed flown initially as the battle flag of Lee's army of Northern Virginia. Lee didn't want to fight for the South but refused to fight against his own family and state. Lee also garnered such high respect from both the north and the south that his legend of heritage and honor is earned. I'd consider him to be one of the greatest military tacticians ever.... yeah, not just in the US, in the history of the world. Look him up. He was legit.
It's at this point that the flag loses it's "heritage" veneer. The flag wasn't used in an official capacity after the Civil War until it was picked up in the 1940s by the Ku Klux Klan. Yep, the KKK. There's a lot of positive heritage in that group. So when did it begin flying on the SC state house grounds? Wasn't that right after the Civil War? Nope. Not even close. The Confederate flag began flying on the state house grounds in 1962. Governor Fritz Hollings claimed it was to honor the centennial of the Civil War, but it just so happened to coincide with the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. Integration of Public Schools was in full swing in the 1960s. Not only that, but JFK was working on a Civil Rights Act that would infuriate southerners. If it was to honor the Civil War, why did it stay up longer than a year? Furthermore, why didn't every other southern state put it on their state house? Here's why:
The response of South Carolina to progress and racial equality was to place the battle flag of the CSA atop the State House.
There's your heritage. The heritage of Lee is nowhere in that flag in Columbia. The only heritage present is a heritage of hatred. People who use this "heritage, not hate" line fail to understand that the historical significance of this flag means that heritage and hate are inextricably linked. Instead of "Heritage, not Hate", what you're really saying is, "Heritage, not Humility". Which brings me to this....
The Heart Argument
There's no quote for the Heart Argument, because it'd probably read something like "I'm for keeping the Confederate flag on the State House grounds because I'm a racist". This is sad, but true. Our state is roughly 60 years removed from segregation. That's right: South Carolinians over 60 can still remember a time of separate bathrooms, buses, and water fountains. They lived in a time with poll taxes and literacy tests. The racism built into segregation has become almost genetic. It's only logical that many parents and grandparents from South Carolina were taught some form of inequality or racism. It's also highly likely that this racism has been passed down in some form or fashion, either consciously or subconsciously.In all honesty, taking down the flag won't eradicate racism in South Carolina, but it speaks to a larger point about the citizens of this great state. This is probably more of a "pride" argument than a "heart" one, but the bottom line is this: Being proud and being right are two very different things. Unfortunately, that's a distinction that many people refuse to make. For the longest time, I was so proud of where I came from that any admission of wrongdoing would've been "unpatriotic". We suffer from this as a nation, as well. I firmly believe that the US is the greatest nation in the world. I also believe that as a nation, we've committed some of the worst atrocities known to mankind. That's a different topic for a different post.
The heart of man makes it difficult to separate the ideas of pride and morality. It allows people to believe that the end always justifies the means. Just because something can be done doesn't mean it should be done. For the last 50 years, instead of asking if the flag should be flown on the state house, we've defended why it is still flying.
Growing up in Hopkins, SC, my parents were proud of me. They'd remind me of that on a regular basis. They were not, however, blinded by their pride. When I got out of line, if I was selfish, mean, or disobedient, my parents had no qualms about "changing my perspective". Their pride in me came from a sense of unconditional love: their love for me didn't change with my actions, but all of my actions were not permissible and demanded consequences.
This is the kind of pride we should have in our state. Know where you come from. Take great pride in being from the South. I certainly do. With that pride, a measure of humility and common sense will go a long way in realizing when mistakes are made, and making sure they are corrected. Sometimes a change of perspective is needed in order to do the right thing.
Our state has a problem... but if I can change my attitude and perspective, I know that South Carolina can do the same.
