It’s 2017 and yet here we are, still having the same very tired conversation about the Confederate flag. In 2015, when Bree Newsome took down the flag at the Statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina, after nine people were massacred in a Charleston church just days before, it provided an opportunity for us to finally come to terms with the immense racial hatred and fear that the flag is associated with. At that time, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley decided to permanently take the Confederate flag down that flew over the state capitol and it seemed as if America might actually be making some small progress toward racial justice. But, after all, this is America. And when it comes to equality, America is always taking a few tiny steps forward and several steps back. Fast forward two years into an America where Donald Trump is president. And the Confederate flag debate rages on our discourse, with South Carolina in its crosshairs.
But two years later, the flag and the Lost Cause are flickering back as potent symbols in American politics — symbols sometimes of an open new white nationalism, but more often of a brand of identity politics that prizes upsetting liberals above all else, in which the Confederate flag also serves as an emblem against “political correctness.”
There are flickers across the Old South: This year, New Orleans officials removed Confederate monuments under the cover of night amid protests and security concerns. Then a Virginia Republican crusaded on the issue (and on his support for President Donald Trump) and nearly secured the nomination for governor. And a leading candidate to occupy Haley’s old seat in the governor’s mansion in Columbia is describing herself as a “proud Daughter of the Confederacy.”
Perhaps it serves us right for thinking that simply because we had removed the Confederate flag from view at the state capitol, it would make a difference in the hearts and minds of people who have built their identity around it for generations. Having this conversation with many white Southerners is a completely mind-numbing and fruitless activity. They have told themselves a lie about how this flag is about preserving their history and culture and not about slavery and so, no matter who it hurts (and it does hurt, by the way), they simply don’t care.
But what kind of history and heritage are they really celebrating if it’s a continual reminder of keeping black people in bondage? If your pride rests on glorifying ancestors who supported the destruction of an entire community of people, an extermination of millions, then it’s worth serious examination of your values. And as a society we definitely should neither endorse such pride nor allow these hateful symbols to be openly displayed in places other than museums.
The issue popped up last week in [South Carolina’s] competitive Republican race for governor. Several audience members at a forum in conservative Pickens County grilled Catherine Templeton — a former member of Haley’s cabinet whose consulting firm was among those who cheered the flag’s removal at the Statehouse — about her stance on removing Confederate symbols.
“You cannot rewrite history,” said Templeton, who has emerged as a top primary challenger to Henry McMaster, the lieutenant governor who became governor after Haley left to become the US ambassador to the United Nations. “I don’t care whose feelings get hurt.” [...]
“If it’s politically incorrect to say I’m a proud Daughter of the Confederacy, then call me politically incorrect,” she [wrote on a social media post following controversy about her remarks at the forum].
This is an all-too-common attitude among Republicans so it makes sense that it is an issue that is coming up in South Carolina’s gubernatorial race. Republicans refuse to be apologetic about their racism and support of the Confederacy. In May, Republican members of the Louisiana House voted to require an election before any war memorial can be removed or altered. In Alabama, the House recently voted to forbid any changes to Confederate or long-standing monuments. And in New Orleans, while the city has finally removed its Confederate monuments, it was accompanied by death threats, harassment and car bombings of those who were involved in the removal effort.
Republicans are stuck in the past when it comes to many issues—especially this one. “It is sad to see Republican candidates touting images of the Confederacy, which to many in this country symbolizes hate and racial oppression,” Sabrina Singh, a Democratic National Committee spokesperson said. Yes, it is sad. But it’s not surprising in the least. America is deeply divided on race and people are willfully ignorant about history. That much hasn’t changed. So it’s likely we’ll be still having this same conversation in 2027 just like we are today.