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THE REBEL FLAG AT WAR
If the orgy of flag-waving in the aftermath of 9/11 proved any
thing, it's that there are still few more potent emblems of outrage
and nationalism than an artfully arranged piece of cloth. And lest
anyone be surprised by the continued rallying power of Old Glory,
remember that the banner for a long-ago secession continues to
haunt these United States today. For modern-day defenders of the
Confederacy, the Confederate battle flag itself is under siege—for
them, it's not just a symbol, it's a cause in its own right. When
someone wields that flag today what are they rebelling against?
Tough questions to answer, because the flag has, through the
years, served as a most malleable symbol, representing an array of
messages for its many and varied proponents. It would be impos
sible to interview every Confederate flag-waver, of course, but
John M. Coski, chief historian and library director for the Museum
of the Confederacy in Richmond, has done the next best thing in
his book. The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled
Emblem (Belknap Press. 2005) traces the intricate history of the
flag, step by often-painful step, spellinq out both the power and
the pity of this most incendiary of American symbols.
Coski, who is no apologist for the Confederacy, explains early
on that his study “rests on the simple proposition that a symbol's
use determines its meanings and affects the way people perceive
it"—and that this symbol's use has changed many a time. Coski
explains that when the guns
fell silent at the end of the
Civil War, the flag’s battles had
only just begun. Its meaning
has changed, just as surely as
have its uses. After the war,
many Southern whites treated
the flag as a hallowed symbol.
For decades, it was most often
displayed with a kind of his
torical reverence.
After World War II, how
ever. in the years leading into
the Civil Rights movement, the
flag saw expanded use as an
"aggressively racist symbol,"
he notes. It became a de facto
banner for white supremacy,
a symbol of opposition to
desegregation for both the KKK and more mainstream sectors of
the white population. The flag found new life defending the racial
order that the war was largely precipitated by.
Interestingly, some Southerners with Confederate ancestry
rejected the flag's ubiquitous presence in ihe battles over inte
gration. The United Daughters of the Confederacy declared that
"our flag is not to be used in connection with any political move
ment—we are not in politics." The group urged that the flag serve
strictly memorial purposes.
But the genie was out of the bottle, and by the late 1960s,
the flag was employed for ever-expanding public and commercial
causes, from rallying football fans at Southern universities to sell
ing knickknacks and beach towels. As the symbol was mass-mar
keted, some Southern stalwarts recoiled. For example. Coski notes,
five states—Georgia among them—went so far as to enact laws
banning the mistreatment of the Confederate flag.
Since that time, the flag has seen even broader uses in mar
keting, pop culture and politics. To many, it has become simply
a generic emblem of rebellion. Others see the flag as a still-po
tent racist icon, and some continue to considerate it a badge of
historical honor. That there's little agreement over what the flag
means today was evident during the debates that recently raged in
Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and other states over the fly
ing of Confederate flags on state property. Coski's account of those
flag flaps shows why debate over the banner is far from over.
Even more recent 1 .*, ' n g the 2004 presidential campaign,
Howard Dean, of all people . »ggested it was time to bring rebel
flag-bearers into his part* s fou'. "I still want to be the candidate
for guys with Confederate flags n their pickup trucks," he said.
“We can't beat George Busn unless we appeal to a broad cross sec
tion of Democrats." The Vermont politician's statement won him
few fans in either the North or the South, proving again that you
can't invoke a symbol as loaded as this one without summoning
debate about the cause over which it originally flew.
"Above all, the Confederate battle flag represents the most con
tested chapter in American history, and it is destined to remain a
contested symbol," Coski concludes. Contemporary clashes over the
flag's meanings and uses, he suggests, can serve as "an accurate
barometer of disagreement over the meaning and proper place of
the Confederacy in American history and memory"—a meaning and
place that merit debate even now.
Baltic Plao
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