Flag Is a Symbol, but of What?

Next week, South Carolina will be host to an important primary election even as it continues to struggle with an economic boycott waged by the NAACP because the state still flies the Confederate battle flag atop the state Capitol in Columbia. The first state to secede from the Union, South Carolina is the only one still flying the Confederate flag from its capitol; it has done so since 1962. Last month, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to condemn the display of the flag and barred city employees from visiting South Carolina on business. In this, Black History Month, while supporters say the flag is an important emblem of the state’s heritage, opponents say it represents slavery and racism. MAURA E. MONTELLANO spoke with Southern California students about the flag and its significance.

HAFEEZAH SHAKIR

17, senior, Inglewood High School

I think people as a whole are bringing up old bones in closets, bringing up something that should have been left in the past. Those times were not happy times for a lot of people, particularly the African Americans, and even some of the Southerners. To bring it back up is to haunt people whose families lived through this period. That flag represents a time when the United States was not together. When these states seceded, they were being defiant, rebelling against the government. Relatives were split, whole families were put on opposite sides, siblings killed each other. To raise it as if to forget all this is just wrong. It’s as if they forgot to read their history books or are just ignoring history.

For them to even consider raising this flag is saying it’s OK to dredge up history no matter how bad it was and how it might affect others.

At the time the flag came to be it was an oppressive time. Creating the flag was a way for those states to tell what they believed in and how they expressed it. To bring it up is disrespecting your country. If you want to express your own opinion, that’s fine, I stand on even ground about it. But when your opinion offends others, that’s when it’s gone too far. My grandmother is very offended by it. She doesn’t want to relive those times. Raising that flag is bringing up ancient history. It’s as if someone wanted to tape a mock version of the Holocaust and run it on TV--that would clearly offend a lot of people.

I think it belongs in a museum to remind people of the history of the U.S. and how bad it was. Ultimately, it’s almost like saying we have two nations, and we don’t.

MATTHEW NEWMAN

18, senior, John Muir High School

I can appreciate that for some people the Confederate flag is a remembrance of the past and it symbolizes their heritage, but we must realize that what is being celebrated is very painful for a lot of people. The period of slavery in our history is the most shameful period in the United States. We’ve made progress to improve the state of relations between races. Still, anything that honors that time, especially if it personally offends those whose ancestors were slaves, is wrong. I don’t think that symbols like this have any business on a state capitol in America today. We’ve come too far for that.

I can understand that some people find it all right, but I think the NAACP is justified in boycotting South Carolina. It’s even a heavy factor in the elections; Al Gore is talking about taking it down, George W. Bush is avoiding the issue. Some people would say it’s OK considering how far we’ve come, but there is still plenty of racism in this country. This flag won’t help anything; it’s just promoting racism and bigotry. It’s a link to the past, the black eye in American history. Also, this flag symbolizes a time when that state was trying to separate from the country, and I feel we’re rewarding them for that. But they are a part of the U.S. today.

It’s good to honor your ancestors and your history, but you should look at it from a different point of view. I still believe that 99% of the people would agree it’s a symbol of hate. It belongs in a museum, along with other symbols of hate and oppression, as a reminder of our history.

MATTHEW SLAY

18, senior, Palmdale High School

Groups like the NAACP are attempting to paint the flag in a negative way, but I believe that what it means to symbolize now and then is that the South believed in the rights of the states over those of the federal government. Even though they lost the war, that’s what it stood for--states’ rights.

A lot of racists have flown the flag, but some of those same people have brandished the Bible as well and have also flown the American flag in the name of racism. I believe the NAACP is out for attention and isn’t helping the people it claims to be supporting.

Many black civil rights groups overlook this part of history. The flag is not meant to symbolize hate and oppression. I’m sure a lot of buildings in South Carolina were standing during the Civil War, and I don’t think anyone wants to tear those down.

A few years ago a local high school spent a ludicrous amount of money to change the mascot, which was a rebel, because people were offended. This money could have been spent on something so much more useful like computers and books. People today look at the flag and say that it symbolizes oppression because of their ancestors. But no one alive today has owned or been owned as slaves, therefore no reparations are owed to or by anyone. We must get beyond this.