Why the Confederate Flag is Racist at its Core

Photo: Politico

There is a lot of debate about whether the Confederate flag represents heritage or hate. With the Marines and NASCAR recently banning the flag on their bases and tracks, a lot of white people have become quite angry about their “heritage”.

The Confederate flag that we know today was one of the many used by the Confederacy. Our modern one most closely represents the flag Robert E. Lee used for his division in Virginia. This was not the Confederacy’s official flag but over time, veterans of the Civil War adopted this flag in remembrance of the war.

When discussing the flag, it is important to discuss what the flag really represents. With that, comes the reasons behind the Civil War itself. A lot of people will say the Civil War was all about states’ rights. And yes this is true, but what they are leaving out is the states’ rights to do what. And what the states wanted to do was expand slavery and overturn any federal laws that infringed upon the slavery industry.

Slavery was a massive industry in the South and their economy was heavily reliant on the free labor they stole from black people. The South wanted political control so that they could continue to use slave labor and actually expand it westward. The North did not agree with the use of slave labor and they wanted to limit the expanse of it. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president without a single southern states votes. Outraged by their lack of power, they decided to secede. The seven southern states included: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas. Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia joined them in seceding.

These states fought to preserve a system that allowed them to exploit the free labor of slaves for economic gain. There is no question that the Civil War was fought over slavery. You can say “states’ rights” all you want but the states wanted the right to keep using slave labor.

So just so we are all clear, the Confederate States of America lasted five years (1860-1865). Five years is it, that’s all. So when white people say, “oh you are trying to take away my heritage”, they are referring to a 5 year period that was over 150 years ago. They do not want to talk about any other time period or heritage because those five years was the last time they could legally own another human being. Their heritage is just plain racism.

I have often heard white people say to black people, “slavery was 150 years ago, you just need to let it go and move on”. Yet these same people cling onto their Confederate flags for dear life talking about heritage. To reiterate, the Confederacy lasted 5 years while slavery in America lasted for over 300 years. Both ended at the same time but one of them was the legal purchase of human beings in which the owner was allowed to beat, whip, rape, kill, and do whatever he wanted to them that lasted 300+ years and the other was a 5 year period in which white people were allowed to do the aforementioned acts. Call me crazy, but I think black people have the right to still talk about this and I think anyone that flies the flag is simply being insensitive and offensive.

I am white so I will never truly understand how black people will feel, but I can imagine the sight of a flag that represents the glorification of slavery, could be triggering to them.

I would also like to address people in northern states that fly the flag. I grew up in Pennsylvania and I still see many of these flags today. I grew up with people that had the flag. They talk of heritage when it is not even their heritage. They use this excuse of heritage to fly an inherently racist flag. I do not condone the use of this flag anywhere, but I am especially perplexed when someone in a state that wasn’t in the Confederacy flies it. “Heritage” is an excuse, plain and simple. If you use this flag, you want to remember a time of slavery, glorifying it while triggering so many others.

The Confederate flag has been used by the KKK and other white supremacist groups for decades. There is a reason these groups use this flag. Is represents a time where racism was encouraged and accepted. You never see a terrorist organization fly a pride flag because that would represent inclusivity and acceptance, two things the KKK infamously do not represent. So if you see a hate group fly a certain flag and you think it is still okay to use that flag, you too are racist and hateful. You would not fly a flag that the Taliban or ISIS uses because you do not associate with that group, so the only reason why would you think that using a flag the KKK uses is okay, is if you support that group.

The fact of the matter is that the Confederate flag represents hate and racism. This is further proven by the Marines and NASCAR. The Marines even said in a statement, "The Confederate battle flag has all too often been co-opted by violent extremist and racist groups whose divisive beliefs have no place in our Corps".

If you feel as though the flag is still okay to fly, I strongly encourage you to really think about how your actions are affecting other people.

CNN, Leah Asmelash. “Marines Ban Depictions of the Confederate Flag, Including on Bumper Stickers and Mugs.” CNN, 7 June 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/06/07/us/marine-corps-confederate-flag-trnd/index.html. Accessed 14 June 2020.

“Confederate Flag.” Anti-Defamation League, 2019, www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/confederate-flag. Accessed 14 June 2020.

Coski, John. “Myths & Misunderstandings | The Confederate Flag.” American Civil War Museum, 9 Jan. 2018, acwm.org/blog/myths-misunderstandings-confederate-flag/. Accessed 14 June 2020.

Macur, Juliet. “Bubba Wallace Thankful for Flag Ban, but NASCAR’s Fans Might Not Be.” The New York Times, 13 June 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/06/13/sports/bubba-wallace-nascar-confederate-flag.html. Accessed 14 June 2020.

PBS NewsHour. “8 Things You Didn’t Know about the Confederate Flag.” PBS NewsHour, 21 June 2015, www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/8-things-didnt-know-confederate-flag. Accessed 14 June 2020.

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Confederate States of America | History, Facts, & Flag.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 1 Feb. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/Confederate-States-of-America. Accessed 14 June 2020.