Seeing the flag as a divisive symbol

There was no one more Southern than my great-aunt, Iva Lee Bennett Howe, born in Lancaster 125 years ago this month on June 8, 1890. Her family’s ancestors and her husband’s family had fought in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, and as a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, she was proud of her heritage.

I keep some of her memorabilia, including letters she wrote describing the bravery, courage and sacrifices of Confederate soldiers. I also have in my possession a small Confederate flag along with an American flag with 48 stars that was passed on to me after her death in 1979. During my formative years, it was my responsibility to place the flags in a small holder on her front porch in Rock Hill during special Southern and national holidays.

I was 14 or 15 in the early ’60s when one day she asked me to just post the American flag and not the Confederate flag. When I asked why, she explained that some people no longer look at the Confederate flag in the same way.

How could this be? There was always a Confederate flag flying at football games and most other places. This was the South, where everyone stood for the singing of Dixie and waved the Confederate flag. What could have changed to cause her to make a decision to no longer fly the flag?

This was the era of Jim Crow that I was growing up in, and as a teenager I did not understand what that was all about, but I do now. It was a time when I lived in a segregated society and my circle of friends, my neighborhood, my community were all white. Iva was teaching me a life lesson that day, some 55 years ago that I did not understand. Part of that lesson was that symbols are powerful images and people see them from their own paradigm. People can look through the same glasses but see things differently.

The Confederate flag was not raised over South Carolina’s state capitol in 1962 just to recognize fallen Confederate soldiers. It also was meant as a tangible symbol the state could show in its defiance of the federal government and civil rights leaders who were attempting to desegregate South Carolina public schools.

South Carolina and other Southern states did not want to desegregate their schools, and so the Confederate flag was flown as a symbol of white supremacy. The following year, Alabama Gov. George Wallace promised to never segregate Alabama’s schools as he stood in the door of their capital and shouted: “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

In the year 2000, the flag was removed from the dome and placed on the grounds in front of the capitol. To many South Carolinians the Confederate flag is meaningless, and it make no difference whether it is there or not. To others it is a clear symbol of the Civil War that began in South Carolina and was fought by many of their ancestors.

To others, including myself, it has become a reminder of all of the wrongs committed against blacks during slavery and during the Jim Crow period of white supremacy. It is a symbol of a Civil War that the state of South Carolina led in its failed attempt to preserve slavery and the state’s attempt to keep blacks “in their place.”

To those who say the Confederate flag has no racial meaning, they should look at the disturbing picture of the Charleston shooter waving it proudly. That’s a picture worth thousands of words.

I hope the Legislature can see today what my Great-Aunt Iva saw 55 years ago, that people do not see things the same way. The state of South Carolina has no business flying a divisive symbol like the Confederate flag on state property.

To remove the flag from the Statehouse grounds will require two-thirds of the Legislature to make that decision, and it will take political courage and leadership to cast a vote unpopular with some citizens. I call on our York County legislative delegation to show political leadership and present a bill to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds.

The flag needs to be in a museum, not in a place of honor on state property owned by all citizens.

This story was originally published June 28, 2015 at 7:57 PM with the headline "Seeing the flag as a divisive symbol."