Bryan Stevenson's Analysis

Before engaging in discourse regarding the Confederacy, it is important to understand what, exactly, it was about. The Confederate States of America were formed in 1861 as a way for the deep South to continue owning slaves, due in part to the fact that their agricultural industries depended on slave labor to operate. While they did stand for other things, the origin and primary goal of the Confederacy was to fight against those who wanted to abolish slavery. Because of this, Confederate memorabilia and monuments are fundamentally linked with slavery and racism, and this aspect must be remembered when discussing what to do with regards to Confederate monuments.

The tensions of the Civil War are very much still alive in the Southern United States one hundred and fifty years after the Confederacy surrendered to Union forces to end the war. While the tensions may have mitigated away from full-fledged war between North and South, there still remain tensions along racial and cultural lines well beyond the war. In Tony Horwitz’s Confederates in the Attic these long standing tensions left over from the war are delved into by Horwitz as he makes his way across the south to see how the old Confederacy is viewed in the modern world of the United States. What Horwitz found was a dualistic society differing views on the Confederacy and the events of the Civil War. Dualities left from the war in aspects such as racial tensions, the meaning of the Confederate flag even between North and South entirely. Those living in the South can be seen holding a resonating connection to the Civil War. It becomes clear in Confederates in the Attic the Civil War not only became the catalyst of such dualities in Southern society, but still further shape and perpetuate these dualities long after the Civil Wars conclusion.

Hear the Northern thunders mutter! Northern flags in South’s winds flutter! To Arms, To Arms, To Arms in Dixie! Send them back your fierce defiance! Stamp upon the cursed alliance! To Arms, To Arms, To Arms in Dixie! Advance the flag of Dixie! Hurrah! Hurrah! For Dixie’s land we take our stand, And we live or die for Dixie! To Arms! To Arms! And conquer peace for Dixie! To Arms! To Arms! And conquer peace for Dixie! –Confederacy chant. Many people praise it, display it, and chant it, yet others view it with pure disgust. Once again, the Confederate or “Rebel Flag has been shoved onto the table of debate due to the raising of the flag in front of the South Carolina State House. So much debate has arose that President Obama was questioned where this flag should be placed? President Obama replied with a very considerate answer. His answer was, “In a museum.” But why would he want to take down the flag and retire it? Many have applauded him upon the issue, yet others are left confused as to why? Many people fly the Confederate Flag with pride and none of which are racist. In fact, the flag does not even represent

51 years after the ending of the Civil War, you’d think that conflicts regarding Confederacy would be over. However, Confederacy issues just continue to get worse. Many Americans still believe and honor Confederate ethics. While many Americans strongly oppose the Confederacy. They believe that the Confederacy is responsible for destroying families, taking lives, and causing the bloodiest war in American history. Those Americans feel like we shouldn’t honor Confederacy and don’t want monuments or statues representing Confederacy here. Especially after hate crimes like the attack on an predominant African American church in South Carolina. It’s easy to understand why these people feel this way, as slavery and discrimination shouldn’t be represented on the “Land

Thesis: As the debate continues on whether or not we should keep confederate monuments and symbols displayed publicly, it is important that we recognize both the benefits and downfalls of removing these symbols.

In the past couple of year, there has been a controversial battle over the flying of the Confederate Flag on government buildings. The controversy has really started to stir up in the southern states such as South Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia. On January 30, 2001, the state of Georgia changed its flag, removing the large Confederate battle cross from the 1956 design and replacing it with the state seal of Georgia. Now, the state of Mississippi is the only state that fearlessly displays the Southern Cross in its state flag. Though several Southerners see the Confederate Flag as a symbol of southern pride and heritage, many others see the flag as a dishonorable reminder of slavery and segregation in the south. Although this flag is under great controversy in the southern states, there is no reason why this flag should not be flown from government buildings because it isn’t demoralizing African Americans in the symbolization of slavery, segregation and domination although it is used by many hate groups across the united states they too need a history lesson because the confederate flag only started as a battle flag that some blacks fought under and held with pride.

Confederate statues depict anti-abolitionists as heroes and very honorable men, therefore they should be removed. These men who are depicted as heroes fought for the institution of slavery. These statues not only glorify anti-abolitionists but they remind people of the strong racism of the time. Many people fight for the removal of these statues for the sole reason that they “serve as constant reminders of institutional racism, segregation and

The Civil War continues to be a major talking point today -- a war that was fought over the extension of slavery. In 2017, a contentious conversation continues as the public debates the reasons of the Civil War, whether or not it was about slavery or states’ rights, and the ethics behind having massive monuments commemorating a time of our history that was so divisive. Symbols of the Confederacy, which includes the Confederate flag and monuments depicting leaders of the Confederacy, are seen to be racist and propaganda tools used by white supremacists. However, there are those who believe that these confederate symbols are misleading and leads to the false ideas that the South was patriotic and heroic during the Civil War. Through

The Confederate Battle flag is one of the most recognized symbols in the United States. It is not always a welcome symbol in today’s society. Take for instance the state of South Carolina having to remove it from its statehouse on April 12, 2000. The reason it is not always welcome is because people often misinterpret its true meaning. It is not a symbol of hatred but, a symbol of southern pride and honor. The pride and honor of all the men and women who carried it the flag into battle fighting for what they believed in, Southern independence.

As Winston Churchill stated, “The flags of the Confederate States of America were very important and a matter of great pride to those citizens living in the confederacy. They are also a matter of great pride for their descendants as part of their heritage and history,” but in present day, the American people are claiming the meaning of the confederate flag is hate and discrimination. In South Carolina, the confederate flag was taken down and placed in a museum after a heated debate stemming from a mass shooting of nine black churchgoers in a historical Charleston church during bible study. The shooter, Dylann Roof, was a white supremacist. A photograph of Roof emerged showing him holding a confederate flag which fueled the political flag debate. The confederate flag is at the center of the controversy over racism. Although, it was first created as an official flag of confederacy, the confederate flag has changed into what is now either a symbol of Southern heritage and pride or slavery and racism by Americans. It is time to put this flag in a museum to be honored by those it means something to and no longer stand as a reminder of the division our country once suffered, so we can move on as a nation, united.

While Stars and Bars have long been associated by many with slavery, the latest campaign to remove Confederate emblems has extended beyond the flag to statues, memorials, parks and even school mascots. The debate over what symbolizes heritage and what stands for hate has never covered so much ground, as efforts to remove icons that have been part of the visual and cultural landscape of the South for decades are a foot at national, state, and local levels. In one Arkansas town, the school board voted unanimously Tuesday to ban the song "Dixie" for the next school year and phase out "Rebel," the school's mascot. "They are part of our history and not all of our history is dandelions and butterflies." - Mick Mulvaney, representative for South Carolina. In Maryland, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is trying to make a plan that would change the name of Baltimore's Robert E. Lee Park. A spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings, Blake told The Associated Press she supports the name change and is willing to work with the county to find an appropriate alternative name. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Tennessee have called for a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader, to be removed from an alcove outside the Senate chambers. The bust, with the words "Confederate States Army" engraved on it, has been at the state Capitol for decades. That bust is part of history, yes that guy may have been racist but that's how times was when slavery was around. It is a part of history so we can’t forget it or we might redo the whole situation over again.(“Debate over the confederate

Many people see on the tv or the news that people have been vandalizing statues of confederate soldiers well they don’t show the opposing side of the story.many people do actually not know the size of the opposing side, according to a Marist poll, 62 percent of Americans voted in favor keeping the Confederate statues, while only 27 percent  wanted to take them down.The statutes can show the meaning of courage and bravery to fight for what you believe in.William Stage explained the knowledge of, “acknowledging and even respecting the general principle of the courage and beliefs of all men at arms.” This explains that you can at least admire that they kept by their beliefs.Another perspective: we can see other ideas of slavery like mt. rushmore like george washington even supported the belief of slavery.Mr. Stewart published in a newspaper:

The Confederate flag has recently been another hot button issue in education with the events that happened in South Carolina in the summer of 2016. That flag represents different things for different people. African Americans view the flag a symbol of racism and oppression. While white people from the south view it has a symbol of their southern spirit and a salt of the earth hardworking heritage. As this debate continues to wage on, one wonders if the period of Reconstruction is not over. What does one do in the educational setting? If the image of the Confederate flag disrupts the educational setting then it is the principal’s responsibility to make sure the symbol is not scene in school. By doing this some students may believe that their freedom of speech is being suppressed, but the law is on the side of the school districts when it comes to this issue.

The decline of interest in the Lost Cause was more of a Northern than a Southern celebration, which was the Civil War Centennial. Many white Southerners revived the use of Confederate symbols during the civil rights revolts of 1950s and 1960s, mainly the Confederate flag and “Dixie” (Gaines Foster 2002). With this being said, the Northern celebration lost intertest extremely quick. They revived the use of Confederate symbols by trying to make the cause seem more Christian like and noble and had their leaders exemplify chivalry. The confederate flags exacerbated social stressors between white and black Southerners in the 1980s. The battles of the l960s than to those of the 1860s, were when the blacks objected to confederate symbols as an assertion of white supremacy, even though they never participated in or embraced the Lost Cause. Being that the Civil War brought deliverance from slavery, they gloried in their ancestors participation in a Union army they celebrated on various dates that brought emancipation to many black communities after the war (Gaines Foster

South Alabama today is full of discrimination, confederate flags, and hatred towards black people. Many white Americans in the south will argue that the confederate flag represents their “culture” and their historical background, which I find ludicrous. The confederate flag flew under the laws of the confederacy where racism and slavery were openly accepted, if not encouraged, in the states of the confederacy. People that encourage the flight of the confederate flag have not considered that part of history in their argument for why the flag is flown. Instead, they argue some ridiculous claims that the flag represents a time where the south was at its “most successful point in history.” As many can tell, I believe that this sorry excuse to be racist is a load of poppycock. I know that not all people who believe in the flight of the confederate flag are racist, but the majority that does support this is racist.