I’m not black.
I will never understand the emotions that the Confederate flag brings up for those that are. I will never understand the hatred that African Americans associate with that flag. I have no vitriolic history with the Confederate imagery displayed in the flag. My ancestors weren’t owned. A war wasn’t fought in part to ensure my ancestors would continue to be owned.
What I do understand is this: I am in no position to tell African Americans how to feel regarding that flag.
I have no authority to tell them that they shouldn’t be offended by it. I have no right to tell African Americans that the flag “doesn’t represent hate.”
I can’t say that it doesn’t bother me that the flag is offensive to African Americans. It does bother me. It bothers me a lot.
Quit being naïve.
Quit pretending that we can classify the Confederacy as our heritage and pretend that African Americans have to be okay with it. Sure, the Confederacy was part of Mississippi’s history.
Sure, by that aspect alone, it is part of our “heritage,” but under no circumstance does that mean we have to embrace it.
One of the main arguments I’ve seen to keep the flag is this: “But not everything about the Confederacy was bad. Why can’t we embrace our history and let that symbolize the good in the Confederacy?“
I’m sorry, but I don’t care.
I don’t care about the supposed “good things” that happened. I can’t care about someone having a simpler life or the South’s prosperity when African Americans were treated as if they weren’t people. I can’t pretend that I care about the good parts of the Confederacy when it was one of the darkest ages of our country’s past. I just can’t.
I don’t want to have to explain to my children what the Confederacy was and then explain why it’s represented in the state flag. I don’t want them to be conflicted about their state flag.
I want them to live in a state that tried to move past their issues. I want them to live in a state that understands its past and makes every effort to distance itself from it.
So, take the flag down.
Take it down immediately. Take it down yesterday. I understand it is the state flag. That doesn’t require the University of Mississippi to fly it.
I commend what the University has done over my time here regarding race. I believe over the past five years Ole Miss has made an effort to be extremely progressive on racial relations.
Hopefully, by taking the flag down, this great university could start to initiate change.
Hopefully, by taking the flag down, we can send the message that we’re not still fighting a war the South thankfully lost over 150 years ago.
Hopefully, the mindset of many Mississippians can change.
Hopefully we can be a small part in changing the course of Mississippi’s future. Hopefully.
