The Daily Tar Heel
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The Daily Tar Heel

Dear White Southerner Who Defends the Confederate Flag,

Recently I have noticed a bit of hypocrisy with those of you who celebrate and wave the Confederate flag.

If asked why you honor the flag, you would probably respond with “Southern heritage” — heritage of the Civil War.

Those who fought under that flag fought for the South’s authority to make independent economic decisions. And the South’s economy was built on slavery.

The Confederate soldiers committed treason. Whether or not you want to be proud of that is totally up to you. The contradiction is that this does not seem patriotic, as many Southerners claim to be.

Matter of fact, according to a 2013 Gallup poll, Southern Americans are most “proud” to be American.

So are you proud to be an American? Or would you rather celebrate treasonous acts against our country? I’m confused.

Maybe, as a Southerner, you choose to wave the Confederate flag because you decided to erase the history of racism and treason and celebrate “Southern heritage.” But do you understand why the Confederate flag is offensive to black people?

Do you understand that there’s history that black people can’t easily let go of or erase? That flag holds a history that still affects mindsets today, like the suspect behind the recent terrorist attack of the Emanuel AME church in Charleston, S.C., who proudly displayed the flag in pictures online.

That same racist history has strong influence in many different spaces around the world that celebrate white supremacy today. The flag is waved for many hate groups internationally, from the Ku Klux Klan to the neo-Nazis in Germany, because it’s illegal to wave the swastika.

You have the privilege to easily erase the history behind the flag and dismiss it as a symbol of “heritage.”

I understand that symbols and text have multiple interpretations. However, for white Southerners to claim “no hate” while waving a flag that is considered by black people to be hateful shows negligence to black people.

Negligence of another group of people is not love. It’s hate. There’s no other way around that. You can’t say you are patriotic but celebrate a past of treason to our nation.

Nor can you exclaim an “anti-hate” message without much regard for your fellow black Southerners’ experiences with the direct consequences of white supremacy.

Southern pride should not be simplified to an internationally recognized symbol of white supremacy. Instead of waving the Confederate flag, think about what makes you proud to be a Southerner and an American, and celebrate that.

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