Gregory Freeman: Let's Haul Down The Rebel Flag. P-D 2/2/1997

Headline: LET'S HAUL DOWN THE REBEL FLAG
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Sun., Feb., 2, 1997
Section: NEWS ANALYSIS, Page: 4B, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

LAURE HARDEN doesn't strike you as a woman who gets angry often.
Hers is a face that at once conveys compassion and empathy, understanding and concern. But on this afternoon, her face was filled with anger, and it centered on the Confederate battle flag.
Harden, a sales manager at a local shoe store, was angered by the most recent news stories about that flag.

In the last month, that flag has popped up in the news in two states.
In Maryland, officials agreed to recall special license plates featuring the Confederate battle flag after complaints from black leaders who considered the logo offensive. The plates had been offered to members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Members of the Confederate sons group argued that their organization was de dicated to genealogy and history and was not racist.
Meanwhile, in Columbia, S.C., a controversy continues to brew over a proposal by Gov. David Beasley to move the Confederate battle flag - which has hung over the state Capitol since 1962 as a gesture of defiance against the civil rights movement - to a Confederate memorial on the Capitol grounds. Beasley says a series of racial incidents have led him to believe that extremists mistakenly interpret the flag over the Capitol as support for their actions. Two weeks ago, members of the South Carolina Legislature voted to hold a statewide referendum in November.

For Harden, the stories are too much to take.
   "This is all a question of patriotism, " she said. "Who do you owe your loyalties to? If it's America, you should respect the American flag and no one else's. That includes the Confederate flag."
   Harden's roots are in Minnesota. She says she's appalled that the issue of whether a Confederate flag should be displayed is an issue at all.
   "It shouldn't, " she said. "Everyone knows it shouldn't. Yet it shows up on places, like backs of trucks, on license plates and over Capitols. As far as I'm concerned, it should be banned."

I was a bit surprised to hear Harden's perspective. As an African-American, I've long been angered by the Confederate symbol which, to me, symbolizes racism and a desire to go back to the days when my ancestors were enslaved. That may not be the intention of some of those who fly the flag or wear it as a symbol, but that's what it says to me and to countless other black people. The fact that many states that fly the Confederate flag began flying it in the early 1960s as a display of defiance against desegregation laws adds to my disbelief that these flags are merely an expression of heritage.

But Harden is a white woman who - to the best of her knowledge - has no African-American heritage. Her concern about the flag has nothing to do with race. Her arguments lie elsewhere.
   "My ancestors have always been proud Americans. They fought in World War I, in World War II, in Korea.
   I don't understand how anyone can fly the flag of people who were traitors to this country, " she said. "I can't think of a better word than that. They refused to live under the laws of this land, and their actions resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who fought under our nation's flag.
   "I don't see how anyone can consider themselves patriotic and have anything to do with the Confederate flag."

Harden knows those are fighting words, and she's had serious quarrels with people about them. But she won't budge. "I can understand how people might want to respect their own ancestors individually, " she said. "But to show any support of any kind to Confederates as a group is a real disgrace and a slap in the face to those who have always believed in this country."
She didn't stop there. "What would we say about descendants of Nazis who flew the Nazi flag in Germany today, out of respect to their ancestors? I think most Americans would be disgusted. It's the same thing with the Confederate flag."

For those who oppose the Confederate symbol, perhaps Harden's approach is the more effective. It makes the case against it much more than a racially divisive one. It hones in on a basic question: Is it patriotic for Americans to give their respect to any other than the American flag?
The answer is food for thought.

*****
On Feb. 12, the Post-Dispatch and St. Louis Community College at Forest Park will co-sponsor a debate among the three candidates for the Democratic nomination for mayor of St. Louis: Freeman Bosley Jr., Clarence Harmon and Bill Haas. I will serve as moderator at that debate ... <deleted >

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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