Confederate Symbols: Good or Bad?
The Confederate flag, the stars and bars, and other Confederate symbols, stir up controversy. For many Americans, the Confederate flag symbolizes slavery, racism, oppression, hatred, and treason. For others, particularly those in the South, the Confederate flag is associated with regional pride and conjures a romanticized view of the “Lost Cause” when the South defied the Federal Government and tried to secede from the Union.
The controversy has been brewing for years but recently came to a boil. After a racist killer metaphorically wrapped himself in a Confederate flag and shot several African-Americans attending a prayer meeting in Charleston, 37 South Carolina state senators voted to remove the Confederate flag from the state Capitol grounds and ship it off to a museum. Prominent Southern United States Senators joined the chorus: Remove the Confederate flag from government buildings and spaces. The South Carolina governor has stated that she supports removing the flag.
If the Confederate flag no longer flies in public places in South Carolina, some suggest that removing it is not intended to show political correctness or to insult the Confederate soldiers who fought in the Civil War, but to inform the world that the South Carolina state government acknowledges that slavery, the racist Jim Crow laws, and the practices of disrespecting and discriminating against people of color and depriving them of their civil rights were wrong. Removing the Confederate flag may help close old wounds and improve race relations.
Some, who view the Confederate symbols as honoring evil, vandalized the Confederate soldier memorial statue situated on the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill campus. The statue honors the 300-plus University students who perished during the Civil War. Those who vandalized the memorial probably viewed it as honoring slavery, racism, tyranny, and murder.
Regardless of one’s views on Confederate flags and symbols, the unauthorized destruction of monuments or of public or private property is a crime. If you are a victim of vandalism or racial discrimination or charged with those crimes or related charges, you have rights and legal remedies. For more information, contact Nashville Attorney Perry A. Craft.
Perry A. Craft has dedicated his life to helping people in need. He has tried, settled, or resolved numerous civil and criminal cases in State and Federal courts, and has represented teachers and administrators before school boards, administrative judges, and the state Board of Education. Learn more about Attorney Craft.