I'm going to begin with having you watch a video. As you watch, try to see if you can notice anything...interesting about it.
The first thing that I noticed about this video was the fact that there is a Confederate flag flying behind Skynyrd as they play one of the most widely recognized songs in rock n' roll history. But didn't the Civil War end, like, 112 years before this concert, and 109 years before the song was even released? Yes. If slavery is abolished and the racism that plagued our country then isn't as prevalent now, why would Skynyrd throw a Confederate flag behind their stage?
This question came up this week during American Studies. We talked about how even though the Civil War is long over, people in the South still proudly wave Confederate flags and put on their houses in the same way that we would put Chicago Bears flags on our houses. We had a long discussion about why this could be. Does it mean that these people are racist? Do they want to bring slavery back into our country?
The answer to both of these questions is no. Just because you fly a Confederate flag does not mean that you are racist. Instead, it is a symbol of pride. The men of Lynyrd Skynyrd are proud to be Southerners, as are anyone else who flies one of these flags. It is part of the heritage of the South to have a close-knit community. You were proud of where you came from. I believe that this is what the Confederate flag represents present day. After the Civil War, the South was left completely in ruins, and the flag represents Southern pride in that sense that you know where you came from and support it. You don't necessarily support all of the ideals, but you are proud just to be from the South.
While the Confederate flag has a very negative connotation, just the same way that the Nazi flag has a negative connotation, people may not have the extremist beliefs that are associated with these symbols. However, if an African-American happens to see the Confederate flag, they may think that it represents racism. If a Jewish person happens to see a Nazi flag, they make think it represents anti-semitism. For the reasons I stated before, this is not necessarily true.
So this is just something to think about. I'll admit that when I first saw that Skynyrd video my first thought was that they were racist. However, when I thought a little deeper, I thought that may not be the case.
Jon-
ReplyDeleteRacism is a very touchy subject, implying it still hits the nerves of many people, and therefore is still an issue. I agree that people fly flags for various reasons, most often to show pride. However, considering the importance of slavery in the Old South, it is hard to disassociate racism with the Confederate flag. I cannot imagine that the pride is not in, at least a little bit, the establishment of slavery. As you said, it is important to look at the whole meaning; thanks for giving another possible point of view.
Jon-
ReplyDeleteWhenever I've seen videos of Skynard I've always thought about their use of the confederate flag and I always slightly respected their boldness. I don't think that today the Confederate flag symbolizes racism and just, as you said, represents southern pride. At my old camp, one of the boys in one of my high school classes wore a shirt with the Confederate flag on it with the saying "It's a Southern thang y'all". We all questioned him about it because, well it was the confederate flag and we had a really diverse camp group and we didn't want any race issues causing drama. He explained to us that now in the south, the Confederate flag is just like a state flag, it is just another part of southern culture, like a southern belle or iced tea (his words not mine). Maybe at some point people can truly separate the ideals of the Confederacy with the Confederate flag but it might be hard. I can see where you're coming from though Jon and I gotta agree with you.