(I have to stop listening to morning talk call-in programs. It is robbing me of my sleep; it is 2:15AM right now and all I can think of is my response to the morning’s topic. However, in this town, there are no morning-show-free radio stations; and I suppose they are doing their jobs, because I am responding and thinking.)
The recent topic of discussion on this particular radio station was from a neighboring town. The Police Sargent in that town was displaying a Confederate flag (mind you, this town is in the deep, liberal north) inside his garage, and when he opened the door, or left it open, the flag was highly visible. His neighbors are a (gay) couple whose son is black. They were concerned about the message that this flag was giving to their son, especially in these times of battered police-minority relations. Well, the Human Rights Committee in the town concluded that, “The Confederate flag is a generally-accepted symbol of racial oppression…and should not be displayed by public officials…” The Sargent has since removed the flag.
Oh the overwhelmingly-white responses!
Most of the callers and the hostess herself agreed that the Police Sargent had a right to display the flag in his garage and should not have been asked by the HR Committee to remove it.
The hostess asked what the flag means to callers when they see it displayed on the back of a truck or on a home. They said that the Confederate flag does not mean racism anymore, but they think it means just that the person is a Redneck or likes the Dukes of Hazard (a show from the 1980s that used the symbol on a car, in the South). Many say that the Confederate flag is a heritage of their ancestors and a symbol of “Southern pride.” I would like to know what exactly it means for a white, Northerner like the Police Sargent, to own and carry a flag like that in his home? He cannot claim it is “Southern Pride” or a “heritage” of his ancestors; he is a northerner! And as far as being just a “good ole boy” or “Redneck” symbol, that may not be the message he wishes to communicate either; Redneck generally means offish, ignorant, or subtly racist disguised as Patriotism. I know; that is how my family (of Northerners) is.
I find the defense of the Confederate flag as a harmless symbol laughable. Would the same defense be used if the flag was a Nazi Swastika and the neighbors Jewish? Not everyone who sees the Confederate flag openly displayed thinks it is harmless. Sometimes I am working in front of a home where they have that flag hung outside or I see it flown in the back of a truck. My visceral reaction is not that they are “good ole boys” or that they must be “Southern gentlemen”; but I feel fear as a minority in this country. I just want to get my work done in front of that house and not get shot at. It is not a harmless symbol and I can well-imagine the message that the black boy next door was perceiving.
One man called-in and asked how could that young boy know anything about racism at his age? I shouted out loud, “It is passed down in his very DNA! It is called historical trauma!” No white man can say that black child does not know what racism is; he lives it every day! This country was founded on the oppression and slavery of one race; and the genocide of another! We know our histories much better than any white man; we lived them, and we continue to live them!
A caller said that as a white woman, she had the right to display anything in her home and to do anything in this country; that is why her ancestors came here, to escape oppression. She called it “reverse racism” that the Police Sargent was asked to remove the Confederate flag from his garage. First off, there is no such thing as reverse racism. What you are perceiving as reverse racism is in fact, a minority group saying “enough is enough” and exerting the same rights that you have enjoyed all along—the freedom from fear, the freedom of expression, and the freedom from oppression you so dearly hold already. And yes, the Constitution does allow you to display a “generally-accepted symbol of racial oppression” in your home. You have that freedom of speech; but not the freedom from consequences of your free speech. And the consequence is that your neighbors think you are racist. And you need to own those consequences; or get over it; like white people have been telling black and Native Americans for hundreds of years.
One man said that since the couple who lived next door were gay, that they can display the rainbow flag outside their home; so the Police Sargent had the right to display the flag of his choice as well. Well, I do not think that the rainbow flag has ever been used as a symbol of succession from the Union, nor did it cause a Civil War; and nor is a “generally-accepted symbol of racial oppression.” However, if displaying the rainbow flag is an offense to this man’s fragile heterosexual privilege, he has a right to be offended as well. But, really, that argument is cracked; and speaks more to the man’s internal homophobia than his intelligence. When all else fails, attack what you fear most, that gay people (or brown people) will have the same rights and freedom from fear and oppression that you already enjoy.
All these arguments aside, the Police Sargent did remove the flag at the suggestion of the Human Rights Committee in the town. It was, notably, a suggestion. The HR Committee does not have the right to make laws or enforce them in this town; they were merely consulted on the subject and their statement was solicited. The Police Sargent could have continued displaying his Confederate flag and he could have gone to court to fight for his freedom of expression. But, I think he began to actually consider how his actions could be perceived; not merely that he had a right to those actions; but owning the greater community consequences of those actions. He discontinued displaying the Confederate flag in his home. He was the better man. The Police Sargent did the right thing.
I understand that many people have many ideas about what the Confederate flag means, who should display it and where, and if that is a good idea or not. Several states in the South have recently come under fire from Human Rights advocates for displaying the Confederate flag at government buildings. But, not-with-standing, this Police Sargent is a public official. And as such, he should be held to a higher moral and personal standard than other people who do not hold an office. We have failed to reform the government from the top-down; that is clear by the number of police shootings that go un-punished, by the number of election frauds in many states, and the current set of laughable Presidential candidates. Perhaps if that were true that public officials in our governments were held to a higher standard, than there would be less corruption and less angry, controlling Rednecks masquerading as law enforcement officers killing black boys.
(C)henry francis redhouse, 2016. Artwork is property of its respective owners.
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