“Take
Down this wall” was the now famous imperative that Ronald Reagan challenged
Mikhail Gorbachev with in 1987. Two
years later that wall was taken down by the people of East Germany; that nation
was re-united and the Cold War ended.
All within 45 years of the end of World War II.
The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to
1865. And it seems like it has continued
to be fought in the halls of government and in the minds of Americans and in
the media that entertains us for the past 150 years. We debate the cause of that war when it is
clear in the very declarations of secession that the underlying motivation was
to preserve the system of slavery and bondage that underpinned the southern economy. We admire and even revere the good men who
fought against the Union such as Robert E. Lee and we even overlook those who
displayed sadistic and racist aspects such as Nathan Bedford Forest.
The
northern states, unexpectedly magnanimous in victory, restored the southern
states and allowed the restoration of pre Civil War conditions (except for de
jure slavery). The southern states, defiant in defeat, re-enslaved the African
Americans with Jim Crow laws and segregation and thumbed their collective nose
at the United States of America.
By way
of full disclosure I should say that three of my great great great grandfathers
fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Whether their units, from Alabama
and Georgia, ever fought under the battle flag of Lee’s army - the Stars and
Bars - I do not know. I do know that my great great great grandfathers did not
own slaves and like many white southern farmers fought for what they believed
was their land and their homes and their families. That they were misled and used by economic
interests and plantation owners who depended on human bondage as their source
of income is an historical fact.
Another
of my great great great grandfathers, a native of Tennessee, fought for the
federal union. He fought to preserve the
Union but the nature of the struggle was such that it became, on the union
side, a battle, even a crusade, to end slavery.
One
hundred years after the start of that Civil War a movement began to reclaim for
the African Americans of this country the rights that were assured them in the
Constitution by the amendments passed after the North (Union) was
victorious. Those who opposed that
movement and held on to the ignorant belief in white supremacy raised the
Confederate battle flag as their symbol.
And like minded Americans began to use that flag, and place it on badges
and license plates and car decals to send a message of solidarity based on
hate.
Decent
Americans overlooked this and in the spirit of the First Amendment and
Lincoln’s pleas for reconciliation thought well let them play with their
symbols of a lost cause. Now the battle
flag of the Confederacy is incorporated in three state flags; it is found in
the halls of the national Congress; it flies at public buildings and is treated
with respect. Only in America would the battle flag of a rebellion, i.e.
treason, be accorded such deference.
Now
finally 150 years after the surrender of the last Confederate troops there is a
rising outrage at the use of this symbol of hate. Retailers are now refusing to
sell these items; and some manufacturers refusing to produce them. White Political leaders of southern states
are calling for an end to the use of these symbols.
All
this because a sick young man motivated by a misguided belief in the supremacy
of one race and an admiration for what he believed was the cause of the
Confederacy, shot and killed nine peaceful citizens as they prayed in their
church. He did so under the banner of that rebel battle flag and he chose his
victims because they were black,
It is
too soon to know whether South Carolina will listen to the son of Strom
Thurmond and take down the battle flag from the capitol grounds. We will have to wait and see if Mississippi
follows its US Senators and removes the stars and bars from the state flag or
whether Georgia will then follow suit...
The
massacre at the AME church in Charleston SC could fade into history and become
just another episode in the racial conflicts that have engulfed this nation
since colonial days. Or perhaps, just perhaps,
the shots fired inside the AME church in Charleston (the city where the first
shots of the Civil War were fired) could become the last shots of the American
Civil War. Let us pray God that this be so.
When
Abraham Lincoln was asked which side in the War, North or South, God was on he
replied that the real question was who was on God’s side. This nation has an opportunity to be on God’s
side - Take Down This Flag - Remove These Symbols.
25
June 2015
