Southern pride in flag of honour
The article included a gratuitous description of that flag as a representation “... of the promotion of racism and slavery”. That helpful historical description was supplied by a member of the Socialist Workers Party. As Irish socialists seem no better informed historically than socialists anywhere else, permit me to set the record straight.
More than 20 of my ancestors fought under that flag during the late unpleasantness between North and South.
First of all, the accurate description of the flag is the Confederate battle flag. It’s an important distinction because that flag was used only by military units (modified versions were used at sea). It did not fly over government buildings or private dwellings, and most certainly never flew over any of the plantations that socialists typically think crowded the southern landscape. Few slaves would ever have seen the battle flag unless they were near a military centre.
Secondly, since 1865 the battle flag has been an honourable symbol for southerners, and especially for descendants of Confederate soldiers, of the great sacrifices made by the men and women of 1861-1865 in a struggle against overwhelming odds. It is a memorial to the courage, honour, fortitude, dignity and suffering of our forebears. It has absolutely nothing to do with the institution of slavery, although the faltering civil rights industry in this country has worked hard to make people think otherwise.
And it is true that every now and then a few fringe yahoos appropriate the battle flag for their own nefarious uses. They usually combine with the display of the US flag, and no one has yet suggested that the Stars and Stripes is also a ‘racist’ ensign. The Irish, of all people, ought to understand how symbols of national honour and pride can be hijacked occasionally for the wrong purposes by the wrong people. And that’s why it is important for good people to continue displaying those symbols.
Thomas Boaz
Berwyn
Pennsylvania
USA
