*I’m thrilled that the Confederate battle flag has been removed from the grounds of the South Carolina statehouse. But I feel disappointed and insulted by the rationale of some of the South Carolina lawmakers who voted to take the flag down.
Just a few years ago, South Carolina’s Republican governor, Nikki Haley, was in favor of allowing the Confederate flag to flutter at the statehouse. But after avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof murdered nine black church members during a Bible class at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, Gov. Haley said she could no longer justify defending the banner of the Confederacy.
The governor called for the flag to be taken down, and both houses of the state legislature voted overwhelmingly to do just that. Unfortunately, the actions of the South Carolina state Senate and House of Representatives did not necessarily amount to a denunciation of the racist symbolism inherent in the Confederate battle flag. One South Carolina lawmaker candidly explained that when many of his colleagues voted to remove the flag, they were not making a statement about the symbolism and racial history of the Confederate flag.
Speaking on MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes” on July 6, the day the South Carolina Senate voted 37 – 3 to remove the Confederate flag, state Sen. Tom Davis said senators were focused on the fact that relatives of the nine black murder victims forgave the white racist killer. Sen. Davis said:
“It’s my opinion that it’s the victim’s families and the way they responded in that bail room that prompted this groundswell in South Carolina that naturally led to calling for the Confederate flag to be removed from the statehouse grounds as a symbol of reciprocal grace in my opinion.”
According to Sen. Davis, the desire to perform an act of “reciprocal grace” toward the families of Emanuel Nine allowed Confederate flag supporters in the South Carolina senate to vote in favor of removing the flag, without taking a stand against it. Davis explained:
“And that’s why you had a vote of 37 to 3 including many individuals who support the Confederate flag and revere the Confederate flag. Because what they realize is that this vote isn’t a repudiation of what they think about the flag, it isn’t a concession that their interpretation of history or its meaning is wrong. But it is a frank acknowledgement by them that the grace exhibited in that bail room by the victims’ families’ demands reciprocal grace and I think that’s what animated the body today.”
There are two big problems with that point of view. First, it’s patronizing to talk about honoring the victims of a racist hate crime while also defending a flag which is the historic symbol of a social, economic and political system that was built upon racist slavery, segregation, discrimination and oppression.
Second, Sen. Davis talks of extending “grace” because the Emanuel Nine families expressed forgiveness. But what if they had expressed anger toward their loved ones’ killer? What if they denounced Dylan Roof as a racist monster? If the families of the slain had responded this way, would fewer South Carolina lawmakers have voted to bring down the Confederate battle flag?
Focusing on the families’ forgiving hearts, rather than Dylan Roof’s racist motive or the white supremacist history of the Confederate battle flag sidesteps the issue – which is decades of pain caused by a banner that symbolizes secession, slavery and Jim Crow segregation and discrimination. Ignoring all of this while talking about grace invalidates the justified anguish and anger felt by loved ones of the Emanuel Nine, by black Americans in general, and by Americans of every group who long for racial reconciliation.
Without a repudiation of the Confederate flag, a vote to take it down is an empty gesture.
Thanks for listening. I’m Cameron Turner and that’s my two cents.
Subscribe to Cameron’s YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/TurnersTwoCents. Drop Cameron an email at [email protected]
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