Today the rebel flag will be removed from the Capitol grounds of South Carolina. The South Carolina House and Senate, by overwhelming majorities in both houses, voted to take it down this week, and Governor Haley signed the bill yesterday.
I’m a Southerner. My father’s father’s father’s father was one Thomas Jefferson Talley LaMotte, who walked home to Columbia, South Carolina after fighting for the Confederacy in Virginia and North Carolina. Except for time overseas, I’ve lived in the South my whole life, and both sides of my family are from the South. The first LaMotte in the colonies immigrated to Charleston, South Carolina. I watched too much TV as a kid to have much of a Southern accent, but I say ‘y’all’ without irony. And this fully credentialed Southern White Guy is celebrating this day.
I have been watching and listening to conversations about this issue, and it has taken me a while to organize my thoughts, but I think it’s time I weighed in, as a Southern White male. So here are a few thoughts:
To those who point out that this was never officially the flag of the Confederacy, and rather was the battle flag of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, I say that this is a specious detail. There is no symbol more widely associated with the Confederacy than the rebel flag, and that is why South Carolina chose to fly it fifty years ago.
To those who say that taking down the flag is a denial and burying of history, I see it as just the opposite. The flag is being moved to historical archives, where we can learn about, reflect on, celebrate and critique our history. The South Carolina legislature has chosen to no longer hold this symbol in a place of honor. Taking it down is a matter of honestly facing history, not denying it.
To those who say that ‘we might as well blow up the Washington monument, then. He owned 300 slaves,’ it is a different thing to honor a man who made many good contributions and also participated in some terrible things (which could possibly be said of anyone), than to hold up a symbol of a large movement whose primary cause we find abhorrent.
To those who say, ‘what about other injustices? you’re a hypocrite!’, I say, yes, I’m a hypocrite. But I’m trying to be a hypocrite who is moving slowly toward justice rather than a hypocrite who is resisting it. If our standard for taking any action is that it addresses all injustices at once, we will never take positive action.
To those who say ‘heritage, not hate,’ I say that heritage does not mean living in the past, frozen in our understanding and beliefs. It is up to us what we make of our lives from the raw material of our history and inheritance. Heritage is the starting point for our lives, not the end point.
It is also worth noting that the flag has not flown there for 150 years, but for 50. It was added in commemoration of the Civil War, and remained as a repudiation of the civil rights movement. Do we want to celebrate the heritage of resisting civil rights?
And ‘not hate?’
Well, actually, I agree with you there.
It’s worse than that.
The Confederacy and the system of slavery that it fought for was not about hatred of Black people; it wasn’t that passionate. The people, including my own ancestors, who held other people in bondage didn’t do so because they hated them; they did it because it was economically advantageous. It was a cold-hearted denial of others’ humanity, and a defense of greed that required the violent enslavement of other human beings. It was also, for some, a desperate clinging to self-worth by poor white people who had come to believe what they have been told: that they are pretty worthless, but at least they are better than those other folks. That’s what a lot of racism still is, and both halves of it are a lie; They are not better, and they are not worthless.
It is so easy to feel superior and condemn oppressors from a safe distance. As I write these words, though, I am painfully aware that the pants I’m wearing and the computer I’m typing on were both made by people working under slave-like conditions (just enough food and living space to survive, abuse, unsafe work spaces, unconscionably long hours, child labor, etc.). This system benefits me, and I support it financially, allowing me relatively cheap merchandise at the cost of others’ well being. In that knowledge, I have to bring some humility to this conversation. I think we all do. We are participating in the oppression of others, even now, through systems that seem too large for us to affect (though they are not). Perhaps that’s how Thomas LaMotte felt as he marched off to war. Or maybe not. I wish I could talk with him about it.
The idea that the Civil War was over ‘states’ rights’ is revisionist history, unless we finish the phrase with ‘states’ rights to buy and sell other people, beat and murder them with impunity, take their children, etc.’ In fact, all of the Declarations of Secession from the various states mention challenges to the institution of slavery as a primary reason for leaving the United States, and the text of the Declaration of Secession of the Confederate States of America actually argues against states’ rights, listing among its primary grievances the northern states’ refusal to return stolen slaves. It argues that they should have been forced to.
Having said that, many Southerners have our identities tied up in symbols like that flag. It feels to many like a symbol of where we’re from, of places and people we love, not what we’ve done. So, as illogical as it may be, marginalizing that symbol, to some people, feels like an attack on one’s very self. It isn’t that, of course. It is a call to be better, to write a new story, to acknowledge the ways we have blown it in the past, and to nourish ‘the better angels of our nature’, as Lincoln said.
Still, what is intended is not always what is understood (yes, that argument works both ways, and it doesn’t absolve us of responsibility for the damage we inflict in either direction). Let’s not live into the misunderstanding. I’ve seen lots of South-bashing lately, and though I understand something of where that’s coming from, I think it’s a mistake. Let’s not put down Southern White people, South Carolinians, or any other group of people as ‘less than,’ in the very moment that we remove this powerful symbol of denigration and subjugation. The foolish notion that some groups of people are fundamentally better or worse than others is precisely what we are standing against.
A White man whom I love recently said to me, after reading something I had written about race, “Sometimes I wonder whose side you’re on.” Let me clarify that: I’m on the side that doesn’t believe there are sides. We can’t hate people in the name of love, or put people down in the name of tolerance and inclusion, whether we’re winning or losing. We have to reach a little higher than that.
Some say that the flag issue is a distraction. They worry that we will win this struggle, call it done, and then go back to business as usual. Doubtless, some of us will. Others will be awakened to the fact that things that seemed impossible to change are not, if we work to change them, and will be energized to work for the next goal. There is no shortage of important work to do in the world. What is yours to do?
History moves incrementally, and lasting, real change is slow. This day has been a long time in the making. Those words are not a call to patience, however. We should be impatient with issues of justice. It’s a call to hope, and a rebuke to despair. This is only one step in a long journey, but things do change for the better if we work to change them.
As it turns out, the Rebels had it right in at least one regard. The South is rising again. This is what real rising looks like.
Watch and see. The flag is coming down.
Black Mountain, NC
James Lierly says
A thoughtful essay that applies well beyond the issue at hand. Thanks.
David LaMotte says
Thank you, James.
Jack says
It’s not what they are saying BUT how it is being said……I have to ask….if it is so important why not bring it up during peaceful times or is your only objective is to stir up more animosity ?????? MAYBE there is a $$$$$$$’ reason …huh ????? If your reason is a peaceful one it would be done in a peaceful manner….watch,listen,and learn from true Southerners …..
David LaMotte says
Hi Jack, thanks for chiming in. I’m not sure I follow your logic, though…? Folks have been bringing it up for decades (though I’m not entirely sure any of them qualify as peaceful times). A good friend of mine spoke of marching in Columbia about this twenty years ago, and another of his daughter writing a letter to the editor years ago when she was still in high school. I’ve had plenty of conversations about this as well over the years. I’m not sure I get what the ‘$$$$$$$ reason’ would be for dropping the flags, either. I entirely agree with you that peace work should be done in a peaceful manner, but peace is not the same thing as placidity. Peacemaking is not about avoiding conflict, it is about approaching conflict in ways that are constructive rather than destructive. As for watching, listening, and learning from true Southerners, I’ve been doing that all of my life, as my entire family is made up of Southerners, myself included. May we all watch, listen and learn from each other.
G. Leanne Hall says
I have to say, I enjoyed reading your article about the Rebel Flag. Having grown up in So Cal, I never felt one way or another about it, except that I thought it symbolically represented a large number of people who believed in a common cause or goal.The real shame of the Civil War was how it cemented 150 years of whites thinking they are better than blacks. I will be glad to see that opinion fade. I wish the south could do more to address that issue, which still seems to be the real problem of the matter, whether people care to admit it or not.
David LaMotte says
Leanne, I appreciate your note. Thanks for that. I want to gently caution you, though, on the idea that the South has a corner on racism (though maybe I misunderstand, and that wasn’t your intent). It is worth noticing that the majority of attacks on African Americans that have filled the headlines in the last year or two have been in cities in the north, often the very cities people fled to in order to escape slavery. Statistically, some of the most currently segregated cities in the nation are in the north. Southern California is, of course, the site of the Watts riots fifty years ago, as well as Rodney King riots in the nineties, and I think it is erroneous to suggest that SoCal has moved past racism in 2015. I think we all have a lot of work to do, most certainly including me. It has been argued, though, that the difference between Southern racism and Northern racism is that in the South we acknowledge that we have a problem.
Tom Swayze says
Incredible perspective…thoughtfully articulate !
David LaMotte says
Thank you, Tom.
Judith Mayer says
Well, my friend, you have written what I wish I had! It is so well done and I thank you for it. My great-grandfather was a captain in the Confederate Army, fought at Vicksburg, was wounded, fought in Virginia and had to walk home from there to his farm in northern Mississippi . Both children had died. Terrible times. A part of history and my history. Now let’s move forward.
David LaMotte says
Thank you, Judith. As you say, may we move forward together. Best…
JC Honeycutt says
Thanks for this excellent and thoughtful comment, David. I come from a family that included both slave-owners and abolitionists and whose members fought on both sides of the Civil War, as well as some who left NC for free territories when local governments re-sold the slaves they had freed. The fact that the Confederate battle flag was resurrected during the civil-rights era (as a symbol of resistance to integration) contradicts the “just my heritage” argument, IMHO. If more people actually knew their family’s histories, I think they might well see things differently: for example, how many of their forebears were drafted into the confederacy, deserted and were forced back into service, etc. When the United Daughters of the Confederacy was formed in the 1890s, they took on the task of whitewashing Southern history; and between the UDC and “Gone with the Wind”, most of us were exposed to a Southern narrative that was far more myth than fact. Thanks to genealogical information, I know now (for example) about a man in my family who was drafted unwillingly into the Confederate army. He deserted and went home, only to be caught and drafted again, whereupon he deserted a second time–only this time he joined the Union Army: apparently he decided that if he didn’t have the option of avoiding war, he’d at least choose the anti-slavery side.
I was at the Swannanoa Gathering in western NC this past week, and I had the pleasure of hearing and sharing some good songs that touched on these issues. I shared a fact-based song about an NC woman who married her family’s former slave, and I had the pleasure of working with guitarist/songwriter Ray Chesna on a song about a disillusioned Confederate veteran and his rejection of the Confederate flag and its cause. There were several other songs that dealt either with recent SC events or with social justice in general, and it felt good to know that some of the audience would likely take these songs and/or their sentiments back to their own communities. We have a good opportunity now to “speak truth to power”–something I know you’ve been doing for a long time.
David LaMotte says
Thanks so much for this note, JC, and for the important work you’re doing writing and spreading those songs that both nourish and challenge. I had hoped to get by Swannanoa this summer, but I didn’t make it happen. Hope to see you there next summer.
Carole says
Thank you. Well said
David LaMotte says
Thank you, Carole.
FAYE F WARD says
Please email me your monthly news letter. Well written piece about the symbolism of the Confederate Flag. I have forefathers from the South and the North, thus raised hearing both opinions of the war. Thank you for sharing
Marzie says
Thank you for this beautifully crafted and eloquently stated essay. You model what should be the true South, with words of honor and civility.
Julie Lesesne says
I am a North Carolinian from South Carolina, where all of my also family has also lived for hundreds of years. Thank you for saying so well what I have thought and tried to express to others for a long time. I am excited about the prospects for real change and hope we can use this new energy to foster hope and change for justice and love and true healing in a new South.
Patricia Lee Klock says
I respect your Right to your own opinion (one of the Rights that haven’t yet been taken away from us), however my belief is “Let us remember the mistakes we made in the past and continue to progress to the point that we believe that all men are created equal regardless of race, religion,or station in life. Therefore, we must remember the past lest we forget the mistakes made and move on to a more respectful unity among all peoples.” We need to also remember that we all have our own opinions and that nothing is right or wrong it’s just the way you perceive it.” I could say so much more here but I would have to pull out my soapbox. I will point out that many of us feel that by getting rid of a Flag you are offending our ancestry and right or wrong they should still be remembered in a different light than they are being presented in. The confederate Flag is not a symbol of Slavery it is a symbol of Southern Pride. We are proud to be southerners not the fact that a hundred or so years ago the beliefs of the South were not honorable (or so it has been portrayed). Yes slavery was a horrible practice but the War was about so much more that you don’t read in History books and no one ever speaks about. Try reading some of the things that Lincoln said about the slaves and you will be shocked. Also the North offered the South an Amendment stating that the South could keep their slaves if they would not sever their relationship with the Union. I believe if I remember correctly it was called the Corwin Amendment. I’m 65 so I don’t always remember things correctly but it’s close. Anyway there were many other reasons that the War was fought other than slavery. The Confederate Flag was never flown on a slave ship it was the American Flag flown on the ships that brought slaves to this country from the European slave traders who kidnapped or bought them from tribes in Africa. Why not pick on the tribes in Africa or condemn the Europeans who took them. This is ridiculous to debate because it is all in the past we can’t change it but we must learn from the past as I said lest we forget. We are all equal and there is no one man superior to another. The South lost so who cares about a flag anyway most people only know what they have been told and don’t ever research the truth.
David LaMotte says
Patricia, thank you for writing and sharing your thoughts. You’ve written a lot here, and to respond to it all I would need to write another, and longer article, and I’m afraid I can’t devote that much time right now. In light of that, I’ll just respond to one small piece in which you say “who cares about a flag anyway”. I cannot cause you to care about it, of course, but it seems fairly clear that many people do, on various sides of the issue, so it’s something we need to work through together as a nation. The words of my friend Jonathan Byrd continue to haunt me, though: “If that flag represented your grandparents hanging from a tree, you might feel differently about it.”
Steve Fraley says
Thanks for these wise and well-crafted words, David. I’ve been trying to express very similar sentiments and observations to my friends and others during this whole ugly affair, but have fallen short of your eloquence.
David LaMotte says
Thanks, Steve.
Tim Culberson says
Well said. All four of my grandparents families trace back to the 1700’s in North and South Carolina. My personal heritage runs deep here and I completely agree with your essay.
I wrote, at some point in the past few weeks, that MY South is represented by respect, hospitality and sweet tea.
David LaMotte says
That’s a fine hat trick. 🙂 Yep, that’s the South I love too.
Melvin Hughes, Jr. says
Beautifully stated! As a white southerner with very similar roots, I applaud your vision.
David LaMotte says
Thank you, Melvin.
Judith-Kate Friedman says
Beautifully well said. Thank you, David.
David LaMotte says
Thank you, Judith Kate. As a fine songwriter once wrote, ‘we hang tears up today.’
Nancy Rockwell says
Thanks for this moving and wise post. I’ll look forward to reading more of your words. BTW, I live in NH, have lived in New England all my life, am a preacher and am the descendant of an abolitionist preacher and an underground railway driver. And I could not agree with you more.
David LaMotte says
Thank you, Nancy.
Tad Wilbur says
Just a message to say I’m so so proud of you and this piece….aloha from Hawai’i…..
David LaMotte says
Thanks so much, Tad! Aloha!
Veronica says
no sides…all one
…”when the love of power is overcome by the power of love, the world will know peace…”J.Hendrix
David LaMotte says
Amen.
Sandra says
Well said.
David LaMotte says
Thank you, Sandra.
HN says
David, you’re so right on here, about so many things. I can hardly stand it. My head might explode from Rightness Overload. Which is an interesting dilemma for a lefty. Well said, sir. Thank you. I think the folks behind the #TakeDownYourFlag collaborative songwriting protest movement – a respectful one, at that – would very second my comments. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out Charleston’s Post & Courier yesterday: http://bit.ly/1eN4UM7, “Folk musicians nationwide write one song to demand change in the wake of Charleston church shooting” and visit the 220+/122,000+ view YouTube playlist (all this, in 21 days), here: bit.;y/takedownyourflag. Again, thank you for these words.
David LaMotte says
Thanks HN. Though I haven’t seen him in some time, Peter Mulvey is a buddy of mine. I’m so impressed with what he has done here, and the effect that it has had. Thanks for pointing me and others to it.
Ellen Stevenson says
Thank you for saying this, and not just thinking it.
Thank you for saying it so well. Thank you.
David LaMotte says
Thank you, Ellen, for reading it, and for your kind words.
Dawn Bowyer says
Thank you for this eloquently written piece. I was raised hearing what I refer to as “Myths of the South” – lauding the patriotism & military genius of Confederate leaders, the attitudes of white slave owners protecting and caring for their slaves, who showed them undying loyalty, the need for the formation of the KKK to protect the widows & children of Southern soldiers from sleazy carpetbagger Yankees… Whatever grains of truth might exist in any of these tales, it does not change the fact that the lifestyles and economies of the South were built on the backs of people who were enslaved and denied the most basic elements of human dignity. The scars of that era are still visible & felt by so many today. It is inherently our responsibility to use the privilege we have to try to make this nation a safer, better place for ALL of our children, and ensure that they learn from their forefathers’ mistakes and suffering, so this hateful history is not repeated, neither in this nation nor any other, regardless of whether the shackles are made of metal or are economic in nature, as you so rightly included.
David LaMotte says
Thank you, Dawn.
Brenda Keville says
I agree the Confederate flag is racist and about hatred..It must come down. Let us all seek what is seeking us and “Be the change we wish to see in the world.” Peace.
David LaMotte says
Amen.
Croskeys Royall says
This is an incredibly well-written piece that I think shows graciousness to all sides of the issue while pointing to a positive way forward together. Good work, David!
– Croskeys Royall
David LaMotte says
Thanks so much, Croskeys. And thanks for the work you do to move us all forward, too.
Darleen Wilson says
Hello David,
THANK YOU for writing this and putting it out there… well said, well done!
All the best,
Darleen
David LaMotte says
Thanks Darleen!
maree robertson says
Thanks 🙂
*specious*, I like that better, good call.
& this makes me want yo find the source of the Lincoln quote, can you point me in the right direction?
David LaMotte says
http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/1inaug.htm
I’ll add that link to the article, too. Thanks Maree.
Janine Chimera says
Wow…..beautiful. Truth. Heart. Rising up. Thank you!
David LaMotte says
Thank you, Janine.