Dennis, attached is a paper that I wrote several years ago about the controversy
E. D.
TWO CSA BATTLE FLAGS?
Much has been said over the years about the CSA flag, mostly seen as the “Battle Flag”, what it stands for, whether it is racist, if it should be displayed at all or not and many other controversies have turned around this symbol, so precious to many, even now.
There seem to be two flags, one that flew for the Confederacy during the War Between The States that represented what so many were willing to risk their lives and livelihood to defend with honor. There were many flags of the Confederacy, but the one that has stuck with us and is associated with anything Confederate is the Battle Flag.
We all know that this flag represents the hundreds of thousands that died defending it, the aftermath of the War, the names of the Generals, the battlefields, the preservation efforts and so on. Most of you do not recall a time when a Confederate flag did not fly over a Southern state capitol.
Now there seems to be another flag with an entirely different meaning that looks just like the other. How can this be? Why is this same flag deemed racist and controversial by so many. Let’s look at history for answers.
First of all, there is the misconception that the Southern states have flown some version of the flag since the War. For the most part the Southern states that raised the Stars and Bars, or incorporated it in their state flag, did not do so until the 50’s and 60’s.
MISSISSIPPI
Mississippi, an exception to the abve, changed its from the Magnolia Flag to one using the Battle Flag in 1894. The flag flew for 107 years until it was discovered that the 1894 flag had never been officially adopted. An overwhelming majority voted in April 2001 to keep the 1894 flag.
When James Meredith, who is black, registered at Ole Miss in 1962, many of the protestors waved Battle Flags.(infoplease.com Confederate Flags of the New South)
ALABAMA
After the War ended, Alabama flew the US flag over the capitol until 1891. Four years later, an official state flag was adopted. It was the “crimson cross of St. Andrew n a field of white” and has flown ver Alabama ever since.
But in 1963, at the peak of the state’s conflict with the Federal government over segregation, Gov. George Wallace raised the Battle Flag over the statehouse to protest a visit by Attorney General Robert Kennedy. The flag was lowered in 1992 during a renovation of the statehouse. Gov. Guy Hunt raised the flag again in December 1992, but after he left office the flag was removed permanently by Gov. Jim Folsom in 1993. (infoplease.com http:/www.netstate.com/states/symb/flags/al.flag.htm)
SOUTH CAROLINA
South Carolina’s flag, first adopted in 1765 flew over the state capitol until 1860. At that time, the Palmetto Flag came into beig, a crescent in the upper right corner, a palmetto tree in the center on a blue background. This is the same flag that flies today.
In 1962, the Confederate battle flag was raised over the state house by a vote of the legislature. The first time it had ever flown over the state house. Later, when other states removed the battle flag from their state houses, South Carolina refused. After a long boycott by the NAACP, inflammatory statements by both sides and years of negotiations and compromise the battle flag was removed in April 2000 to a Confederate memorial on the capitol grounds. (http://infoplease.com ; http://netstate.com)
GEORGIA
Probably more controversy has swirled around Georgia and the Battle Flag than any other Southern state. The US flag flew over Georgia until Lincoln’s election im 1860. During the War the two national flags of the CSA were flown. An official state flag was not adopted until 1879 and there were many changes over the years until 1956 when a new flag was adopted that incorporated the Battle Flag in its design. The flag was introduced two years after Brown v. Board of Education(1954). The sponsor of the new flag and mainly responsible for its adoption was Georgia House floor speaker Denmark Groover. Forty- five years later Groover freely admitted that defiance of segregation was the motivating force behind the new flag. Groover later became and advocate for removing the flag he helped to raise. (http://infoplease.com ; http;//netstate.com Embattled Battle Flag by Neely Young Georgia Trend Jan 2005.
An objective look at the history of the Battle Flag, its dates of introduction and remarks in later years seem to support the theory that the politicians of that time, the late 1950s and early 1960s may not have been too forward thinking in their support of legislation of the time. It seems that the “hate groups” had their choices made for them in choosing a symbol for racism. Also, the heritage groups, politicians and others saw no reason to stop the use of the Battle Flag as a controversial symbol. A satirical comic strip of the 1940s,Pogo, has a line: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”