The Campaign Against Southern Symbols

The NAACP is continuing its "border patrols," which are stationed at Welcome Centers on South Carolina's interstate highways. The purpose is to discourage tourists from visiting and spending money in the State. This is the NAACP's way of punishing South Carolina for not obeying its directive regarding the Confederate flag, which it calls the "Confederate Swastika," a symbol of hate.

After last year's complaint by the NAACP, the Confederate flag was removed from the Capitol and a smaller version was incorporated into the existing Confederate memorial located on the statehouse grounds. It was relocated to prevent the flag from implying sovereignty, which was the essence of the NAACP's protest. Also, the Confederate flag in the Senate chambers was removed. And, on another statehouse grounds site, an African-American History Monument was constructed and dedicated. These conciliatory actions should have ended the flag squabble and allowed the state to move on to more important business.

But, as many of us suspected, the NAACP wasn't satisfied. It has demanded that the flag only be exhibited in a glass case inside a museum or other public building. Until this happens, the organization states that the border patrols will continue.

After the flag was relocated, another "symbol" protest was launched; this one against The Citadel, Charleston's famous military academy. The school's African American Society demanded that the playing of "Dixie" be limited to one weekend a year during the Citadel Story Pageant. Also, the Society insisted that cadets be permitted to opt out of standing in formation when the song is played. Then, in a truly magnanimous gesture, the Society said it might allow "Dixie" to be played at other times if a compelling historical context could be demonstrated.

Groups like the NAACP don't seem to understand that a "symbol" is something than can be perceived differently by different people. So why should they think that we will accept only their interpretation? Well, happily, we are now seeing evidence of resistance as exemplified by citizens who have refused to surrender in at least two "symbol removal" campaigns.

Citizens are refusing to yield at Stone Mountain Memorial Park outside of Atlanta, where immense figures of Confederate leaders have been carved into the mountain's granite face. Activists are demanding that these figures be sandblasted off because of their symbolic connation.

Also, standing firm is the Augusta National Golf Course, home of the famous Masters Tournament. It is under attack because of the clubhouse, which offends because it is a replica of Richland, a famous antebellum plantation. Activists have mounted a campaign to have it torn down and replaced with a less "insensitive" modern structure.

The above cases show how irrational these "symbol removal"campaigns have become. They have reached the point where we must stand firm and start saying no.

We have spent the last half of the 20th century removing symbols in an effort to appease the NAACP and other civil rights groups. Plaques have been removed, statues taken down, and roads and highways renamed. State nicknames and state songs have been changed, and state flags have been redesigned. Certain songs cannot be sung or played, and certain words and phrases may not be used. We have revised the mascot names for athletic teams; bridges, buildings and schools have also been renamed. And we have removed books from libraries, rewritten textbooks, and banned films.

The same arguments for relocating the Confederate flag were used to justify each of these "symbol removal" projects. Each time the South capitulated, another tradition would be targeted for extinction. And the process repeated itself. If South Carolina makes yet another concession on the Confederate flag, we can be sure that the NAACP will not be satisfied. Something else must always be protested in order for this organization to justify the ongoing corporate contributions as well as the large state and federal grants it receives.

March 12, 2002