And yet as I grew older, the name instilled a certain curiosity about the Confederacy, the flag, and above all P.G.T. himself. Flag supporters rarely invoke Beauregard’s name, and never seem to dwell on the man, though the lionization of Robert E. Lee and other Confederate leaders increases by the year. I recently discovered that there’s a reason for this. The details of Beauregard’s life point to a great irony: if General Beauregard were alive today, he’d be in the front ranks of those trying to get rid of the Southern Cross.
Ironically, I am a direct descendant of P.G.T. Beauregard as well. Ergo I’m related to this guy just a few generations back. My grandmother was apparently quite proud of her ancestry. I never met her though.
I was aghast to find out my ancestry, which wasn’t revealed to me until I was a teenager, right about the time my high school history classes covered him. I had never heard the second half of his story until now.
Actually, the irony would be that I’m someone that never understood the point of racism, and here I am, a descendant of the creator of the number one symbol for racism in the U S of A, who, ironically, saw the light, if only out of sheer pragmatism.
Speaking of civil war ironies, I am related to Ulysses S. Grant yet I am named after Robert E. Lee. I am the 3rd so it was actually my grandfather who was named after him. Still kind of ironic.
I think the confederate flag should be off the SC capital grounds. No question there.
Do you think that someone can fly it/wear it/paint it on the roof of their Charger/display it in any context personally though and not be branded as racist or have it regarded as “hate speech”? Is there room for an individual to acknowledge it as part of their heritage/ancestry that they want to celebrate or remember, without supporting slavery/racism?
edit: For context, obviously displaying the flag on the grounds of the capital in SC is big news around here again, and it sounds like they’ve actually got the support to take it down this time. Fingers crossed. But I’m also seeing stories of things like Wal-Mart pulling all confederate flag merchandise. Okay, that’s their prerogative, and I get why they would want to distance themselves. But it sounds like we’re one step away from “and anyone who has one is a racist”. Which I’m conflicted about.
I suppose it’s possible, but while the vast majority of those who display the flag may claim racism has nothing to do with it, they’re lying. I’ve lived in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Louisiana, so I have more than a passing acquaintance with the culture of the South. Lost Cause nostalgia and racism march hand in hand.
It’s taken me a long time to really grasp the power of symbolism. It always just rolled off my back, stuff like flags and badges and medals, what have you. I remember when there was a big to-do about flag burning, I never really got what the big deal was. Veterans who were so passionately opposed didn’t die for some old piece of cloth, I thought, but for ideals. But that’s oversimplifying, and it’s disregarding the intense emotions that get wrapped up in all those symbols. So having said that, I’m not really sure it’s possibly for the Confederate flag to be redeemed. I lived the first thirty years of my life in the south, I am fully aware that there’s a sense of identity in that flag and of course those who feel that way aren’t all racists. But it was tied to a system that thrived on the backs of people stolen from their homes and pressed into a life of slavery. That kind of ugliness is going to overshadow everything else, how can it not? If someone wants to put a Confederate bumper sticker on their car, well good luck I guess. I doubt you’re going to make many friends with it.
It’s kind of amazing to see the momentum around excising this symbol following the Charleston church shooting. Walmart, of all places, is removing any products bearing the flag from its shelves and online. Ebay won’t allow it anymore. After a few days of some ridiculous evasions from the GOP candidates, they are seeing the ground shifting beneath them and falling in line.
Even though I support getting rid of the Confederate flag you have to be careful about the reasons why. After all similar moral arguements against could be made about getting rid of the American flag by some hypothetical future occupier of the U.S.
