I was born and raised in North Idaho, and for as long as I can remember I have seen Confederate flags flying. People fly the flag from their car, their house, or really anywhere they can, and this was always very confusing to me. A lot of people claim they fly this flag because of “southern pride” but Idaho touches the Canadian border. While the southern pride argument doesn’t hold a lot of ground, there is no real argument to fly it other than its inherently racist meaning.
The first thing I want to do is talk about the flag. The Confederate flag we know actually wasn’t the flag of the Confederacy, it was a battle flag for a Confederate general. After the war was over this flag disappeared until the 1900s when the Dixiecrat party rose to prominence and used that flag as a symbol for segregation. Now days this flag is used by neo-Nazis and alt-right groups that spew hate. That is why it is so hard for me to comprehend that anyone flies it for “southern pride.”
A lot of people in Idaho would use the excuse of “heritage, not hate.” After the civil war, many Confederates relocated to Idaho, so there is plenty of Confederate heritage in Idaho, but that doesn’t give anyone the excuse to fly a flag that has such a hateful history. The heritage argument also just doesn’t hold up. This is a flag that was used a little for the Confederacy, but really gained its prominence when a political party in the 1900s was using this flag to push for segregation.
Idaho also has multiple places named after the Confederacy. We shouldn’t have anything named after the Confederacy in general. They fought to keep slavery legal, and when we are naming buildings and monuments after their top generals, we are not putting these people in the negative light that they should be in. They fought for the right to own other people, and we shouldn’t honor these people and what they fought for. On top of that, these things don’t have anything to do with this state. We should be naming places in our state based on our history.
There really is no reason why America, but specifically Idaho, should have anything that honors the Confederacy. People shouldn’t be flying the flag and we shouldn’t be having places named after the Confederacy. It doesn’t make sense that people honor the group of people who fought to own slaves.
Mark Warren can be reached at [email protected]
Richard
Hi, I‘m 26yo, from Germany and have never been to Idaho, but to parts of the USA (Maine, Vancouver, NY, Florida) and Canada in general. I stumbled on this piece by accident and really enjoyed reading it. It’s sometimes hard for Europeans to understand Americans, especially the people living in the red/republican states. When I watched a documentary about confederate statues in the US and how most of them have been build in the early 1900‘s, I couldn’t believe the people who still try to declare them a part of southern history and pride. Now I learned that it’s the same thing with the flag. It’s disgusting that some racists accomplished this mystification (I hope you get my meaning) and glorification of the Confederacy and preserved it till today. I know there are many people who don’t have a bad intent when flying the flag or defending these statues, but I ask them to consider what other people see when they encounter the flag. You might be annoyed or even disgusted by a pride flag or something, but imagine you’re seeing a flag that degrades you based on something you have no influence on; a symbol to tell you that you are worth less. Even if it is not your intent to be racist, the flag is now and will forever be linked to the statement that some races are superior to others. Believe me, as a German I know the (evil) power that flags and symbols can have and how much they can divide and destruct. The civil war is over for 150 years now, a time far longer that the time between your independence and start of the civil war. Since then the United(!)States have accomplished so freakin much to be proud of. Don’t let something long over divide you that deeply. I know you guys hate foreign advice, especially from pesky Europeans, but if e.g. France and Germany, brutal enemy’s in the worst conflict of all time just 76 years ago can strip the signs of that division and come together as the closest possible allies, you can mend your wounds too. Thanks for the article!
Kent
“A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still.“ - Ben Franklin. It’s very difficult to imagine that I could possibly be a racist, because everyone truly believes that they are not. However, I find that virtue flag wavers are equally annoying, and waste their strength trying to push a river upstream with their hands. Plus, I like living in a place that allows freedom of expression even though I don’t agree with them.
Brian Kellogg
Bonhoeffer‘s Theory of Stupidity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww47bR86wSc
Jess Andrew Baker
I fly it, and will continue to. I am proud of the CSA, if they had won, we would be a LOT better off.
Lily James
Can you explain how we would be better off?
Brian Kellogg
"Self-Reliance" is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, predating and influencing the cause of the Civil War (April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865). It extolled as virtuous the life of conscientiousness and non-conformism. The "Battle Flag" known as the Southern Cross, despite its co-optation, was and will continue to be a testament to States' rights to individual determinism. The Supreme Court has declined to find that flag infringes upon the rights of those who find it repugnant.
Dale
Before someone puts out “information” about a topic maybe they should do some research on the topic? Look up the Confederate Flag and find out when, where, and how it was invented.
Ray Pendergast
For openers, it is a flag OF the Confederate Armies as there was no CSA "national" flag. Further, Idaho is a big NASCAR following State so chances are that's why you see a CSA battle displayed. And third, which I can't drill into you hard enough, if the flag is not being directed AT YOU, then get over it. With Gay Rainbow flags, black BLM flags and a host of Satanist flag flying all over Idaho, there are plenty of diabolical flag owners looking to hurt and/or control you to worry about. Leave flags you THINK you know about alone and worry about things that WILL hurt you DIRECTLY.
Lily James
Am I reading your statement correctly? You are saying gay pride flags and BLM flags are diabolical? I'm not even gonna touch upon the Satanism flaf cuz that will open up a Theological discussion I just don't have the energy this morning to get into.
Jake Bower
Ray really out here trying to fact check the opinion pieces yikes
Albert
How about freedom of speech. Did you have the same concerns when the left displayed President Trump being beheaded or individuals leaning right no matter what color are being accused of being racist?
Jennifer
Absolute truth. People will deny their racist behavior but they love that flag simply because they are racist.