Taking Down the Confederate Flag Isn't Enough: We Must Remove All Public Ties To The Confederacy, Everywhere

When I first heard that the Confederate flag was still flying high on the grounds of the South Carolina state Capitol I was shocked.

I may be a "Yankee liberal" from the North, but I figured that, surely, in the year 2015, a symbol of unabashed racial hatred would have been taken down decades ago. How could it possibly still be hung in a public space of a modern society, in a state capitol no less? 

I've never spent much time in the South, but I know the Confederate flag is still popular. Even in my home state of Massachusetts, a liberal bastion of progressive ideals, I still pass by trucks with Confederate flag stickers or license plates. I know the flag is kept alive by individual citizens who choose to wave it, but I thought for sure statehouses all across the country outlawed it.

Sadly, I was wrong.

If a silver lining exists in the wake of the horrific Charleston attack, in which a self-proclaimed white supremacist killed 9 African American churchgoers, it's the fact that millions of Americans all across the country have rose up in unison to demand that the Confederate flag be removed from the South Carolina capitol grounds. 

But that's not enough. We must remove all public ties to the Confederacy, everywhere.

SURROUNDED BY INJUSTICE

Imagine, for a second, that you are the great-great grandson or great-great granddaughter of a slave.

Everyday, you are forced to walk down "Jefferson Davis Boulevard."

Everyday, you pass by your state capitol building and see a Confederate flag waving high and proud.

Everyday, you drive by the same monument that honors the people who fought to keep your family enslaved.

Everyday, you go to school to try to escape the Confederate ghosts that chase you, but how can you concentrate or learn when your school is named after Stonewall Jackson?

Maybe you leave school and seek solace in a park. But how can you enjoy any peace or tranquility when it's named after Robert E. Lee?

With nowhere to go, you decide to just get in your car and drive. You aren't going anywhere in particular, but you know you want to get as far away from this place as you can. But even then, you realize you are driving on "Jefferson Davis Highway."

No matter where you turn, you are surrounded by reminders of a torturous, totalitarian regime that kept your ancestors in chains.

Even if you have no ancestral link to slavery, this is a gross injustice that must end, once and for all.

NOT MY HERITAGE

Many defenders of the Confederate flag say it deserves to live on forever because it "honors Southern heritage." They always seem to ignore the fact that is dishonors the heritage of African Americans.

In the case of South Carolina, it's important to note that the flag has not been flying high for 150+ years. It was first hung in 1961 to protest against the Civil Rights Movement. Honoring Southern "heritage" had nothing to do with it.

The Confederate flag is a symbol of hate. It is an emblem of a murderous, treasonous regime that tortured, raped, enslaved and systematically oppressed innocent Africans, stealing them from their homeland and robbing them of their identities forever.

Taking down the Confederate flag is a necessary first step we must take on the long journey of making amends with the sins of our past.

But we can't stop there. We must remove all ties to the Confederacy in public places. 

We must take down all Confederate monuments and statues. We must re-name Confederate streets, schools, parks and highways. We must take a stand against all public relics that honor, memorialize or pay homage to the most evil institution in American history.

However, to erase them entirely would be a mistake. Instead, we should place the flags, monuments and statues in museums, much like how Germany turned Auschwitz into a museum. They must stand forever as a reminder of how oppressive, immoral and horrifying slavery was.

If you want to hang a Confederate flag on your porch or in your back yard, go for it. I vehemently disagree and think it's incredibly offensive, but the beauty of America is that we give you the right to express yourself freely. Freedom of speech allows you the freedom to be ignorant and divisive.

Getting rid of the Confederate flag won't cure racism. Neither will removing statues or re-naming high schools. But it's the right thing to do. It is the best way to honor the lives of those killed not only in Charleston, but all across our country over the past 400 years.

As long as a young African American is forced to walk down Robert E. Lee Road or attend Jefferson Davis High School, the stain of centuries of injustice will remain.

Take it down.

Take it all down.